Category: KevinMD

Medical error is not the third leading cause of death

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…

What happens when abortion services aren’t available

In my very first job as a doctor — working in a London hospital in the 1980s. I always took a ridiculously detailed past medical history for every patient I saw. I started to notice how many elderly women had had septicemia, a life-threatening infectio…

The environmental impact of anesthesia

I am in the operating room working with an attending anesthesiologist I have known for years. “Tell me,” I ask, “Do you and your colleagues talk about the difference between Des and Sevo?” He looks at me without responding. &#82…

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 …

Intelligence does not protect against the worst of life’s cruelties

Mr. O has a drinking problem. More specifically, Mr. O drinks far too much and far too often, and for reasons that can’t be addressed with the tool he’s chosen. I met him at what could be called the low point of his life, except I know bett…