# Medically moronic media moments. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 3, 2019, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495 "2019-03-03T19:37:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2019, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/41 "2019-03-05T13:29:59Z")
My pet peeve is when a character is seen to collapse, a cop will rush up to him, put two fingers on one spot on one side of the neck for 1.5 seconds, and shake his head sadly. From that point, no attempt at CPR will be taken because, well a COP says the guy is dead. Can’t top that diagnosis! ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2019, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/42 "2019-03-05T14:18:56Z")
Reportedly Med Schools have a problem with students who’ve seen the wrong way to do an intubation on TV too many times and are hard to train how to do it right. Last week’s episode of _The Good Doctor_ had a couple common stupidities. Not one but _two_ senior doctors are the first to see a new patient with vague symptoms. Those two doctors than perform the scan on the patient’s brain. Waiting in the tech’s room and watching the scans come up. No tech, no radiologist. Like two senior doctors have all the time in the world to do all this _and_ know how to run all this equipment. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2019, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/43 "2019-03-05T15:19:10Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > Don’t get me started on cancer portrayals. They manage to cover up the head hair but tend to forget the eyebrows and eyelashes. You lose ALL your hair. I had a chronic cough my last two rounds of chemo because I lost my nose hair. And chances are you are not going to have uncontrollable vomiting. They have drugs to counteract that. But, drama. colorectal cancer with the oral chemo/radiation I got a crotch suntan and lost my pubic hair. Easiest full brazillian evah. [well except for the peeling bit and the hell diarrhea that hospitalized me, but zobran is fantastic for the nausea even though the smell of cooking italian sausage/peppers/onions was an automatic vomit] ---
**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2019, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/44 "2019-03-05T15:28:08Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > Don’t get me started on cancer portrayals. They manage to cover up the head hair but tend to forget the eyebrows and eyelashes. You lose ALL your hair. I had a chronic cough my last two rounds of chemo because I lost my nose hair. And chances are you are not going to have uncontrollable vomiting. They have drugs to counteract that. But, drama. I never lost my eyebrows or eyelashes. ---
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2019, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/45 "2019-03-05T15:54:46Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > I don’t see this one as much anymore, but also don’t perform CPR on someone in a bed or on a couch. There needs to be a board under them, or they need to be laying on a hard surface. So trampolines are out? ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2019, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/46 "2019-03-05T17:37:09Z")
> [@Patch](#): > > So trampolines are out? Nah, you just have to bounce really hard in time with your compressions. SWMBO is re-watching Private Practice. Pretty much every episode has something medically dubious/hilariously wrong. Sam hasn’t done thoracic surgery since his residency 10 years ago but , Hey! There he is operating on a patient with no re-training! Grey’s Anatomy is no better. I know they aren’t exactly documentaries but you could at least try and make it sort of realistic… ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2019, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/47 "2019-03-05T17:40:32Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > Don’t get me started on cancer portrayals. They manage to cover up the head hair but tend to forget the eyebrows and eyelashes. You lose ALL your hair. I had a chronic cough my last two rounds of chemo because I lost my nose hair. And chances are you are not going to have uncontrollable vomiting. They have drugs to counteract that. But, drama. Do people lose all their body hair too? Like chest and leg hair? Serious question, because for some reason I thought only hair on the head was lost too. Probably got that notion from watching TV. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2019, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/48 "2019-03-05T18:02:02Z")
As I understand it, follicles are follicles. Chemo drugs target rapidly-reproducing cells, because that’s what cancer is, but it also includes the cells in hair follicles (hence the hair loss) and the lining of the stomach (hence the nausea). ---
**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2019, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/49 "2019-03-05T18:24:30Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Do people lose all their body hair too? Like chest and leg hair? Serious question, because for some reason I thought only hair on the head was lost too. Probably got that notion from watching TV. I lost most of the hair on my head and face fairly quickly. Other areas, the loss varied in both ammount and time. So, the hair on my arms and legs thinned out quite a bit, but armpits and groin were clean and smooth. Losing nosehairs was pretty annoying. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2019, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/50 "2019-03-05T18:24:50Z")
Hey!!! Here’s a real life example!! Several times over. Soccer (football…whatever) two guys violently collide, one is knocked unconscious. There are several extremely advanced medical practitioners on the sidelines with both teams…BUT NOOOOOOO…whats the first thing you should do? You should race your teammates for the honor of sticking your filthy fucking fingers down the guys throat cause you think he’s going to swallow his tongue. Yeah, just jerk his head around and do it. I’m sure its fine. No, you don’t need to to check if he’s even breathing. Slap him a little, and then dig your hariy knuckles down the gullet. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2019, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/51 "2019-03-05T19:02:36Z")
If someone has a medical emergency on the street, all you have to say is “Let me in. I’m a doctor.” Nobody will ask to see any proof of that statement. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2019, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/52 "2019-03-05T19:03:40Z")
> [@Wolf333](#): > > I lost most of the hair on my head and face fairly quickly. Other areas, the loss varied in both ammount and time. So, the hair on my arms and legs thinned out quite a bit, but armpits and groin were clean and smooth. > > Losing nosehairs was pretty annoying. Sorry to hear that, but thanks for the information. I learned something new today. Time for beer! ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2019, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/53 "2019-03-05T19:16:33Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > Soccer (football…whatever) two guys violently collide, one is knocked unconscious. Soccer trainers also have an aerosol spray that seems to cure anything short of death in seconds. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2019, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/54 "2019-03-05T19:58:30Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > If someone has a medical emergency on the street, all you have to say is “Let me in. I’m a doctor.” Nobody will ask to see any proof of that statement. What proof do you think doctors carry around with them? ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2019, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/55 "2019-03-05T20:06:15Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > What proof do you think doctors carry around with them? Hospital ID. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2019, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/56 "2019-03-05T21:32:37Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Sorry to hear that, but thanks for the information. I learned something new today. Time for beer! I was on some strong chemo and I lost EVERYTHING. Even the fine hair on my face. My head hair started falling out after two treatments. I think my eyelashes and eyebrows hung on until the final round before they gave up the ghost. I remember going to put on mascara and realizing that wasn’t going to work since I had nothing to brush the mascara on to. I also would have to wipe off one eyebrow and redraw it so it (semi) matched the other one. But yeah, not shaving underarms or legs for months was quite nice. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2019, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/57 "2019-03-06T00:21:49Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > To elaborate, CPR doesn’t make people recover. It just (hopefully) keeps people barely alive for long enough for some other sort of medical intervention (at least a defibrillator, possibly more depending on why CPR was needed to begin with). > > Though outcomes are a lot better nowadays, with automatic defibrillators usable by a layman all over the place in public spaces. I heard that one of the victims of the Alabama tornado was given CPR, and it revived her long enough to tell the rescuers that she loved her family and she knew that it was her time to go, and promptly died. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2019, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/58 "2019-03-06T00:24:26Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > On-screen vomiting is often used to show someone who didn’t know that they were pregnant getting the first indication. Is that part realistic? Is it common to get nausea or actual vomiting before you sense anything else, before you realize that your period is very late? Sometimes, it is, especially if a woman has an irregular cycle or unfortunately is going to have hyperemesis. It also removes the denial factor. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2019, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/59 "2019-03-06T00:25:52Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > Jack Benny once had an episode set in a hospital and a doctor needed to view an X-ray. The doc had it upside down and nobody noticed. Are you sure? It was probably done on purpose, and that’s why nobody commented. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2019, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/60 "2019-03-06T00:33:41Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Do people lose all their body hair too? Like chest and leg hair? Serious question, because for some reason I thought only hair on the head was lost too. Probably got that notion from watching TV. Everyone’s different; usually, the loss of pubic hair freaks people out the most, but I did hear about a man who felt this way about the loss of his underarm hair. One thing that is NOT an urban legend is that regardless of what the person’s head hair was like before, it almost always grows back curly, although it doesn’t always stay that way. Mouth sores (stomatitis) are also very common with some drugs, but women don’t also expect to have them in their vaginas. :eek: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495.md?page=4)