Pathologists are key figures in a new movie titled “Pathology.” It centers around a newly graduated pathologist, played by Milo Ventimiglia, who, with several pathology interns, become interested in committing the perfect murder—by leaving no clues for detectives and the medical examiner. Released in theaters last month, “Pathology” is not headed for blockbuster status. In the United States, it opened on April 18 in 46 theaters and grossed $54,244 for the weekend. “Pathology” opened on 259 screens in the United Kingdom on April 13 and grossed £313,886 (US$623,859) during its first weekend.
MORE ON: Pathology the Movie
To date, the critics have not been kind to “Pathology.” The Hollywood Reporter said, “A particularly nasty slice of medical-themed horror…‘Pathology’ will best appeal to… people who look up crime-scene photos on the Internet. Bottom line: DOA.” Even the horror movie fan site Horror Asylum was unflattering, saying, “Sadly, the film tries to be sensationalist at every turn to make up for a lack of depth.” THE DARK REPORT observes that this film is unlikely to encourage us to start a movie review section.
MEDICAL JOURNAL HITS MISDIAGNOSIS
Addressing the issue of misdiagnosis, a supplement to the May issue of The American Journal of Medicine (AJM) reports that pathologists, radiologists, and dermatologists make diagnostic errors in more than 5% of all cases. Physicians in other fields likely make incorrect diagnoses in about
10% to 15% of cases. AJM suggests improvement will come from developing systems to provide physicians with better feedback on errors.
JAPAN’S HEALTH SYSTEM TACKLES PREVENTIVE CARE
Imagine the uproar in the United States if a federal health initiative used waist size as a trigger for a healthcare intervention! That’s happening in Japan, where the health system is launching a new program to identify individuals at risk for so-called metabolic syndrome. Males with a waist of 85 centimeters or larger (33.46 inches) and females with a waist of 90 centimeters or larger (35.53 inches), once identified, will undergo blood tests and have their blood pressure measured. If two of three measures are found to be high (high blood sugar level, high blood pressure, high lipid levels), these individuals will be required to receive counseling by public health nurses and will be asked to make lifestyle changes.
Dark Daily Update
Have you caught the latest e-briefings from DARK Daily? If so, then you’d know about…
…DARK Daily’s visit to the BML laboratory outside of Tokyo, Japan, which services 150,000 patients per day and requires only three med techs to perform 60,000 chemistry panels nightly!
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