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Iatrogenic
An iatrogenic cause does not always mean that the doctor is guilty of a lack of care or knowledge. This is because even most effective treatments for many conditions have possible unwanted effects associated with them. Iatrogenic comes from the Greek word "iatros" meaning "physician," and the Greek word "gen" meaning "producing." Put the two words together and you have "physician producing."
A response by a patient to one or more of the following causes: (1) medical treatment, (2) surgical treatment, (3) a procedure to help diagnose something, (4) a doctor, (5) a surgeon, and (6) exposure to the environment of a health care facility. The response is usually a bad one and the cause is usually accidental. An example would be a patient developing a rash because of a medication the doctor prescribed. This would be called an iatrogenic rash. In some cases, the bad response to one of the causes mentioned above can develop into a medical disorder, disease, or condition. In such a case, this would be described as an iatrogenic disorder, disease, or condition.
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