Customer Reviews

Medical Blunders: Amazing True Stories of Mad, Bad, and Dangerous Doctors

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I picked this book up as a birthday present not long after we had a bit of an incident in a local hospital, involving a 17cm pair of scissors being left inside some poor woman after surgery. Bet there's a scrub nurse going around saying "Scissors... Scissors..." somewhere!

Youngson and Schott have put together a very interesting and, let's face it, pretty damning picture of the medical profession, in ancient, mediaeval and recent times. It starts with a review of the high-technology wizardry that has been flogged off over the years, and moves through a variety of strange and often sickening stories. Some of these stories - like the concept of 'Blue Light Healing" - are just plain weird and quite funny, whilst others - like the stories of lobotomy and the thalidomide tragedy - are quite depressing.

I'm a medical student. Whilst reading this didn't exactly put me off my course, it certainly gives pause for thought. Not a light read, but very, very interesting.