Friday, January 21, 2005
From "100 Years Ago at JAMA"
Medical Errors in Fiction.
It seems to be the rule, unfortunately, for writers of fiction, when dealing with medical subjects, to pay no attention to facts...We have to regret, however, its occurrence in the recent writings of a celebrated author who was educated as a medical man. Dr. Conan Doyle, in "The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez," just published, makes Sherlock Holmes say, in commenting on a pair of glasses that has been found, "You will see, Watson, that the glasses are convex and of unusual strength." In another place, speaking of the owner of these glasses, Holmes says: "Unfortunately for her, she had lost her glasses in the scuffle, and as she was extremely short-sighted she was really helpless without them." To make a short-sighted person wear convex glasses, even in fiction, is not to be commended...In this particular instance, the result of the neglect of attention to facts is unusually unfortunate, for it involves our friend, the famous detective, and also his friend, Dr. Watson; and this involvement shows them in a very unenviable light--they are shown to be weak where they should be strong.
It seems to be the rule, unfortunately, for writers of fiction, when dealing with medical subjects, to pay no attention to facts...We have to regret, however, its occurrence in the recent writings of a celebrated author who was educated as a medical man. Dr. Conan Doyle, in "The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez," just published, makes Sherlock Holmes say, in commenting on a pair of glasses that has been found, "You will see, Watson, that the glasses are convex and of unusual strength." In another place, speaking of the owner of these glasses, Holmes says: "Unfortunately for her, she had lost her glasses in the scuffle, and as she was extremely short-sighted she was really helpless without them." To make a short-sighted person wear convex glasses, even in fiction, is not to be commended...In this particular instance, the result of the neglect of attention to facts is unusually unfortunate, for it involves our friend, the famous detective, and also his friend, Dr. Watson; and this involvement shows them in a very unenviable light--they are shown to be weak where they should be strong.
