The Medical Profession Is No Longer Noble
Noble profession, phooey. The last doctors I met who cared more about their patient’s health than money, were my best friend’s parents & my family doctor. I don’t believe those kind of doctors exist any more.
My grandfather died because his oncologists did not advise us at all on post-op care. On a night I stayed with him, I saw the on-call doctor with at another patient’s family. They had approached him fearfully to tell him that the oxygen tank of their loved one was empty. He snarled at them with, “So? Am I supposed to pick it up?” This was at one of Delhi’s premier hospitals.
My mother was diagnosed with gastroenteritis, was discharged after 2 days in a hospital only to relapse and the doctor told me, “But you said she was feeling better!” I was advised to have her admitted even before a diagnosis just so a nursing home could charge for the night stay (with no doctor on call).
One treatment recommended to a family member involved multiple injections into the retina, each costing about Rs.70,000. The doctor’s actual words were,
“Buy three injections together and you’ll get a discount on the last one”.
A consultation with a hospital run by a family friend revealed that no such treatment was necessary. The list of such examples is so numerous, I could write an entire series of blog posts just on such cases.
I find now, that healthcare is a full time keep-your-wits-constantly-about-you task. I must assess every word a healthcare professional speaks. I’ve to couch questions in a way that their egos are not injured. Then I must assess their answers to check if they’re just trying to sell more medicine/treatment or palm me off to their corroborators (pharma companies, chemists, specialists, labs).
Access to information helps greatly so every chemical mentioned on every medicine, every term on every form you’re required to fill and every piece of medical literature can and should be verified. All I can think is, that an educated, privileged family in this country has so much trouble keeping out of the cons and money-making rackets that healthcare is. What happens to everyone who isn’t us?
You know what I call someone who grows fat & prosperous off the rest of humanity’s pain & fear? A parasite. Or now, a doctor.
I completely agree with you. My medical care has gone from pretty good to pathetic. We need for medical to be a right…free. Canada, Germany, Denmark et. Cetera…they all have FREE medical as many other good countries do. The doctors there are get paid plenty and top medical is available to all. The poor get the same treatment as everyone else. The AMA only allows a small number of doctors to graduate from med schools; THEY HAVE CREATED AN ARTIFICIAL SCARCITY THUS ARTIFICIALLY INCREASING DOCTORS WAGES. And these other countries have higher longevity rates than we do. There longevity is increasing…OURS HAS STOPPED AND IS GOING DOWN. Neglected people in the USA are common; we are not the best when it comes to taking care of our disabled…poor…etc
Sad but true….however your bit about not injuring their egos should not come in the way of getting a realistic opinion…
i think that practice of medicine is not a vocation anymore but a profession, so money making is to be expected …the swindling that occurs has been learnt from the sharp practices that corporate managers have taught them…