title: Two cases of misdiagnosis: some essentials of intake.
abstract: This article traces the history of two clinical cases. The first case describes a substance abusing patient who enacted the part of a narcotics addict. This enactment was affirmed by both alcohol and narcotic treatment programs, leading to a misdiagnosis. The second case describes a substance using client misdiagnosed as a result of assumptions made by the referral source. Biases inherent in the assessment of drug involved patients are illustrated and the utility of the hypotheses testing approach as a method of diagnostic error reduction and correction is discussed.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003379:Countertransference; D003951:Diagnostic Errors; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009293:Opioid-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology