Accidental death is a public health problem. What can we do about it?
“Do you have a family history of sudden death?”
In medical school, I learned to ask my patients this standard prompt during sports physicals, in search of possible hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Their answers often surprised me.
Many of my patients do have relatives who suffered a “sudden, unexplained death,” often the result of a murder or suicide. Which feels, in a way, utterly unexplainable.
The impact of violence, including deliberate self-harm, is overwhelming: According …
