There has been recently yet another account of a physical assault by a patient towards a doctor. The scenario is a familiar one, a drunken male in the emergency department with a minor injury. A tirade of verbal abuse and racist slurs was followed by physical violence against the doctor. The account highlights a problem that we have lived with for a long time. One of the most difficult situations faced by doctors is being threatened, abused, or physically harmed by one of their patients. Young doctors who are still in training and on the front line are most at risk of injury.