Ever since the publication of the infamous 2016 BMJ opinion piece claiming medical error should be considered the third leading cause of death in the U.S., the debate on the true incidence of deaths caused by medical error has been raging. Many, includ…
Category: KevinMD
The Hufflepuff of medicine
Recently, my mother waited for over an hour for what turned out to be a 5-minute visit with her primary care doctor. Her doctor seemed rushed and stressed, her questions perfunctory, the management plan hurried. And then she was gone. “It’s like she di…
The Hufflepuff of medicine
Recently, my mother waited for over an hour for what turned out to be a 5-minute visit with her primary care doctor. Her doctor seemed rushed and stressed, her questions perfunctory, the management plan hurried. And then she was gone. “It’s like she di…
When the problem representation and the illness script do not match
Recently we had a patient admitted for a diagnosis that did not really fit his problem representation. The diagnosis was a convenient one, and easily treated. He initially responded to treatment, and we discharged him. The diagnosis assumption nagged a…
Physicians are excellent at floccinaucinihilipilification. What is that?
Physicians are excellent at floccinaucinihilipilification, which is seeing something as unimportant or worthless. We engage in floccinaucinihilipilification every time we see a patient. We listen to their story and symptoms, and quickly filter, accept…
Physicians are excellent at floccinaucinihilipilification. What is that?
Physicians are excellent at floccinaucinihilipilification, which is seeing something as unimportant or worthless. We engage in floccinaucinihilipilification every time we see a patient. We listen to their story and symptoms, and quickly filter, accept…
As a registered nurse, I do not want to violate my patients’ rights anymore
I am a critical care RN, and I violated my patients’ rights. For decades, every day that I worked in the emergency department or the intensive care unit, I violated my patients’ federally protected rights to participate in their plan of care. I didn’t …