Peter Marshall was delighted when he finally got an appointment after calling his GP surgery for several days.
On the day, he saw a young medic who said his excruciating stomach pain was caused by irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and suggested over-the-counter peppermint tablets to ease the discomfort.
And off the 69-year-old retired IT specialist went, happy to have a diagnosis and treatment.
In fact, Peter hadn’t had an appointment with a GP — he had been seen by a
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In 1973, the American Psychiatric Association established the so-called Goldwater Rule as a response to the many mental-health professionals who had ventured glib and florid diagnoses of Senator Barry Goldwater during his 1964 presidential campaign. “I believe Goldwater has the same pathological makeup as Hitler, Castro, Stalin, and
This article was originally published in Undark Magazine.
Ten years ago, 12-year-old Rory Staunton dove for a ball in gym class and scraped his arm. He woke up the next day with a 104-degree Fahrenheit fever, so his parents took him to the pediatrician and eventually the emergency room. It was just the stomach flu, they were told. Three days later, Rory died of sepsis after bacteria from the scrape infiltrated his blood and triggered organ failure.
“How does that
