JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association
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Cao gío is the Vietnamese practice of rubbing the skin with a coin to alleviate various common symptoms of illness. The back, neck, head, shoulder, and chest are common sites of application. ⋯ A survey of 50 Vietnamese living in the United States since 1975 and 1976 has shown marked distrust of American Physicians, owing largely to actual or perceived criticism of cao gío. Acceptance of cao gío as a valid cultural practice will facilitate compliance and adequate medical follow-up.
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We prospectively studied all patients admitted to a multidisciplinary intensive care unit to determine how many of their diseases were iatrogenic and, of these, what number were potentially avoidable. Of 325 patients admitted in the course of one year, 41 (12.6%) were hospitalized because of iatrogenic disease. ⋯ Nevertheless, 19 patients (46.3%) were admitted with iatrogenic disease resulting from therapeutic or technical errors that were potentially avoidable. Iatrogenic disease was fatal in eight cases, life-threatening in 13, moderate in 20.