By Cassandra Fairbanks
The iconic quiz show Jeopardy has issued an apology on Twitter after facing backlash for using an “outdated” and “inaccurate” medical clue on Monday’s episode.
The clue, read by guest host Savannah Guthrie, was “Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome [POTS] is also known as Grinch syndrome because this organ is too small.”
The answer, of course, was the heart.
“This appeared on Jeopardy tonight. Grinch syndrome is an offensive term. Can you imagine Jeopardy making light of cancer or MS patients with a “funny” name for their debilitating health condition? Not acceptable. We’d love to see real questions about the autonomic nervous system,” a viewer tweeted.
This appeared on Jeopardy tonight. Grinch syndrome is an offensive term. Can you imagine Jeopardy making light of cancer or MS patients with a "funny" name for their debilitating health condition? Not acceptable. We'd love to see real questions about the autonomic nervous system. pic.twitter.com/kqetij1Jwx
— Dysautonomia Intl. (@Dysautonomia) June 22, 2021
“No one on my medical team for my POTS calls it Grinch syndrome. In part because they know it’s a disorder of my autonomic nervous system. Btw, echocardiograms show my heart is normal size,” another viewer added.
No one on my medical team for my POTS calls it Grinch syndrome. In part because they know it's a disorder of my autonomic nervous system. Btw, echocardiograms show my heart is normal size.
— Raven Mae (@MaeNena73) June 22, 2021
Another woman tweeted a photo of her television screen writing, “this isn’t accurate at all. would love some pots representation and awareness but this ain’t it my dude” with an upset emoji. She added, “my heart is normal sized!!!!!!! (don’t listen to my exes or jeopardy).”
my heart is normal sized!!!!!!! (don’t listen to my exes or jeopardy)
— blazy susan (@kvz93) June 22, 2021
The Hill reports that “according to the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, POTS is ‘a condition characterized by too little blood returning to the heart when moving from a lying down to a standing up position.’ Patients often experience fainting or lightheadedness in addition to an accelerated increase in a patient’s heart rate.”
POTS affects between one and three million Americans and typically, “the structure of the heart itself is normal,” according to John Hopkins Medicine.
Jeopardy apologized for using the term the following day.
Yesterday’s program included a clue about postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS). After hearing from the community, we found we used an outdated and inaccurate term for this disorder, and we apologize.
— Jeopardy! (@Jeopardy) June 22, 2021
“Yesterday’s program included a clue about postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS). After hearing from the community, we found we used an outdated and inaccurate term for this disorder, and we apologize,” the tweet stated.
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