I too could post some personal experiences but I'd rather have you all read today's (9/10/99) New York Times Science Section article by Sandeep Jauhar, MD about this very subject at: http://www.nytimes.com "First, Do No Harm: When Patients Suffer" I would also like to recommend a fictionalized, funny (but very true) account of how hospitals *really* operate: "The House of God" by Samuel Shem, MD (Same author also wrote "Mount Misery") Victoria Nordli cg