When in Doubt, Blame the Drug

The second physician was a nephrology fellow, who left me with this: “When in doubt, blame the drug.” Since nephrologists are expert drug-blamers, I suspect the early stages of this unfortunate case presented a clinical challenge. In sum, before you “missile lock” onto a diagnosis, consider taking a mental step back to consider broad categories of disease. —DML

References

1. Letko E, Papaliodis DN, Papaliodis GN, et al. Stevens-Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis: a review of the literature. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 2005;94(4):419-436.

2. Cohen V, Jellinek SP, Schwartz RA, et al. Toxic epidermal necrolysis.  Medscape; 2013.  https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/229698-overview. Accessed September 9, 2013.

3. Schulz JT, Sheridan RL, Ryan CM, et al. A 10-year experience with toxic epidermal necrolysis.
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