Thank you! For stepping out onto the shaky bridge and then taking that second step. For facing that existential horror square in the face, staring down the quasi-omniscient double-whammy bully of the global insurance and pharma markets. For trying to rescue medicine from itself: none of us can afford to lose it.
I am curious what you think of my latest post, the first of many that attempt to look at medicine through a legal lens. Not the boogeyman ambulance chaser lens, but one that understands legal systems and structural justice, and that wonders how those concepts could be imported into medicine. I want to believe that if only doctors had the mental models for understanding their role, they would instantly go about it differently.
For instance, though lawyers consult case law, there is no "standard of care," as you can't generalize away from the facts of the individual case in deciding what legal strategy to adopt. Rather, we have a duty of zealous advocacy, which binds us to the mast: in return for a client placing their trust in us, we are duty-bound to go down swinging. I often wonder what medicine would look like if doctors thought of their patients that way, too.
And most doctors think that they ARE all for the patient.
Their medical orgs and med schools train them to believe that this is so. "We can't have those {uninformed} people using a HORSE DEWORMER for their covid. They might overdose! It's not approved for that, and if it actually worked, WE KNOW the FDA would give us the green light because we know the FDA and CDC want what is best for people."
I am very conflicted. Years ago we made some very decisive moves to safeguard our family and took a big hit from the world “as it is”; we made a lot less money, we shopped at thrift stores, we didn’t eat out, we didn’t take vacations, we stayed in our “starter home” and put up with crowded, but cozy, spaces. We kept dad at home, as he was in the corporate world and that required a lot of travel and requirements (coercion) to choose the career over family. We were blessed beyond measure as we watched God direct our lives as we lived in faith.
Now, the kids are grown and having to make these hard choices, and as hard as it was for us, I think it is harder, perhaps, now. Yet, I personally have met young(ish) doctors who admit they became a doctor for the money and prestige. I have been insulted in nearly every way possible for over 30 years by the arrogance when I chose the better things that are now becoming more widely known. And the scandal of the last five years is the icing on the cake. How do I trust these individuals who have sold out? What keeps them from making some hard decisions akin to our choices? Is it still money and prestige?
I would challenge any of them with a pang of conscience to make the leap of faith to do the good thing, the brave thing, the countercultural thing. How I wish we could have adequate, affordable, effective and humane health care. It can be such a noble profession.
What a great post! You have written what has been on my heart for a long time. I left medicine to raise a family back in 2007. It took 10 years of being away from practicing medicine to allow myself to question the orthodoxy and dogma that we are taught. And Covid truly did it for me. I was finally able to throw away and reject what I had been indoctrinated in and allow myself to step outside the bounds of allopathic medicine.
For me personally, melding my faith with my desire for new knowledge allowed me to truly break free from the grasp of pharma-governmental ideology. Before, I kept them in two distinct spheres. Practicing a faith allows for true discernment and direction and better allows me to help others on their health journey.
Thank you for your frank post on your profession and the medical industry. Other industries are captured in similar ways but I can think of none that really profit from the ill health of its 'customers'. Perhaps the arms industry is the nearest and one will find the bulk of the top big pharma and arms manufacturers in the USA.
I have looked at some online studies and articles and wonder about their content. All too often full of jargon and unintelligible to the sensible.
You give me hope for the medical profession and for the saving of our precious earth and the people on it. Keep going, growing and striving for more. Don’t stop here and beyond. Well beyond. Thank you.
I so appreciate your writing for the rest of us. I have learned so much. Covid’s best lesson was, I have to be my own doctor. Take responsibility for my health, first and foremost. Between you, Midwestern Doctor, and some other fine doctors on Substack, I have managed not to get sick since 2019, and that was a three rounds in six months of sinus infections due to people coming to work out while sick at my former expensive exercise studio. Covid ended that membership. I hope you keep writing. I will keep reading whatever you write!
Doc, you are the epitome of humility. I am so glad and fortunate to have found you (first on X and then on Substack). Your writings have made me a more informed and aware patient besides realising what qualities to look for in a physician.
Keep writing friend for your work has opened many eyes and continues to do so. Though I am not a physician my background is in Pharmacology and Biochemistry. You have and continue to validate much for me and others.
I agree that Substack has greatly accelerated my knowledge of safe, cheap and effective therapies. I learned as much in two years as I had in ten years reading books. It's helping me turn the corner on my health. Hopefully I'm paying some of that forward.
Thank you for being the voice of reason, logic and truth in these tumultuous times. I have learned much and shared along the way.
Thank you! For stepping out onto the shaky bridge and then taking that second step. For facing that existential horror square in the face, staring down the quasi-omniscient double-whammy bully of the global insurance and pharma markets. For trying to rescue medicine from itself: none of us can afford to lose it.
I am curious what you think of my latest post, the first of many that attempt to look at medicine through a legal lens. Not the boogeyman ambulance chaser lens, but one that understands legal systems and structural justice, and that wonders how those concepts could be imported into medicine. I want to believe that if only doctors had the mental models for understanding their role, they would instantly go about it differently.
For instance, though lawyers consult case law, there is no "standard of care," as you can't generalize away from the facts of the individual case in deciding what legal strategy to adopt. Rather, we have a duty of zealous advocacy, which binds us to the mast: in return for a client placing their trust in us, we are duty-bound to go down swinging. I often wonder what medicine would look like if doctors thought of their patients that way, too.
Anyway, check out the piece if you're so inclined: When the Algorithm Misses You: Medicine’s Due Process Problem https://thethirdedge.substack.com/p/when-the-algorithm-misses-you-medicines
Omnia pro aegroto.
(All for the patient.)
That's how I've survived.
The doctors I have worked with dont consider this existential question nearly enough.
And most doctors think that they ARE all for the patient.
Their medical orgs and med schools train them to believe that this is so. "We can't have those {uninformed} people using a HORSE DEWORMER for their covid. They might overdose! It's not approved for that, and if it actually worked, WE KNOW the FDA would give us the green light because we know the FDA and CDC want what is best for people."
Maddening.
Well, you pretty much have to be a rebel of sorts. And medical school selects for conformists.
Ongoing feedback is heaven on earth. :-)
I am very conflicted. Years ago we made some very decisive moves to safeguard our family and took a big hit from the world “as it is”; we made a lot less money, we shopped at thrift stores, we didn’t eat out, we didn’t take vacations, we stayed in our “starter home” and put up with crowded, but cozy, spaces. We kept dad at home, as he was in the corporate world and that required a lot of travel and requirements (coercion) to choose the career over family. We were blessed beyond measure as we watched God direct our lives as we lived in faith.
Now, the kids are grown and having to make these hard choices, and as hard as it was for us, I think it is harder, perhaps, now. Yet, I personally have met young(ish) doctors who admit they became a doctor for the money and prestige. I have been insulted in nearly every way possible for over 30 years by the arrogance when I chose the better things that are now becoming more widely known. And the scandal of the last five years is the icing on the cake. How do I trust these individuals who have sold out? What keeps them from making some hard decisions akin to our choices? Is it still money and prestige?
I would challenge any of them with a pang of conscience to make the leap of faith to do the good thing, the brave thing, the countercultural thing. How I wish we could have adequate, affordable, effective and humane health care. It can be such a noble profession.
This interview might have some clues. https://rumble.com/v6s66p3-maintaining-courage-and-integrity-in-times-of-universal-deceit-a-dialogue-w.html
Thank you. This was great.
Thank you, Christine.
What a great post! You have written what has been on my heart for a long time. I left medicine to raise a family back in 2007. It took 10 years of being away from practicing medicine to allow myself to question the orthodoxy and dogma that we are taught. And Covid truly did it for me. I was finally able to throw away and reject what I had been indoctrinated in and allow myself to step outside the bounds of allopathic medicine.
For me personally, melding my faith with my desire for new knowledge allowed me to truly break free from the grasp of pharma-governmental ideology. Before, I kept them in two distinct spheres. Practicing a faith allows for true discernment and direction and better allows me to help others on their health journey.
Keep up the good work.
Fight the good fight.
Christine
Thank you for your frank post on your profession and the medical industry. Other industries are captured in similar ways but I can think of none that really profit from the ill health of its 'customers'. Perhaps the arms industry is the nearest and one will find the bulk of the top big pharma and arms manufacturers in the USA.
I have looked at some online studies and articles and wonder about their content. All too often full of jargon and unintelligible to the sensible.
You give me hope for the medical profession and for the saving of our precious earth and the people on it. Keep going, growing and striving for more. Don’t stop here and beyond. Well beyond. Thank you.
I so appreciate your writing for the rest of us. I have learned so much. Covid’s best lesson was, I have to be my own doctor. Take responsibility for my health, first and foremost. Between you, Midwestern Doctor, and some other fine doctors on Substack, I have managed not to get sick since 2019, and that was a three rounds in six months of sinus infections due to people coming to work out while sick at my former expensive exercise studio. Covid ended that membership. I hope you keep writing. I will keep reading whatever you write!
Doc, you are the epitome of humility. I am so glad and fortunate to have found you (first on X and then on Substack). Your writings have made me a more informed and aware patient besides realising what qualities to look for in a physician.
Many thanks for your continued support.
Keep writing friend for your work has opened many eyes and continues to do so. Though I am not a physician my background is in Pharmacology and Biochemistry. You have and continue to validate much for me and others.
I agree that Substack has greatly accelerated my knowledge of safe, cheap and effective therapies. I learned as much in two years as I had in ten years reading books. It's helping me turn the corner on my health. Hopefully I'm paying some of that forward.