MSNBC is reporting that Rick Santorum’s daughter, Bella, has unfortunately been hospitalized again. Considering she has Trisomy 18 multiple hospitalizations are sadly expected.
The article started out well enough, using the National Library of Medicine and a pediatric palliative care expert as sources and reviewing the medical issues faced by children with trisomy 18 who survive. And then I saw it. The dreaded double pneumonia.
There is no such medical diagnosis. Just like the word irregardless, people use it, but that doesn’t make it correct nor prevent it from sounding like fingernails down a chalk board. I once broke up with someone because he used irregardless 3 times in an evening. I mean, really.
So let’s get one thing straight. Double pneumonia is not a medical diagnosis. When I hear it, I wonder do they mean:
A) twice as bad
B) 2 lobes
C) both lungs
D) 2 organisms
E) all of the above (although that’s typically reserved for the dreaded The Double Pneumonia, because according to my 83-year-old dad adding The in front of a medical diagnosis makes it really, really bad).
Many people use news sites as a valid source of medical facts, so being factual, which includes using correct medical terminology, is essential. What if double pneumonia came from a Santorum press release? Ignore any inaccuracies and report the facts.
Lay terminology is fine if it has a widely accepted meaning (think heart attack for myocardial infarction), but double pneumonia is sloppy and makes me wonder what else is wrong with the piece.
Because that boyfriend who used irregardless? Well, I broke up with him that night. And a wise move it was, because later I found out that he also listened to Rush Limbaugh!