I didn't say we shouldn't. I'm fairly comfortable with the idea of bitter medicine. But acknowledging "this is going to be bitter" is a remarkably helpful way t

I didn't say we shouldn't. I'm fairly comfortable with the idea of bitter medicine. But acknowledging "this is going to be bitter" is a remarkably helpful way to gain rapport, and doesn't actually interfere with the administration of the treatment. If anything, it reduces the patient's odds of rejecting the medicine.