Televisually-Transmitted Disease: Difference between revisions

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The meaning of the quote above is that real patients usually have common, boring diseases; so when a patient arrives at the hospital, it's those very same common, boring diseases that doctors should check for ''first'', before even considering the remote possibilities of them contracting something rare and exotic.

On medical TV shows, it's usually the exact opposite: A disease that a real doctor might encounter only once in his whole career could show up on three different shows if it's sufficiently [[Rule of Drama|dramatic]], and will ''definitely'' show up if it's [[Ripped ~~From~~ the Headlines|made the news recently]]. The cast usually knows how rare the disease is, and frequently provides a [[Lampshade Hanging]] of its rarity.

On medical TV shows, it's usually the exact opposite: A disease that a real doctor might encounter only once in his whole career could show up on three different shows if it's sufficiently [[Rule of Drama|dramatic]], and will ''definitely'' show up if it's [[Ripped from the Headlines|made the news recently]]. The cast usually knows how rare the disease is, and frequently provides a [[Lampshade Hanging]] of its rarity.

Some of these diseases are:

* [[Feel No Pain|Congenital Insensitivity to Pain]]: An extremely rare condition, but irresistible to TV writers for both the gruesome results of not feeling pain and its metaphorical implications. Appeared on both ''[[House (TV)|House]]'', ''[[NCIS]]'' and ''~Grey's Anatomy~'' (and even the Australian hospital drama ''[[All Saints]]''), as well as an entire inbred family on ''[[The X-Files]]''.

* Münchhausen's Syndrome: Not that common, but the inherent drama of a patient fooling their doctors has made it a staple of TV. The "by proxy" variant where a parent sickens (or even ''murders'') their children for their doctor's attention, is even rarer, more dramatic, and thus more likely to show up on television.

** The "proxy" variant also makes it useful for criminal shows, as it is not only a disease, but a crime. ''[[Law and Order]]'' has had several, most notably the [[Ripped ~~From~~ the Headlines|Michael Jackson scandal ripoff]] where a woman has her granddaughter pretend to be a victim of said (alleged) molester on top of [[Moral Event Horizon|poisoning her to pretend she has cancer]].

** The "proxy" variant also makes it useful for criminal shows, as it is not only a disease, but a crime. ''[[Law and Order]]'' has had several, most notably the [[Ripped from the Headlines|Michael Jackson scandal ripoff]] where a woman has her granddaughter pretend to be a victim of said (alleged) molester on top of [[Moral Event Horizon|poisoning her to pretend she has cancer]].

* Infertility: Far more common on TV shows of all kinds than in real life. [[Law of Inverse Fertility|Almost all TV couples who desire a child have trouble conceiving.]] Even young women who don't desire a child have strangely high rates of ectopic pregnancies.

* Genetic mosaicism. Has a variety of implications, ranging from brain problems (''[[House (TV)|House]]'') to multiple sets of DNA making criminal activity tough to catch (''[[CSI]]'').

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Note that not every common condition on TV is an example of this; some are [[Truth in Television]]. If every other TV child carrying an asthma inhaler looks unrealistic, consider that the rate of childhood asthma in many developed countries is between one in ten and ''one in five''.

Related to the [[Million to One Chance]]; see also [[You Fail Your Medical Boards Forever]]. No connection to [[Videodrome|that TV show]] that [[Brown Note|literally causes brain tumors]].

Related to the [[Million-to-One Chance]]; see also [[You Fail Your Medical Boards Forever]]. No connection to [[Videodrome|that TV show]] that [[Brown Note|literally causes brain tumors]].

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*** Embarrassing, but it happens. Be careful what you wipe with!

** Removal of a semi-digested book from a depressed author's stomach.

** Separation of adult siamese twins who are joined at the spine and both in love with the same woman. The episode actually went to great pains to point out how completely impossible the procedure was. [[Million to One Chance|Then they succeeded in doing it.]]

** Separation of adult siamese twins who are joined at the spine and both in love with the same woman. The episode actually went to great pains to point out how completely impossible the procedure was. [[Million-to-One Chance|Then they succeeded in doing it.]]

** Girl with a misshapen spine at a 90-degree angle. She had VATER ( now known as VACTERL) syndrome either combined with scoliosis or completely separately.

** Man shot in the chest at point blank range with a bazooka.

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[[Category:Artistic License Medicine]]

[[Category:Televisually Transmitted Disease]]

[[Category:Trope]]

[[Category:Trope]][[Category:Pages with comment tags]]