Teaching medical ethics - Do studies of the nature of cases mislead about the reality of cases? A response to Pattison et al

This article questions whether many are misled by current case studies. Thr ee broad types of style of case study are described. A stark style, based o n medical case studies, a fictionalised style in reaction, and a personal s tatement made in discussion groups by an original protagonist. Only the sec ond type fits Pattison's category.(1) Language remains an important issue, but to be examined as the case is lived in discussion rather than as a pote ntially reductionist study of the case as text.