Monday, January 15, 2007

Cause of Death: Doc's bad handwriting

I wanted everyone to take a moment to read the Time article here. Despite what you may think, it's actually about a new system for electronically inputting prescriptions. Though I one hundred percent agree with the new technology being tested, I'm not quite sure how I feel about the depiction of doctors in the article. I think the author uses an aggressive and derogatory tag line for an article that isn't really about doctors' handwriting at all. Yes, it is true that doctor error can result in death, but that's been true for centuries. I think I would have liked to learn more about the trend in deaths due to handwriting error over time, maybe a comparison between now and thirty years ago. Has it been increasing, compared to other forms of doctor error? Is the death toll a product of overworked doctors, or of other flaws in the prescription system? I don't really know, and reading the article won't help me find out. I guess this is the type of subtle criticism against the medical profession that I find a little off putting. Tell me what you think in the comments.

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