White Coats and Black Swans
A Doctor's Descent Into Misdiagnosis and Madness
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Pub Date Oct 13 2026 | Archive Date Nov 16 2026
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Description
When Scott Standage, MD—a successful rehabilitation medicine physician—began experiencing persistent fatigue, brain fog, and extreme daytime sleepiness, he initially chalked it up to stress or burnout. Instead, a sleep study revealed severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a common condition that is serious if untreated but readily managed with appropriate care. Yet when he sought treatment through his healthcare network, the diagnosis was dismissed out of hand. Instead, doctors incorrectly labeled him with periodic limb movement disorder (PLMD)—a rare, widely disputed diagnosis that many sleep experts question as even legitimate—and prescribed powerful psychoactive medications. Predictably, his symptoms spiraled.
What followed was a devastating descent into full-blown psychosis—paranoid delusions, multiple involuntary psychiatric holds, career collapse, and nearly total rejection by friends and family. The true cause? Misdiagnosis, untreated sleep apnea, and polypharmacy. As both a doctor and a patient, Scott was uniquely positioned to understand the system’s failures—but powerless to escape them. His survival—and the consequences he still carries—along with his hard-fought legal vindication expose a profound diagnostic failure at the heart of modern medicine.
Advance Praise
“Dr. Scott Standage bravely shares his deeply personal story about the devastating consequences of overlooking a differential diagnosis. If such a critical mistake can happen to an experienced physician in the heart of Silicon Valley, it serves as a powerful reminder that it can happen to anyone.”
—Katharine Ball, MD, Palo Alto Medical Foundation
“White Coats and Black Swans feels like the film Memento trapped inside an episode of The Pitt for the prior-authorization generation, where every doctor insists that the chart matters more than the patient. A terrifying reminder that one bad diagnosis can turn your entire life into a reality you no longer recognize.”
—Matthew Zachary, author of We the Patients: Understanding, Navigating, and Surviving America’s Healthcare Nightmare
“A heart-wrenching view into the complex and often imperfect patient experience. Dr. Standage shares his personal journey in vivid detail, allowing a rare glimpse into the collisions between patients, doctors, the pharmaceutical industry, hospital systems, and broader society. Hopefully, Dr. Standage’s courage in sharing these details will help other patients and physicians by highlighting some of the dangers lurking in our healthcare delivery systems today.”
—Brendan McCarthy, MD, ophthalmologist at Harvard Medical School
“I became aware of Dr. Standage’s odyssey over the past few years as a colleague in the same office. Following a differential diagnosis and taking the time to do your own examination and critical thinking makes all the difference in arriving at the optimal outcome. We, as physicians, are extraordinarily privileged to obtain all the training and knowledge from those who came before us and have the power to use it to help others. [What happened to Dr. Standage] is a complete dereliction of duty by all those complicit in his ordeal.”
—David Kassel, MD, FACC, board-certified in cardiovascular disease and internal medicine
Available Editions
| EDITION | Hardcover |
| ISBN | 9798891389946 |
| PRICE | $29.99 (USD) |
| PAGES | 280 |