A family gathers around the young, critically ill accident victim lying comatose and barely breathing. His tenuous hold on life is maintained by the heroic application of nasal cannula oxygen. Apparently, nothing says “serious illness” like the dreaded nasal cannula treatment in the most dire of medical circumstances.
A high-caliber bullet penetrates the liver, the stomach, and shatters ribs before lodging in the victim’s spleen. After digging out the missile, the loved one/police partner/trauma surgeon invariably just oversews the massive open wound with a line of strong suture (or dental floss, whichever is handy). Internal bleeding and abdominal sepsis are never of significant importance. Such an incisive, simple shortcut saves so much time and cleverly saves the victim’s life, never mind reaping high ratings and assuring another season.
I pray that if I were ever to collapse in public, my resuscitation won’t be performed by a television actor from a medical drama. In these shows, time and time again, we see people quickly jump into action to resuscitate out-of-hospital emergencies or in-hospital codes. However, chest massage is typically performed with the force of repeated love taps rather than with deeper, more effective cardiac compressions. Making the lifesaving effort even more useless, the speed of compressions typically approaches the slow tempo of “Yesterday” rather than “Staying Alive.” BLS courses have evidently followed in the footsteps of trepanning and bloodletting.
In these dramas, ACLS training has run its course. Every victim of heroic resuscitation receives immediate electric cardioversion regardless of rhythm, each burst of high voltage resulting in unerring success. After the requisite arched-back spasms, patients are immediately able to think clearly and converse. Reassuringly, one guideline is never ignored: “CLEAR!” always rings out resoundingly and responsibly, at least assuring drama if nothing else.
Perhaps the most egregious perversion of standard medical care involves insulin, at once a miracle drug and a discrete weapon for murder. A well-known televised fact confirms that any diabetic complaining of dizziness, lethargy, or sweating is suffering from low blood sugar. So far, so good. The treatment for low blood sugar, once arrived at by family or friend or medical professional, is to reach for the diabetic’s insulin and inject it?! Instead of suffering hypoglycemic brain damage, the patient somehow dramatically responds. Occasionally, adding a sugary substance to eat or drink will be thrown in – covering one’s bases is indeed a time-honored strategy, but probably remains an insufficient defense in a deposition.
Not all hope is lost, however. Current medical practice of airway management, as delivered in living color, has enjoyed reassuring victories. Whether performed by a doctor or an EMT, emergency intubation is routinely accomplished effortlessly and correctly the first time, every time. Neither burn injuries with soot and swelling, nor trauma with blood and broken bones, impede successful intubation. Even an emergency cricothyroid tracheostomy is routinely successful, as performed with a pen, straw, jackknife, or any assortment of garage utensils by a detective, bystander, or other such unskilled laborer. The good news is that endotracheal tubes, once placed with such ease, are portrayed much more realistically. The bad news is that anesthesiologists will increasingly have difficulty finding jobs amid an abundance of airway management talent.
Is it any wonder, then, that the distance in trust between clinician and medical consumer has widened over recent years? Certainly not, as such glamourized medical knowledge seems more acceptable to the public than actual peer-reviewed, evidence-based knowledge. So far, this gap between pop culture education and factual medical expertise has simply driven higher ratings for streaming services. How long will it be, however, before such naïve trust has a real and disturbing impact on population health?
Surprisingly, published studies have shown that medical dramas have elicited as many positive reactions among viewers as negative responses. Of course, the more extreme examples, such as the defibrillation and CPR dramas described above, don’t fare as well.
At a time when so much turmoil already surrounds accessibility to meaningful health care, unreasonable outcome expectations in exaggerated medical circumstances deepen the erosion of trust in clinicians in the aftermath of the recent pandemic. Following the mantra of “Enquiring minds want to know” from the venerable The National Enquirer, at the very least, some of the lay public will be pushed towards WebMD and multiple other internet destinations, and AI tooling. Not the most reliable means of seeking answers and treatments for diseases that must remain individualized, but perhaps a bit more reliable than the latest Netflix improbability.
Does this all sound ridiculous and exaggerated? Entertaining but just as lacking in reality as all these other examples of dramatic scripted medical interventions? Should this treatise be regarded as satirical entertainment without any meaningful impact on daily life?
Unfortunately, no. An amalgam of online news feeds and 24-hour news programs reports a disturbingly similar parody of medical care standards becoming actual reality, as we see Government officials rush to resurrect and claim vaccines are indeed a link to autism, all while declaring COVID19 and measles vaccines cause more harm than the actual diseases themselves. Not to mention, newborn Hepatitis B vaccination recommendations and future funding for mRNA vaccine development mysteriously vanish...
Created not by scriptwriters seeking drama for drama’s sake and higher ratings, but by officials responsible for the very health of our nation. Both, unfortunately, are infecting the public with identical expectations and beliefs bereft of fact or responsible guidance.
There is no magic remote to change government edicts as easily as changing streaming shows. The only place we can “change channels” is the voting booth. Legal backlash has already begun as leading medical organizations have filed lawsuits against the CDC and HHS regarding vaccine policy. It falls to clinicians in the trenches, armed with knowledge and objective facts, and in collaboration with these organizations, to educate patients, the public in general, and, hopefully, government officials, regardless of political party or agenda. Far-fetched medical drama has no place in responsible health care. Unless things change, I’m reaching for my nasal cannula because America’s health is in critical condition, which means I am too.
What are some of the most absurd depictions of medicine you've seen on TV? Share in comments!
Scott Eveloff, MD, is a physician living in Overland Park, Kansas, having served the medical needs of far-flung towns in rural Missouri for more than 30 years while actively publishing his perspectives on ethics in medicine. He has published extensively in the medical literature, earning him appearances on ABC’s "20/20 Medical Mysteries," ABC News "Nightline," and the "Dr. Oz Show." Dr. Eveloff has remained a passionate advocate for the disabled, publishing the nonfiction book "Both Sides of The White Coat" and most recently a novel, "Do Not Resuscitate." He is a 2025–2026 Doximity Op-Med Fellow.
Animation by Jennifer Bogartz
