Dispensary

deBakey at 97

A surgery for dissection on the person who invented the surgery.

The last breath

Obviously, there is a tremendous disconnect between doctors' perceptions and those of patients. This article in the NY Times, brings that to the fore. The perennial debate on when to stop life-support and let people go, goes on.

In India, it seems to be much simpler. I guess we are wired from birth to let go and not to make people suffer and offer collective family decisions are taken to let people in misery off the hook.

Medical errors

The NY Times has an article on medical errors. It quotes a study which says that doctors will not always disclose in full, to the patients, the errors that they commit. If the error is obvious (e.g. sponge left in the body), then they are more likely to apologize than if the error is less obvious and in the gray-zone.

From an ethical and moral point of view, the patients usually want a full explanation and apology. Talking from the medical perspective, I don't think its always possible to do so, especially in situations, where it was a judgement call and it turned out to the incorrect one, but was not apparent at the time, given the circumstances.

Newspapers tend to see everything in black and white.