How to get sued for medical malpractice in three easy steps:
A writer in “The Hospital,” giving advice to young doctors says:—“If you think a shock will do the patient good (many diseases, including deafness, blindness, madness, and sadness or hypochondriasis yield to shock), choose a raw, cold morning and drive your car, bare-handed, to the patient’s house. Go straight up to his room, shout him a breezy greeting, brusquely fling off the bedclothes and put your cold hands suddenly on his warm stomach under the pretext of feeling for his appendix. This will give a first-class shock, and if it doesn’t cure him, will at least break down that professional reserve of which so many patients complain.”
Apparently, there’s no middle ground between professional reserve and breaking and entering.
The article should’ve included the standard pharmaceutical disclaimer:
Treatment side effects may include heart attacks, fainting spells, lasting trauma from the forced entry, making a complaint at your local police station and the compulsion to find a new doctor.
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Disclaimer: The modern era is far from the first to grapple with rampant “fake news.” As I am neither a historian nor journalist, I make no claims about the accuracy or lack thereof of the above sources. I assert only that they make for a good story.
Welcome to Second Glance History! This blog seeks to uncover the people and the stories forgotten by history and give them another read through a modern lens. Join me every week as we examine the differences that divide and the common threads that connect the then to the now.
Hey, Elyse—what’s the clip’s original date?
It’s from 1917—definitely too recent to recommend breaking into patients’ houses! 😱
“Side effects may include bruising, contusions, abrasions and possible concussions – not the patient, the doctor”
Nice to give doctors a taste of their own super scary disclaimer medicine!