Let me start by saying that I think most doctors are decent people who want to help their patients. But sometimes I struggle to fathom the way they think. Dr. Michael Eades says most doctors aren't critical thinkers, so maybe that explains it. (Eades is a former civil engineer. If you can't solve problems, you don't last long in engineering school.)
First, I have to wonder about the common sense (let alone critical thinking) of physicians, who in general can't transform a six-figure income into large nest egg. Yes, physicians have expenses, but so do the rest of us. Why don't they just start an IRA with Vanguard and set up automatic payments? How does this concern you if you're not a doctor? Where there's money, there's motive. Prescribing statins, PPIs and diabetes drugs and recommending ADA and AHA diets sounds a lot easier, and more profitable, than revisiting endocrinology textbooks, learning to interpret medical studies, and working with patients to improve their lifestyle. ADA and AHA high-carb diets will make diabetics worse and keep them coming back for more appointments, more services and more prescriptions. The same diet will keep GERD patients (I was one) coming back periodically for a new prescription.
Digestive tract issues bring me to my second point. For reasons I can't begin to fathom, two doctors, Robert Wilcox, MD and Okay H. Odocha MD, subjected a suspect to fourteen hours of invasive procedures at a hospital to find drugs. The suspect was stopped for not coming to a complete stop at a stop sign. The good doctors didn't find any drugs, and the hospital has billed the man $6,000 for raping him. The search warrant wasn't valid for the county where Wilcox and Odocha of the Gila Hospital of Horrors were on duty. (To the medical profession's credit, the first doctor the cops went to refused to do a search, saying it was unethical.) The colonoscopy the man went through carries risks of a "Hole or tear in the wall of the colon that requires surgery to repair, infection needing antibiotic therapy (very rare), and reaction to the medicine you take to relax, causing breathing problems or low blood pressure."
Didn't the doctors think anything beyond an x-ray was excessive? Or that performing medical procedures for non-medical reasons was inappropriate? Didn't they read the warrant, or wonder if fourteen hours of poking someone's rectum against his will was an invitation for a lawsuit?
The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity by Carlo M. Cipolla opines that "reasonable people have difficulty in conceiving and understanding unreasonable behaviour....Nobody knows, understands or can possibly explain why that preposterous creature does what he does." All you can do is think for yourself and protect yourself. Or file a multi-million dollar lawsuit.
First, I have to wonder about the common sense (let alone critical thinking) of physicians, who in general can't transform a six-figure income into large nest egg. Yes, physicians have expenses, but so do the rest of us. Why don't they just start an IRA with Vanguard and set up automatic payments? How does this concern you if you're not a doctor? Where there's money, there's motive. Prescribing statins, PPIs and diabetes drugs and recommending ADA and AHA diets sounds a lot easier, and more profitable, than revisiting endocrinology textbooks, learning to interpret medical studies, and working with patients to improve their lifestyle. ADA and AHA high-carb diets will make diabetics worse and keep them coming back for more appointments, more services and more prescriptions. The same diet will keep GERD patients (I was one) coming back periodically for a new prescription.
Digestive tract issues bring me to my second point. For reasons I can't begin to fathom, two doctors, Robert Wilcox, MD and Okay H. Odocha MD, subjected a suspect to fourteen hours of invasive procedures at a hospital to find drugs. The suspect was stopped for not coming to a complete stop at a stop sign. The good doctors didn't find any drugs, and the hospital has billed the man $6,000 for raping him. The search warrant wasn't valid for the county where Wilcox and Odocha of the Gila Hospital of Horrors were on duty. (To the medical profession's credit, the first doctor the cops went to refused to do a search, saying it was unethical.) The colonoscopy the man went through carries risks of a "Hole or tear in the wall of the colon that requires surgery to repair, infection needing antibiotic therapy (very rare), and reaction to the medicine you take to relax, causing breathing problems or low blood pressure."
Didn't the doctors think anything beyond an x-ray was excessive? Or that performing medical procedures for non-medical reasons was inappropriate? Didn't they read the warrant, or wonder if fourteen hours of poking someone's rectum against his will was an invitation for a lawsuit?
The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity by Carlo M. Cipolla opines that "reasonable people have difficulty in conceiving and understanding unreasonable behaviour....Nobody knows, understands or can possibly explain why that preposterous creature does what he does." All you can do is think for yourself and protect yourself. Or file a multi-million dollar lawsuit.
Comments
What a world this is at times.........
All the best Jan
What I DO NOT understand is physicians who INSIST that their patients MUST take statins and sometimes even fire patients who refuse, physicians who use scare tactics to convince perfectly healthy people that they will soon die of heart problems if they don't take statins, and physicians who simply refuse to recognize the serious side effects with no appreciable benefit. These doctors are no more trustworthy than the doctors you describe.
I'm fortunate to have a physician who agrees to disagree about statins and is willing to work with me to monitor my health and advise me on how to remain healthy despite my lack of statins. HE is worthy of my trust!
A patient can accept a written prescription if the doctor needs to write one to cover himself, but doesn't have to fill it.