# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2019, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/81 "2019-03-07T20:53:18Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > The first thing I thought of when I saw “medically moronic media moments” was all the times news stories breathlessly announce the findings of a new study without putting it into context (failing to indicate that it’s at odds with other, comprehensive studies, not mentioning the need to replicate it on a large scale, omitting commentary from experts in the field etc.). You mean [this](https://smbc-comics.com/comic/2009-08-30)? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2019, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/82 "2019-03-07T22:40:43Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > No, but a bunch of doctors ran in and did a bunch of stuff Hey, it takes years to be Board Certified In A Bunch Of Stuff, so don’t minimize their accomplishments. > [@Darren Garrison](#): > > You mean [this?](https://smbc-comics.com/comic/2009-08-30) 😃 Another habitual news media moronic achievement is to do a heartwarming story about how a patient with a terminal illness whose doctors Sent Her Home To Die is getting a second chance at life, thanks to a revolutionary clinic (which may or may not be in Mexico) and donors who responded to her GoFundMe campaign. These clinics are almost always run by quacks who bankrupt families and donors’ cash helps finance the quacks’ purchases of Porsches and luxury homes, but the intrepid reporters don’t seem to care. As alluded to earlier, sports reporters are especially prone to swallow pseudomedical nonsense whole, regurgitating athletes’ claims about how wonder supplements\*, chiropractic adjustments, hyperbaric chambers and various other glop have remade their bodies and added many points to their scoring averages. \*strictly legal of course. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2019, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/83 "2019-03-07T22:57:09Z")
The most recent season of _The Punisher_ showed a character getting shot point blank in the torso three times, with one of the shots blasting out his back in a huge gout of blood and gore. Not only does he live and escape to find a back-alley doctor to fix him up, but the doctor proceeds to remove three slugs from his belly – including the one that blasted out his back. I know it’s a Marvel show and expectations for realism should be low, but even in the Marvel Universe 3 minus 1 should equal 2. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2019, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/84 "2019-03-08T00:36:34Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > I guess I’m an outlier, since I carry a couple mini-license cards in my wallet. No one has ever asked to see one :(, even the time I volunteered to provide medical assistance on a commercial flight. Several times over the years, I have worked for temp agencies, and only once was I asked for photo ID, and that time was right here in town! He didn’t know me, and just wanted some proof that I really was who I said I was. I was more than happy to show him my DL. I mean, one time I was assigned to work at Target, and the day before, I called that store primarily to see if it was a SuperTarget and if I would need to pack a lunch. (It wasn’t, so I did.) Anyway, I also asked where I could obtain any needed security codes, and he proceeded to give them to me right there over the phone! I couldn’t believe it. ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2019, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/85 "2019-03-08T01:02:32Z")
According to my exhaustive survey of medical facts on network dramas in prime time, vomiting is one of the most reliable methods of diagnosis: _Female under 40_: Pregnant _Female over 40_: Cancer _Male of any age_: Cancer ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2019, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/86 "2019-03-08T01:11:37Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Another habitual news media moronic achievement is to do a heartwarming story about how a patient with a terminal illness whose doctors Sent Her Home To Die is getting a second chance at life, thanks to a revolutionary clinic (which may or may not be in Mexico) and donors who responded to her GoFundMe campaign. These clinics are almost always run by quacks who bankrupt families and donors’ cash helps finance the quacks’ purchases of Porsches and luxury homes, but the intrepid reporters don’t seem to care. > > As alluded to earlier, sports reporters are especially prone to swallow pseudomedical nonsense whole, regurgitating athletes’ claims about how wonder supplements\*, chiropractic adjustments, hyperbaric chambers and various other glop have remade their bodies and added many points to their scoring averages. > > \*strictly legal of course. 🙂 Coretta Scott King died at one of those clinics, and Steve Jobs’ own pancreatic cancer was a type that is actually treatable, but he also used “alternative therapy” until it was too late to do much of anything for him. I don’t have a problem with people doing juicing, etc. IN ADDITION TO standard treatment, but INSTEAD OF treatment? That’s another story. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2019, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/87 "2019-03-08T22:53:59Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > 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: Not all chemo drugs cause hair loss. I had cold sensitivity, got tired easily, diarrhea, a weird momentary pain in my teeth when eating, and a teeny bit of almost but not quite nausea, but no hair loss. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2019, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/88 "2019-03-09T07:57:47Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > Not all chemo drugs cause hair loss. I had cold sensitivity, got tired easily, diarrhea, a weird momentary pain in my teeth when eating, and a teeny bit of almost but not quite nausea, but no hair loss. That’s true; however, most patients will be on at least one drug that does cause it. You sound like you were on a regimen that doesn’t. ---
**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 9, 2019, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/89 "2019-03-09T20:58:31Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Coretta Scott King died at one of those clinics, and Steve Jobs’ own pancreatic cancer was a type that is actually treatable, but he also used “alternative therapy” until it was too late to do much of anything for him. > > I don’t have a problem with people doing juicing, etc. IN ADDITION TO standard treatment, but INSTEAD OF treatment? That’s another story. When I was sitting in the infusion section, the lady next to me was talking about her detox practices _sigh_ > [@Doug\_K](#): > > Not all chemo drugs cause hair loss. I had cold sensitivity, got tired easily, diarrhea, a weird momentary pain in my teeth when eating, and a teeny bit of almost but not quite nausea, but no hair loss. oxaliplatin? got the cold sensitivity [the hives from an ice cube em was a blast =)] the neuropathy in hands and feet, nausea, diarrhea but no hair loss. The oral for with the radiation and the radation continued the diarrhea, nausea, neuropathy and now my crotch has a great sun tan, and a free brazillian wax job without the wax :eek::smack: > [@nearwildheaven](#): > > That’s true; however, most patients will be on at least one drug that does cause it. You sound like you were on a regimen that doesn’t. I wouldn’t have minded hair loss, I sort of shaved my head in January 2018 to do the moral support thing for a friend from college, and a couple months later while trying to get a dx for my digestive issues I ended up discovering stage 3 colorectal cancer [15 cm long and fully wrapped around my gut squeezing the passage shut :eek::(] so I sort of started out with no hair, and now have a decent head of hair that is sort of fly away like dandelion fluff [and slightly greyer than before, but the curls are still the same] I did discover one benefit from chemo and radiation - an almost total loss of body odor, apparently the chemicals in my sweat were toxic enough to kill off the bacteria that cause sweat to start smelling. It also sort of dried up any sort of oiliness so I could wash my hair every 2 weeks, and had to stop using soap in the shower because it dried out my skin like you would not believe. SinceI was sleeping about 20 hours a day, I didn’t do much of anything to get myself dirty so it all worked ou tin the end. [results of both sigmoidoscopies and biopsies were clean, no cells - now on a 10 week medical vacation with light testing and some imaging coming up in a week or so before my team make any further decisions on treatment] ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/90 "2019-03-10T00:32:20Z")
Aruqvan, I wish you only the best. I know it’s been a rough road for you. Oh, yeah, I’ve heard all the “if you eat this, don’t eat that, etc. it will cure you” BUT that doesn’t explain why people who followed that diet and/or lifestyle get cancer themselves. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/91 "2019-03-10T15:57:16Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > When I was sitting in the infusion section, the lady next to me was talking about her detox practices _sigh_ > oxaliplatin? got the cold sensitivity [the hives from an ice cube em was a blast =)] the neuropathy in hands and feet, nausea, diarrhea but no hair loss. The oral for with the radiation and the radation continued the diarrhea, nausea, neuropathy and now my crotch has a great sun tan, and a free brazillian wax job without the wax :eek::smack: Yes, I had oxaliplatin and and flourouracil. I had 12 rounds over 24 weeks. The neuropathy didn’t hit me until round 10, and didn’t become persistent until after I was finished. It’s been a year and a half and I still have some, but either it’s decreased over time or I just cope with it better. At the start my oncologist told me at the start that I probably wouldn’t lose my hair (I didn’t) but might have some thinning. I did, but it wasn’t noticeable other than a small amount of hair coming out if I ran my fingers through my hair. I bought some clippers and let my daughters give me a buzz cut to reduce the mess. My treatment wasn’t fun, but my only big issues were cold sensitivity (most of it was done during the winter) and fatigue. I actually felt kind of guilty seeing so many other people in the infusion room who were suffering much more. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/92 "2019-03-10T18:13:05Z")
> [@Akaj](#): > > The most recent season of _The Punisher_ showed a character getting shot point blank in the torso three times, with one of the shots blasting out his back in a huge gout of blood and gore. Not only does he live and escape to find a back-alley doctor to fix him up, but the doctor proceeds to remove three slugs from his belly – including the one that blasted out his back. > > I know it’s a Marvel show and expectations for realism should be low, but even in the Marvel Universe 3 minus 1 should equal 2. Did he drop the bullets one at a time into a metal pan where they went “clink”? Because everyone knows that the problem with a gunshot wound is that the bullet is inside you, take out the bullet and you’re 97% cured. And dropping the bullet into the metal pan with a loud clink is the doctor’s endzone dance. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/93 "2019-03-10T18:47:56Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Doctors also do not sit by a patient’s bedside, waiting for the family to show up, nor do they inform families of a death or terrible prognosis in the parking lot or a crowded hallway. Now they can do it by robot: [California man learns he’s dying from doctor on robot video at Kaiser Permanente hospital](https://abc7ny.com/health/man-learns-hes-dying-from-doctor-on-robot-video/5179413/) > [@](#): > > Ernest Quintana’s family knew he was dying of chronic lung disease when he was taken by ambulance to a hospital, unable to breathe. > > But they were devastated when a robot machine rolled into his room in the intensive care unit that night and a doctor told the 78-year-old patient by video call he would likely die within days. > > “If you’re coming to tell us normal news, that’s fine, but if you’re coming to tell us there’s no lung left and we want to put you on a morphine drip until you die, it should be done by a human being and not a machine,” his daughter Catherine Quintana said Friday. > [@Jackmannii](#): > > The first thing I thought of when I saw “medically moronic media moments” was all the times news stories breathlessly announce the findings of a new study without putting it into context (failing to indicate that it’s at odds with other, comprehensive studies, not mentioning the need to replicate it on a large scale, omitting commentary from experts in the field etc.). > [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > You mean [this](https://smbc-comics.com/comic/2009-08-30)? John Oliver did a segment on this: [Scientific Studies: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Rnq1NpHdmw) I didn’t rewatch the video, but I remember it’s about how the media reports things like “study proves coffee causes cancer; study proves coffee cures cancer” among other things. The head slapper is when Al Roker advises something like “pick a study that you agree with and works for you”. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/94 "2019-03-10T19:16:51Z")
> [@dasmoocher](#): > > John Oliver did a segment on this: > > [Scientific Studies: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Rnq1NpHdmw) > > I didn’t rewatch the video, but I remember it’s about how the media reports things like “study proves coffee causes cancer; study proves coffee cures cancer” among other things. > > The head slapper is when Al Roker advises something like “pick a study that you agree with and works for you”. I rewatched video and had forgotten Oliver talks about things like p-hacking and there’s a “TODD talk” (TED talk spoof) segment where “Sterling Archer” explains how much more authoritative you can be if you wear a lab coat during your presentation. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/95 "2019-03-10T19:34:53Z")
> [@peccavi](#): > > According to my exhaustive survey of medical facts on network dramas in prime time, vomiting is one of the most reliable methods of diagnosis: > > _Female under 40_: Pregnant > > _Female over 40_: Cancer > > _Male of any age_: Cancer Coughing is also pretty good- it can indicate a whole bunch of serious conditions, normally something that will kill you right after some pithy last words. Unless the cougher’s a smoker, in which case the cough’s probably just there to take away the cool. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/96 "2019-03-10T21:40:18Z")
Marcus Welby MD, and his sidekick Steve Kiley have the most remarkable amount of free time of any GPs I’ve ever seen. Where most doctors are hard-pressed to find enough time to properly deal with even ordinary in-office patient visits, and often have high stress levels from overwork, those two follow their patients around like forlorn puppies, even showing up at their homes and places of work just to see how they’re doing, thus demonstrating Deep Concern for their well-being. I would like to better understand Welby’s business model. In the real world this would work fine if they had a grand total of two or three patients supporting their entire practice. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/97 "2019-03-10T23:05:43Z")
> [@Akaj](#): > > The most recent season of _The Punisher_ showed a character getting shot point blank in the torso three times, with one of the shots blasting out his back in a huge gout of blood and gore. Not only does he live and escape to find a back-alley doctor to fix him up, but the doctor proceeds to remove three slugs from his belly – including the one that blasted out his back. > > I know it’s a Marvel show and expectations for realism should be low, but even in the Marvel Universe 3 minus 1 should equal 2. Maybe he was one of Wolverine’s long lost children. ---
**Author:** ![steepone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/977dab/32.png) [@steepone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steepone)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/98 "2019-03-11T09:38:06Z")
The one that gets me is where a casualty needs an urgent transfusion but his blood type AB Negative so they have to rush around to find an AB negative donor In reality someone with AB negative blood type can receive any negative blood type ---
**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 11, 2019, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/99 "2019-03-11T13:50:39Z")
Nitpick: AB+. An Rh negative can get bad effects from Rh positive blood (though usually only on the second exposure). In any event, hospitals always try to keep a supply of all of the common types on hand, especially O-, the universal donor (for situations where someone needs blood RIGHT NOW and they don’t know the type needed). ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495/100 "2019-03-11T13:56:51Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Nitpick: AB+. An Rh negative can get bad effects from Rh positive blood (though usually only on the second exposure). Note that the post said the following, emphasis mine: > [@steepone](#): > > In reality someone with AB negative blood type can receive any \*\*negative \*\*blood type True that AB+ is a universal recipient. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medically-moronic-media-moments/830495.md?page=6)