Dr. Thompson's Blog

Medical Errors in Novels by Best Selling Authors

I am always surprised and concerned when I read a novel by a best-selling author and find major medical errors. I would assume that any author would do research before having a  character in a novel be disabled because of a  medical problem. Don't these authors do any research?  The Internet is a fairly reliable source of information, but some of it is outdated or incorrect. It would be very easy for an author to contact an expert who is knowledgeable about a particular disorder. I  have found that the real experts are very generous about giving information. 

When I was in private pediatric practice I had an expert I could contact about snake bites, another about dog bites and another about infectious diseases. They were always pleasant and glad to help. They made a real difference in my ability to care for children who had unusual or dangerous disorders.

In a novel I started reading recently, the author describes a major character as having multiple sclerosis. Her information is totally outdated and scary for someone who has the disorder or has a friend or relative with multiple sclerosis. Now a monthly intravenous injection is given  and the patients can work full-time, travel and exercise. In the book I started reading, the character was almost bed-ridden and on her way to dying. That is in a book recently published. 

In a book I read some time ago, a child was in a wheelchair at age eight because of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Having directed 6 neuromuscular programs and seen hundreds of youths with the disorder I was outraged. With proper medication, physical therapy, and orthopedic surgery  at the appropriate  times, I kept boys walking into their teens. 

Are The Glory Days of Medicine Gone?

I was talking with a woman physician the other day who was in practice when I had my pedaitric practice. I was teling her about a recent experience I had with a male doctor who to me epitomized the worst of our present physicians. His office was bare except for cosmetic products to sell and he spent all of five minutes with me in his office. I had a minor skin complaint, which was of no interest to  him, and several of the things he said were not true medical facts.  The woman doctor I was talking with said "I wonder if the glory days of medicine are over?" As I thought later about what she said I wondered if that was true and if caring, compassionate medical care would ever return. With so many advertisements for drugs on the TV and the drug companies and many physicians making enormous  amounts of money, I wonder if anything will ever change.

Yes, there are still some wonderful, caring physicians, but with the HMOs and the use of non-physicians we may be heading into chartered and dangerous waters. The French have wonderful health care where the physicians still make house calls. Doctors argue that they can see five patients in the time it takes to make a house call. Yet I found that I learned more about a family in a single house call than in their many visits to my office. So I would argue that if you really care about your patients that is time well spent. 

The joy to me of getting to know your patients and being an important part of their lives is something money cannot replace. I still hear from many parents and the children I cared for when I was in private  pediatric practice. Often these former patients have questions about a problem or need  help in finding resources. I am glad to help. I think patients  have to insist on quality medical care and if a physician is all about money then it is time to find a different doctor.

Are U.S. Medical Schools Teaching Compassion or Computer Savvy?

An obituary in a recent New York Times gave the details of the life of Dr. Arnold Gold. He was a well known pediatric neurologist who with his wife started a foundation called the Gold Humanism Honor Society. The goal of the foundation is to change the course of medical education. He lectured and spoke frequently about the need for doctors and nurses to be taught compassion for patients. I would have liked to meet Dr. Gold and his wife because I am seeing  much less compassion being taught in many of our medical schools. Instead the use of a computer seems to be all important. 

I was teaching one today in a medical school when the patient was an actress, not a real patient. (This now is quite common.) The students were supposed to listen to  heart sounds through a specially designed stethoscope. It was not working well, so I suggested we talk to the patient and do an examination. The woman had marked wasting of  the muscles around her shoulders. We also found  saw other problems. We found quite a bit about  her life and I made some suggestions about what she could do. The next day I received an e-mail from the patient saying, "Thank you Dr. Thompson. You are the first physician  who has really talked with me." I think that message says a great deal about what is going on in some medical schools today. 

When I was a student in the old Stanford Medical school in San Francisco, we were taught by the professors. Compassion and talking with the patients were always stressed. I have been amazed at some of the things I   have found out by spending time learning about a patient's life or concerns. A computer can never,ever replace actually talking with patients. This is true of both adults and children. Teenagers especially need and want someone to talk to them. Living today is hard with all the emphasis on money, beauty and accomplishments.