From a Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions study:

TV medical dramas 'rife' with bioethical issues and breaches of professional conduct.

"The authors of the review, available in the April issue of the Journal of Medical Ethics, say they were well aware that their findings would end up stating the obvious. But they nonetheless wanted to provide data that would shed light on the relationship of these depictions on the perceptions of viewers, both health professionals and the general public.

"I think the utility in our study is that it provides a starting point for a discussion," says fourth-year medical student Matthew Czarny, a researcher at the Berman Institute. "In no way are we saying that these shows are educational in and of themselves."

But these shows do use bias to misinform and engender an unreasonable expectation that the end justifies the means.

"They also tallied 22 incidents of "ethically questionable departures from standard practice," most of them depicting doctors endangering patients unnecessarily in their pursuit of a favorable outcome. "In almost all of these incidents (18 out of 22), the implicated physician is not penalized," the authors note.

Czarny, the study's lead author, recalled an episode of "Grey's Anatomy" in which an intern forged an attending physician's signature. "When this is discovered, the attending seems somewhat grateful that that was pursued," Czarny said. And he cited another egregious example from the show, in which an intern administers medical care while intoxicated.

The study also examined 400 incidents of professionalism, which included interactions among professional colleagues, as well as those with patients. The authors limited their count to incidents they defined as either "exemplary" or "egregious."

"Incidents related to respect were the most frequently observed across both series, and depictions were largely negative," the authors concluded. The next most commonly observed departure from professionalism was sexual misconduct, with 58 incidents notched by the second season of "Grey's Anatomy" and 11 in "House."

Out of 178 interactions between professionals, across all issues, the authors deemed just nine exemplary in nature.

Acknowledging that both series are intended for entertainment purposes, the Berman Institute group said none of the findings were unexpected. And because the study was a content analysis, the authors did not set out to determine the value of these medical dramas as educational tools."

Ever wonder why there's no lawyers in medical shows?