Lisa Sanders

New York Times columnist Sanders says that misdiagnoses account for perhaps as much as 17 percent of medical errors. Some errors result in prolonged or ineffective treatment, while others lead to fatal outcomes. They occur, she says, despite the huge technological advances of recent years. Sometimes the tests and diagnostic tools are to blame; indeed, relying too heavily on test or lab results can produce a false sense of security in both patient and doctor. For all the data they collect, machines lack important components for diagnosis. They cannot hear a patient’s story, touch a patient’s skin, or look into a patient’s eyes. Good diagnosticians are—not unlike TV’s Dr. House—good at puzzles; they employ a large variety of skill sets, including the long-lost art of the thorough physical exam, to solve the mysteries of illness. Besides her own inborn capacity for problem-solving, Sanders’ experience as internist, writer, and consultant to House serves her well here, for absorbing anecdotes generously pepper the exposition. --Donna Chavez