(preface: the medical community is good at some things, like fixing broken bones and many surgical procedures when necessary)
60 years ago there were very few medications that could help anyone except in the most primitive of ways. if you were elderly you would be better off going to a tribal medicine man, shaman, acupuncturist or herbalist.
in the bronx you could always check into fordham hospital and die like my father and grandfather or check yourself out like my uncle and die at home. your choice.
these days the medication prescription menu is so large your doctor can cause you a lot of pain, grief and suffering while thinking he has prescribed great up to the minute medications. it depends on which sales rep spoke to him last.
i hava an accumulated experience with at least a dozen currently practicing doctors and another dozen who have treated me for one thing or another over 40 years ago. i have given them the benefit of any doubt and have found that some solutions worked out well and others of equal number were disastrous.
some medications were costly and produced bad results and i opted out quickly. in one case a high blood pressure type cure resulted in depression followed by the doctor prescribing a mood elevating drug. the combination over a year ruined some career opportunities. after dumping doctor and drugs i could never recoup my groove. another time i was prescribed drugs which gave me ankle swelling, water retention, and chest pains. i was told to not eat potatoes or tomatoes or carry heavy things. after giving up the doctor, and drugs, i started eating potatoes and tomatioes, carrying heavy things around and have had no problems for the past two years. clearly, medical science f##### up.
some doctors in some specialties recognize their inmpotence and have said (paraphrasing), "go play golf, you're going to die of something." or "in 20 years your condition will be serious, don't worry about it now".
other doctors are wedded to their textbooks and do not give up on their educational dogma. then there are also doctors that know that one size does not fit all and are willing to negotiate - a little- in a civilized way. meaning they don't get visibly angry (much) and don't throw you out when you start making your own decisions.
on another note, i get a bit uptight when the doctor refers you for traeatment with some company which is listed on the new york stock exchange. i think i too should get a share of the commission or some benefit from the government supported business for every day i stay away from them. there is big bucks involved as you know. 50% of the savings would be fine with me.
of course, in the long run the medical community can always say, " see, we told you so, he's dead".
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