Pain. Iv. its Place of Origin
Mettler, F.A.
Journal of the Medical Society of New Jersey 61: 181-183
1964
ISSN/ISBN: 0025-7524 PMID: 14145910 Document Number: 9541
The discussion of the place of origin of pain cannot be concluded without specifically reemphasizing the necessity for the physician to be on his guard against attributing any particular pain (1) to the cause assigned to it by the patient, or, (2) to an apparently adequate structural cause, without excluding other possible causes. Few physicians fall into the trap of giving full faith and credit to a patient's statement about what may be the cause of his pain, but the present writer's experience on The Medical Society of New Jersey's Committee of Medical Defense and Insurance leads him to conclude that it is not superfluous to insist that the examining physician should always search beyond the first adequate cause he encounters for any particular pain. It is worth remembering that it is the cause that is overlooked (not the one which is found) which turns up in a professional liability suit.
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