Information and free will: brain scan value? (Introduction)

by Balance_Maintained , U.S.A., Wednesday, November 16, 2011, 01:30 (4757 days ago) @ David Turell

B_M

Modern medicine is a 'practice' in which the 'medical practioners' are rewarded for giving mind and body altering chemicals in copious amounts to their test subjects... I mean guinea pigs.. I mean patients. Most often, the drugs and side effects are worse than the disease. In all cases, when the drugs are developed they are not taking their effect on the body as a whole into consideration, nor do they possess the understanding to do so with any degree of confidence. When charge for medical treatment and prescription drugs, you are putting a price on peoples health. Unfortunately, that also means that there is more money to be made if people are not healthy.

DHW

There is right and wrong in your comments. When I was in practice I saw benefit from my prescriptions in the vast majority of circumstances. I wanted my guys healthy. Many of them became my friends. Now there are the unscrupulous docs, a' la Dr. Murray, but that is another aspect of the problem.

There are people out there that take their Hippocratic oath seriously, and take it to heart, who truly want to help others. Unfortunately, in my experience they are in the minority compared with those who entered the medical profession because it is a financially sound decision.

My current dentist, for example, is a wonderful man. He cares about his patients and works hard to meet their needs in a thoughtful, efficient, and economical manner while keeping their overall dental health in the forefront. He gladly discusses alternative treatments for patients who express concern over certain common dental practices and gives sound solid advice. In contrast, the one prior to was a money grubbing slime ball who would do a double root canal on perfectly health teeth because he knew he would get the insurance money and could charge $3000 for a little amount of work.

For eight years, prior to being diagnosed with cancer, my mother was repeated prescribed lithium, zoloft, prozac, and a whole pharmacy of other mind altering chemicals because none of her doctors could be bothered to investigate the underlying reasons for her condition. They treated the symptom, not the disease. By the time they did find it, it was nearly too late and she had to undergo seven abdominal surgeries and lots of chemo. To this day she is not 100% recovered, but she survived and is much, much better. It all could have been avoided though if they had taken the time and showed enough concern for their patient's well being to thoroughly investigate the problem.

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What is the purpose of living? How about, 'to reduce needless suffering. It seems to me to be a worthy purpose.