Channeling my inner James Carville and Willie Sutton

    “It’s the chronically ill, stupid. That’s where the money is”   Every medical student has learned “Sutton’s Law”. When we are trying to teach trainees to prioritize diagnostic evaluations we tell them to “go where the money is”, to focus on the most likely diagnoses. “Where the money is” is a quote attributed to the bank robber Willie Sutton. A gentlemanly robber who never carried a loaded gun and never took money from the bank’s patrons or the guards, Mr. Sutton was supposedly interviewed during one of his lengthy prison stays and asked by the reporter why he robbed banks. The reporter quoted Sutton as saying “because that’s where the money is.” Although Mr. Sutton denied ever saying those words, they persisted as “Sutton’s Law”.   When political strategist James Carville was trying to keep his candidate, one William Jefferson Clinton, focused on the real issues in his... continue reading...