Neurologist Kendra Peterson explored reactions to “The Difficult Patient” in her poem (Fall 2017 Intima) nearly a decade ago. Long before chart cloning and copy forward worked their way into the documentation of the clinical relationship between patient and physician via the keystrokes and dot phrases of the electronic medical record, caregivers have developed shortcuts of stereotyping and rapid assessment that make their lives easier.  Clinical gestalt is often celebrated, while bias is treated as something separate from it.  And is the label “difficult” any different than the convenience of using yesterday’s assessment as the foundation for today’s decisions?  Is propagation of a name or a label such as ‘difficult patient’ a type of plagiarism?