"I would wager that the vast majority of the people who work in medicine first felt called to do so because of an urge to help people"
Obviously.
People who work in the front lines at the hospitals are there to help- no one would endure shitty pay and long hours if they weren't dedicated. And I applaud them.
But I am talking about the BUSINESS of medicine. Businesses are there to make money, not for any altruistic ideals. Bottom line is profits.
"I think it's far too simplistic a viewpoint to say that the medical establishment is only out to get money."
What else are companies in business for? To help me and you? I don't think so.
RE- the Iatrogenic deaths, the breakdown of the figures is at the addy I posted. [According to this article, as little as 20 percent of Iatrogenic acts are reported.]
Adverse drug reactions have little to do with human error. Unnecessary interventions cause many deaths-[and I presume the hospital and doctors make money when they perform operations under medical care policies.]Hospital acquired infections cause many problems and even deaths, and are very common. There are few hospitals that don't have MSRI in their wards, more than you would want to believe.
Medicine is no longer sacred. Research is not unbiased, and you must be aware of the relationship between some pharmaceutical companies and doctors??
Dr. Marcia Angell, a former editor of the New England Journal of medicine, warned that, "When the boundaries between industry and academic medicine become as blurred as they are now, the business goals of industry influence the mission of medical schools in multiple ways." After she left,the NEJM announced that 'it would now accept biased journalists (those who accept money from drug companies) because it is too difficult to find ones who have no ties. '
So even the 'good' doctors will not be able to read a medical journal and know that what they are reading is truthfull, or industry sponsored claptrap.
I just choose to opt out of the entire system as much as possible. If I am involved in an accident,sure, I would want to be taken to a hospital. If I have a chronic illness, I would prefer to treat it myself.
