Medical TV Show Misleading

I don’t watch medical shows like the Grey’s Anatomy or Private Practice because of the medical techniques errors they make. I realize this is creative TV, but I was under the impression these shows used medical experts for content accuracy. Scores of shows rely on discussions with doctors and medical experts, supplied by agencies such as Hollywood, Health & Society, an partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health and the USC Annenberg Norman Lear Center, a research and public policy center, to help them correctly characterize health-related story lines.

When I start yelling at the TV, the show has stressed me and it’s time for us to part ways. Perhaps that’s why I like CSI shows, White Collar and police shows, because I have no knowledge of their procedures. These shows are just entertaining and intriguing.

Ever see a TV doctor treat a seizure patient by trying to stick something in the person’s mouth? In real life you’d probably end up breaking the person’s front teeth and or getting bitten. There are many types and causes for seizures. Grand mal/tonic-clonic seizure is the one must pictured on TV. The person is unconscious and experiencing violent muscle spasms. The person’s muscles including face and mouth are contracting and relaxing. Not a good time to be shoving something in their mouth. Better thing to do is to clear potentially dangerous objects away. When the seizures ended, turn the person on a side and check for choking. Call for medical help – 911.

Why I only watched one episode of House – an April 2009 episode about a deaf high school wrestler gave me such a migraine! After an amazing diagnosis for mysterious symptoms, the teen is scheduled for a brain biopsy. “Dr. House” orders a medical fellow to plant a cochlear implant while the patient is under anesthesia. OK – really super doc knows how to do this procedure? He does them every day and knows exactly what type and make this patient needs. Oh there just happens to be the exact make and model lying around. The patient is a minor without an informed surgical consent from a parent for this cochlear implant. This whole scene is unethical, illegal and a huge malpractice suit in the making - in the real world.

According to a study published in April 2010 Journal of Medical Ethics, shows like House and Grey’s Anatomy have ethical issues at least 179 times. The researchers reviewed 50 episodes of the two shows and found informed consent the most common problem according to American Medical News. The medical TV shows are such an concern that Berman Institute of Bioethics at Johns Hopkins University has started a project that consists of compiling clips from both shows as a way to spark ethical discussions in middle-school, high-school and college classrooms.

Problem with medical shows is that people watch, listen and gather a lot of information that gets tucked away unconsciously. As time goes by, people forget where or when they got that information. They begin to believe it’s correct. A study published in Clinical Transplantation in 2005 found that people who viewed organ donation negatively time and time again cited what they'd seen on TV as evidence for their opinions.

Perhaps things are changing for the better. The University of Southern California, published September 2007 in the Journal of Health Communication, showed viewers of an "ER" story line about teen obesity, hypertension and healthy eating habits were 65 percent more likely to report a positive change in their behavior after watching the TV show. What are your feelings?