When TNT announced its newest television drama "Monday Mornings," some people in New York were concerned at how it would be received by the public. After all, it wasn't your typical medical drama; this wasn't based on the heroics of medicine like many other shows.
A majority of people across the nation remember the television drama ER in which such notables as George Clooney and Anthony Edwards played the roles of doctors saving the lives of people with seconds left to spare. But where the show lacked was in its portrayal of what really goes on in hospitals; the not so friendly world of medical malpractice that few people in the public actually know about.
This was the intention behind "Monday Mornings" though, says the show's executive producer, Dr. Sanjay Gupta. But some critics have asked how audiences will receive a show that focuses on medicines failures instead of its victories. In fact, some have questioned how this will desensitize people to the seriousness of doctor errors, reducing it to nothing more than a mistake that can be wrapped up in the time it takes to run a television episode.
According to Dr. Gupta, he simply wants to portray surgery and the world of medicine accurately; the good and the bad. This includes showing the scrutiny doctors face when held accountable for mistakes during med-mal board meetings.
Though these meetings may make for gripping television drama, viewers need to remember that in many of the episodes, the scenes are based on real-life medical mistakes that could have caused a patient serious injury-or worse, death. And although the show will attempt to show the good and the bad of medicine, only time will tell what impact it will have on people's impression of these serious incidences.
Source: The Naples News, "CNN's Sanjay Gupta adds fiction to his workload," The Associated Press, Feb. 4, 2013
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