[Current clinical medicine and the problem of a "second" disease].

Different interpretations of the term "second disease" are discussed. Most attention is given to the "second disease" as an independent suffering which in the majority of cases develops in connection with medical interference. The causes, pathogenesis, and practical importance of "second diseases" at the present stage of the development of clinical medicine, and their place in the pathoanatomic diagnosis and in tanatogenesis are considered.