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Lawsuits Cut Down On Doctors' Special Abbreviations

ARI SHAPIRO, host:

Good morning. I'm Ari Shapiro.

There was a time when doctors spoke a language all their own. They would scribble abbreviations to tell colleagues the unspeakable truth about patients. FLK meant funny-looking kid. UBI - unexplained beer injury. One doctor in London has more than 200 colorful examples. But he tells the BBC lawsuits make it a dying art. Doctors would rather not explain to a judge that TTFO means roughly translated - told to go away.

It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.