“The things patients complain about, like excessive noise, may be more than a nuisance. They may actually be bad for their health,” writes Drake Bennett on noise pollution in hospitals. “The fight to quiet the hospital is part of a growing appreciation of the ways that hospitals themselves can be unhealthy for patients: While focusing on one problem, they can expose patients to others, such as infections, drug errors, and stressful, invasive care at a time when they are at their most vulnerable,” says Bennett.