While there’s no denying Jeopardy! is an amazing show that everyone loves, a recent episode of the popular trivia series has a lot of fans upset.
On Monday night’s episode, viewers were caught off guard after an outdated term was used as a trivia question.
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Now, the show is responding to the backlash and apologizing for their misstep.
It’s hard to believe that *Jeopardy!* was under fire after Monday night’s episode.
It’s hard to believe that such a family-friendly trivia show that aims to educate us all could be controversial, but their use of an outdated medical term caused upset on social media.
*Entertainment Weekly* reported that Monday night’s question read:
“Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome is also known as Grinch syndrome because this organ is too small.”
While the correct response was “What is the heart?” the clue itself was incorrect.
The clue was based on disproven evidence and misunderstanding of the condition.
According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke POTS is a blood circulation disorder in which “an excessively reduced volume of blood returns to the heart after an individual stands up from a lying down position,” thus resulting in “a rapid increase in heartbeat of more than 30 beats per minute, or a heart rate that exceeds 120 beats per minute, within 10 minutes of rising.”
POTS has since fallen within what’s now known as dysautonomia.
Dysautonomia International describes it as “an umbrella term used to describe several different medical conditions that cause a malfunction of the Autonomic Nervous System.”
The organization tweeted to let *Jeopardy!* producers that “no one with any credibility calls POTS ‘Grinch Syndrome,'” explaining that it’s “an offensive term.”
Actress Mara Wilson, best known for her role as Matilda in the 1996 classic film, suffers from dysautonomia, and also took to Twitter to let Jeopardy! producers know they’d messed up.
In true *Jeopardy!* fashion, the show was quick to give a dignified and apologetic response.
“Yesterday’s program included a clue about postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS). After hearing from the community, we found we used an outdated and inaccurate term for this disorder, and we apologize,” the show tweeted out.
Dysautonomia International quickly responded to the show’s apology.
“We accept your apology and appreciate that you were willing to listen to our patient community,” they tweeted.
However, not everyone was so willing to forgive and forget.
“How are you going to make sure this doesn’t happen again? How are you going to make this right?” tweeted user @lillielainoff.
They continued. “Most Americans don’t know what POTS is. This will be the first time they’ve heard of it.”
“They are going to think the clue is accurate because of the show’s credibility.”
Other people took issue with the quality of the show overall these days.
“Agreed. It’s as if Alex Trebek was the only quality control and the writers are merrily becoming too precious with clue writing. Or lazy. Or both. Sad to see the decline,” tweeted one concerned user .
While the mistake was absolutely preventable, it’s good to see people have become properly educated on the condition of POTS.
Did you learn something new about this condition? Let us know in the comments below!
