Polite Dissent

Best Depiction of Medicine:
The resuscitation scene in Blue Beetle #34. This is the second year in a row that the sadly canceled Blue Beetle has won this award. link

Best Doctor:
Another repeat winner, with Doctor Mid-Nite showing up — and being medically correct and effective (usually) — in such diverse titles as Justice Society of America, Wednesday Comics, and Power Girl.

Best Single Medical or Scientific Concept:
The use of zolpidem (i.e. Ambien) in the treatment of a patient in a coma in Oracle: The Cure #1. This is an area of current research which seems to show some promise in certain comatose patients.link

Best Imaginary Medicine or Treatment:
The “Gamma-Irradiated MGH” mentioned in Amazing Spider-Man #577. I like the idea of power stacking. link

Worst Depiction of Medicine:
The treatment of Luke Cage’s heart attack, spanning five issue of the New Avengers. Sure, he may have unbreakable skin, but that’s no reason to ignore other non-invasive key treatments such as oxygen, aspirin, and nitroglycerin. And once they could finally break his skin, there were much better options than the surgery he finally received (villainous intentions or not).

Worst Doctor:
Michael Morbius, for his incorrect characterization of vaccine safety in the first issue of Marvel Zombies 4. There is enough unfounded concern about vaccines in today’s society already, we don’t need to spread more misnformation. link

Worst Single Medical or Scientific Concept:
Animal Man’s victory using the Bubonic plague in the final issue of The Last Days of Animal Man. The concept fails because 1) it doesn’t match the way his powers work; and 2) it contradicts the new limits on his powers that the previous issues explained in depth, and 3) worst of all, it commits one of the cardinal sins of comic books: the action all occurs off-screen and the readers are told about it in dialogue. The more I think about this scene, the more it bugs me. link

Worst Imaginary Medicine or Treatment:Poison Ivy’s “homeopathic” treatment in Batman: Widening Gyre #1. First, it’s a misuse of the term “homeopathic” — a common problem in comic books; and second, it’s a moot point because homeopathic “medicine” is nothing but quackery in a bottle (or pill, if you prefer). link

Dishonorable Mentions:
Beast’s concern about getting kicked out of the American Medical Association — an organization he couldn’t be a member of in the first place.
Norman Osborn.
Blinding people by turning their optic nerve invisible..