Monthly Archives: August 2008

We were getting a new patient on the psych unit. This person had been picked up by the police with no ID, psychotic and mute. We were informed we couldn’t admit them as J___ Doe, which was the name the police had given them, because that would reveal their gender, thereby violating their privacy. The admitting office, therefore, assigned them the name “Tangerine Doe.” What I still can’t figure out is exactly who we were trying not to reveal this person’s gender to, and why? Even if I yelled from … Continue reading →