When patients attack

What would you have done? “My mind raced. Should I try to break his grip on my neck? Hit him in the gut? Aim lower, hitting him in the crotch out of desperate self-preservation? As a primary care physician, I had an arsenal of weapons to fight disease, but in the face of physical aggression, I was helpless . . .

. . . ‘So now you understand the position I was in, and why I did what I did.’ The way he pointed his finger at me still seemed threatening, but the redness in his face was fading and the beginnings of a smile crossed his lips. ‘And why I need you to give me more Percocets, given the shape I’m in after what I’ve been through.'”

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