Stop Talking ‘Dirty’: Clinicians, Language, and Quality of Care for the Leading Cause of Preventable Death in the United States

A patient with diabetes has “an elevated glucose” level. A patient with cardiovascular disease has “a positive exercise tolerance test” result. A clinician within the health care setting addresses the results. An “addict” is not “clean”—he has been “abusing” drugs and has a “dirty” urine sample. Someone outside the system that cares for all other health conditions addresses the results. In the worst case, the drug use is addressed by...