Healing by Harming
Many traumatically caused injuries, particularly those to the back and neck, create disproportionate symptoms. That’s because such injuries result in both clinical and subclinical harm. Clinical harm is that which is capable of being easily diagnosed: abnormal findings on physical exam or as revealed by diagnostic tests such as x-ray or MRI. Subclinical harm resists […]
A Phenomenology of Injury
Under Illinois law, disability is characterized as a “loss of a normal life.” The Illinois Pattern Jury Instruction, 30.04.02, defines this element of damage as follows: “When I use the expression “loss of a normal life”, I mean the temporary or permanent diminished ability to enjoy life. This includes a person’s inability to pursue the […]
The Supremacy of Facts
The typical case is fact-specific where the outcome turns on the precise circumstances involved. Large ideas—the right to privacy, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, etc.—really do not play that important a role. The finder of fact is more interested in answering a simple question—what actually happened? But at the appellate level courts routinely have […]
Health as a Custom
When we follow a custom or engage in customary behavior we’re adopting the practices of a specific time and place. A custom is both a natural development of what has come before as well as an arbitrarily decided way of organizing society. Dress, manners, etiquette—these are common customs, and each country adopts their own particular […]
Three Shapes of Reasoning
Reasoning is a process that seeks to arrive at correct conclusions. Most view reasoning as linear—a sequential process moving from one step to another. But there are other forms of reasoning as well. Triangular Reasoning. Think of a triangle. Its wide base, which progressively narrows, supports a singular point. A thought process that winnows out […]
Any Fact Becomes Important When It’s Connected to Another
Most have some familiarity with the immediate consequences of a common injury. A back or shoulder strain, for instance, will produce pain in those areas. Less well known, however, is how one injury can lead to the development of a completely unrelated disease process. Take, for example, a traumatic brain injury. Most would readily associate […]
Unmasking the Third Face
The Japanese say you have three faces: the first, you show to the world; the second, you show to your family and friends—and the third, you never show to anyone. It seems clear that in a lawsuit all witnesses voluntarily permit only their first face to be revealed. The first face is that which is […]
Nature Exposed to Our Method of Questioning
One would think that merely observing something would not work a change in that which is being observed. But scientists have long known of “the observer effect.” This refers to changes and alterations that the act of observation makes on that which is being observed. The observer mistakenly believes that his observations, and the information […]
Empowering Rules
Institutions, such as hospitals or large corporations, publish rules to be followed by their staff. One reason such standards exist is to promote some degree of certainty and uniformity. Also, these rules are meant to conform behavior to a more optimal level which, were it not for the rule, might not be routinely practiced. All […]
The Return
It’s a truism that today’s medicine directs its attention primarily to the physical aspects of healing. Examples would include such conventional treatments as drugs and therapy, diagnostic tests and surgery, as well as emerging technologies such as the controlled manipulation of cell-specific MicroRNAs. These treatments are all based on the seemingly common-sense notion that because […]
