Bernard Patten > Quotes

“People with right hemisphere dysfunction are often sons-of-bitches, and this may have been Shy’s problem. If the right hemisphere is suppressed, the left takes over. The left hemisphere has its own agenda and often lacks feeling and rapport. That fact was demonstrated by Sperry’s studies of humans who had their corpus callosum cut for the control of generalized seizures. In these patients, the left hemisphere takes charge of the right hand, and the right takes charge of the left. Arguments occur about what to wear. The right hemisphere goes for flashy colorful clothes and instructs the left hand accordingly, and the left hemisphere goes for more conservative apparel and instructs the right hand to pick accordingly. Sperry showed me a video of the right hand and the left battling it out over what to wear. The patient could not make up her mind because she actually had two minds in conflict. In another patient, the right hemisphere preferred a date with a go-go dancer.”
― Bernard Patten, Neurology Rounds with the Maverick: Adventures with Patients from the Golden Age of Medicine

“the absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.”
― Bernard Patten, Neurology Rounds with the Maverick: Adventures with Patients from the Golden Age of Medicine

“The only thing you absolutely have to know is the location of the library.” Albert Einstein”
― Bernard Patten, Neurology Rounds with the Maverick: Adventures with Patients from the Golden Age of Medicine

“The sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church was a great tragedy and a largely self-inflicted wound. But Philip Jenkins points out in his study, Pedophiles and Priests, the actual incidence of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church and its school system is no higher than in other institutions. In fact, it is less than what exists in the New York City school system. This is not offered in any way as a defense. That such abuse should have existed at all is unforgivable. But this prompts the next question: why was the Catholic Church scandal the one that got so much attention from the media, public officials, and lawyers. Answer: the Church, like the implant companies, kept good records and had liquid and real property assets. They were an easy target and did not enjoy the special legal protections of the New York City School System.”
― Bernard Patten, Neurology Rounds with the Maverick: Adventures with Patients from the Golden Age of Medicine

“To expect some people to admit a mistake is to expect too much.”
― Bernard Patten, Neurology Rounds with the Maverick: Adventures with Patients from the Golden Age of Medicine

“Ignorance is not altogether bad, especially if the ignorance involves knowing that you don’t know something.”
― Bernard Patten, Neurology Rounds with the Maverick: Adventures with Patients from the Golden Age of Medicine

“Every time you give a patient a treatment, you are experimenting to see what will happen. As every patient is unique, medical work is essentially experimental, uncertain, and, consequently, prone to error. And no treatment is absolutely necessary.”
― Bernard Patten, Neurology Rounds with the Maverick: Adventures with Patients from the Golden Age of Medicine

“Clinical medicine requires, I firmly believe, a different approach than the application of reductionist analysis. No simple cookbook or set of guidelines can possibly encompass the complexity of dealing with individual patients and their illness. Thus, medicine must remain an art and a science, and the doctors must exert a human understanding of each individual patient to obtain the best results.”
― Bernard Patten, Neurology Rounds with the Maverick: Adventures with Patients from the Golden Age of Medicine

“Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.”
― Bernard Patten, Neurology Rounds with the Maverick: Adventures with Patients from the Golden Age of Medicine

“I called Stanley Crawford and asked him to find out for me who was the best surgeon to do thymectomies (removal of thymus) for my myasthenic patients. He said, “I’ll check around and call you back.” Nine minutes later, Stanley was back on the phone, “I checked. The best surgeon is ME!”
― Bernard Patten, Neurology Rounds with the Maverick: Adventures with Patients from the Golden Age of Medicine

“Your youth is your greatest weapon. Use it and your time wisely. Be intelligent. Be adventurous. Be all you can be.”
― Bernard Patten, Neurology Rounds with the Maverick: Adventures with Patients from the Golden Age of Medicine

“Poets tell us eyes are the windows to the soul. They are also the windows to the brain.”
― Bernard Patten, Neurology Rounds with the Maverick: Adventures with Patients from the Golden Age of Medicine

“Getting a good history is the key to understanding disease and often predicts the future. And in getting the history, the patient’s tone, body language, and so forth are important in evaluating the
situation.”
― Bernard Patten, Neurology Rounds with the Maverick: Adventures with Patients from the Golden Age of Medicine