The Last Well Person

“A well person is a patient who has not been completely worked up.” -- a resident's answer to the question, “What is a well person?” (Freymann J: personal communication).“There must be something the matter with someone who goes to see a doctor when there is nothing the matter”1.Well people are disappearing. I should have known it was coming when the invalids became extinct. (Invalids disappeared shortly after the advent of Medicare, which demanded specific diagnostic labels even though none applied2.) However, I began to realize what was happening only a year ago, at a dinner party. . . .