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Neil Izenberg, MD; Steven A. Dowshen, MD
Albert Einstein Medical Center Philadelphia, Pa

JAMA. 1992;267(9):1209.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.

—In this report, we describe a common but previously uncharacterized clinical entity affecting hospital staff physicians: "beeper obliternas." The essential element of this syndrome is the periodic emission of high-pitched electronic tones secondary to an everincreasing abdominal girth that impinges on the test button located on the superior aspect of the wearer's pager-beeper.

Using a modified version of the Disease Staging¹ methodology, we (two staff pediatricians with 25 years of combined experience) have described this condition's inexorable march (see Table).

Advancement to stage 4 is directly correlated to a body mass index of 35 kg/m² or greater, clinical service of 10 or more years, and knowledge of the code for the patient pantry-door lock. Of interest is the notable "silent phase"

seen at the level of departmental chairman (when beeper is shed and all calls are taken by the secretary, program director, or safely ignored). . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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