ARE MEDICAL
S TUDENTS
HAZARDOUS TO
YOUR HEALTH?
A new study finds that fatal medication
errors peak at teaching hospitals in July,
when new medical residents are given
increased responsibility for patient care.
When Medicine Makes You Sick
Health Report
The same drug you’ve been taking for 10 years can have sudden side effects
BY MARY A. FISCHER PHOTOGRAPH BY MARK LUND
L
OS ANGELES CIVIL ATTORNEY LISA HERBERT (not
her real name), 61, was shopping at Trader Joe’s one
evening in June 2009 when she suddenly became dis-
oriented. For an hour she wandered the aisles in a haze,
filling her cart with chocolate cupcakes and frozen tamales. At home she talked
incessantly, yelled at her roommate, and—convinced she had found an ingenious
way to clean the apartment—yanked a fire extinguisher off the wall and sprayed
the kitchen and bathroom with a thick
white foam.
