The term "patient zero" has been a fraught one over the last several years.
Most recently, it received renewed scrutiny after 980 contributors and staffers at The New York Times sent a letter to management, characterizing the paper's coverage of transgender people as hostile. Chief among their complaints was Staff Writer Emily Bazelon's use of the term in her piece about the debates taking place in the gender therapy field among doctors who are trying to figure out the best course of medical treatment for trans-identifying patients, particularly those who are minors. "Emily Bazelon's article…uncritically used the term 'patient zero' to refer to a trans child seeking gender-affirming care, a phrase that vilifies transness as a disease to be feared," the contributors wrote. That complaint misses the mark and illuminates the perils of policing language.
