Archive for the ‘Medical Mistakes’ Category

What does the word “iatrogenic” mean?

Wednesday, September 19th, 2007

Iatros means physician in Greek, and -genic, meaning induced by, is derived from the International Scientific Vocabulary. Combined, of course, they become iatrogenic, meaning physician-induced. Iatrogenic disease is obviously, then, disease which is caused by a physician.

In common usage, then, iatrogenic disease is now applied to any adverse effect associated with any medical practitioner or treatment. The practitioner need not be a physician, he might be a nurse or a radiology technician, or any one of the scores of differentiated healthcare workers encountered in hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, or offices, or for that matter in the ambulance on the way to one of those places. For those who advance the language to the frontier, iatrogenic disease can be caused by practitioners whose association with medicine is negligible or antithetical, such as homeopaths, chiropractors, and psychologists (especially now that they are lobbying for the authority to write drug prescriptions).

http://www.iatrogenic.org/define.html

Trouble With Images

Thursday, August 16th, 2007

Like their counterparts in pathology, the radiologists who perform and analyze everything from old-fashioned (but still common) x-rays to high-tech CT scans are largely unseen players in the medical process. But though less visible to you than your family physician, their role in ensuring your health is just as vital — and their mistakes can be just as costly.

http://www.rd.com/content/medical-mistakes/3/