Ditch the Snake Before ER Trip

Yes, your doctor wants to know everything about you. But that doesn't mean he needs to see it, physician Edwin Leap writes on his blog. Here are a few things he'd prefer emergency-room patients leave at home:

• The snake that bit you: "Irrational? Probably. But phobias are phobias."
• Anything that comes out either end. Got it?

• Your sick pet. Hit the vet instead.
• Your wife and girlfriend/husband and boyfriend—at the same time. "Always a prescription for trouble."
• A cell phone video camera. No filming other patients.

For the full list of ER no-nos, click the link below. (More Edwin Leap stories.)