On Saturday 23 Dec 2006 11:11 am, Aditya Kapil wrote: > So are nosocomial infections iatrogenic? Or does the doctor have to be > driectly involved.
Good question. Nobody's asked that one before and maybe I should escape by saying they are "idiopathic" I think a nosocomial infection should really be classified as iatrogenic - but I guess people might dispute that. One of the issues here may be that old and out of fashion words don't die as new words are coined. The word "iatrogenic" I guess should be used purely for conditions that treatment by a doctor has caused - but "treatment" by a doctor usually involves drugs or tubes/instruments and many iatrogenic conditions are also called "side effects of drug therapy". Looked at in this way, the number of conditions that can be described as iatrogenic is huge and by and large unavoidable for anyone who seeks medical attention. Most are trivial or harmless although a few cause serious morbidity. shiv
