Let's Give the Boy a Hand - S1-E4
Factual error: When Dexter and Doakes are looking at the severed foot wearing a soccer cleat, Dexter states, "The foot was severed between the tarsus and the metatarsus." However, the foot was severed proximal to the tarsus, through the tibia and fibula. The cut was easily too high to be between the tarsus and metatarsus. (00:16:45)
Factual error: When Dexter is in the hospital as a child, the doctor says that Dexter has a very rare blood type, AB negative. Although it's very rare, the people with AB- can receive donor blood with A-, B-, AB- and 0-. AB- is a very good blood-type when you need to receive blood. While it is true that hospitals normally have to use AB- because of the complexity of other proteins (and to prevent adverse reactions), in case of an emergency, like Dexter's, and a shortage, a hospital will use a blood type close enough to not likely cause a reaction. In this situation, the hospital would give Dexter O-, B-, or A- instead as blood loss would normally kill a patient long before a suitable donor could be located, called in, admitted to the hospital, and have the transfusion set up. (00:31:00 - 00:32:00)
Shrink Wrap - S1-E8
Factual error: In the police report Dexter examines, Emmett Meridian's name is followed by PhD, and yet he is referred to as a psychiatrist and prescribes medication. A psychiatrist would have an MD after his name, and a psychologist (PhD) cannot legally prescribe meds.
Shrink Wrap - S1-E8
Factual error: Dr. Meridian's victims are suicidal following withdrawal of an antidepressant, begging for more, and Dexter refers to the doctor getting his patients addicted to antidepressants. This reflects a disappointing and fundamental misunderstanding of the science of antidepressants. Even those that have "discontinuation syndromes" do not produce mood swings this wild. It is possible (though unlikely) that a random individual would have this reaction to discontinuation of an antidepressant, but Dr. Meridian would need to be in control of his victims' descent, to be sure they would become suicidal so that he could suggest the use of a gun and be sure their suicides would be successful. There are no mainstream antidepressants that would produce this effect upon withdrawal.
Factual error: When Dexter is reading the list of drugs found in the autopsy of the murder victim, one listed is "Cialopram." This is a misspelling of the antidepressant Citalopram; misspellings do not occur on drugs lists in toxicology reports, as they are computer-generated. (00:37:10)
Suggested correction: It is possible for someone to be both a medical practitioner and have a PhD.
Someone with both a Doctor of Medicine and a Doctor of Philosophy would have both MD and PhD after their name. Not having an MD after your name means you can't prescribe medicine.
Bishop73
Yes, but in that case, both MD and PhD are listed after their name. Why would the report eliminate the MD, which is the more prestigious of the two degrees and certainly would have been noted during the investigation?
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