Technology: friend, not master

Article Abstract:

In the 20th century, technology has taken such a prominent place in society that one sometimes wonders who is master of whom. Progress has been fast, but the impact of technology has been anything but progressive. Society has given technology a literal green light without setting up regulations that might prevent waste, duplication, and social and environmental damage. It is important that we take a step away and look at technology for a moment, and then make a decision about the relationship we want to have with it. Every advance has a downside. In medical practice for instance, advances have been awesome, but doctors no longer know the nontechnical aspects of medical care. Take away the instruments, and modern physicians feel naked. Medicine needs to be removed from the profit-conscious business sector. The goals should be the best medical care for everyone with a range of choices in care at all economic levels. Think tanks could be subsidized by the government, medical institutions, the military, foundations, and individuals, and the products or techniques developed could then be donated to the public as a gift. No one should reap monetary gain. Information would be shared, and duplication of efforts and costly machinery eliminated. Medicine should be nonprofit and service-oriented; the creation of a healthy and friendly society is at stake. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Evaluation, Ethical aspects, Technology, Ethics, Medical technology, Technology and ethics

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Service: a forgotten formula?

Article Abstract:

Medicine should be an expected service and not a business transaction. The health system in the U.S. fails because it denies access to many in need, being financially and systematically inefficient. Bureaucratic pressures threaten the traditional tenets of medical practice. The solution does not lie in more taxation or eliminating competition among health insurance companies, but in complete restructuring of the delivery of health care. The personal and economic costs to both patient and caregiver will not come down until medicine is taken out of the business sector. If medical care is a right of all individuals, then it must be provided as a basic service in the society. Hospital supply companies, drug companies and hospitals should all be servants of the communities. Malpractice can be eliminated by creating a system that excludes incompetent health providers and makes allowances for the human fallibility of conscientious ones. To accept the imperfections of all healing arts would allow a team spirit between all systems to work together to address our many health needs. A list of hospitals and doctors who provide medical service on this basis is presented.

Economic aspects, Prevention, Public health, Medical care, Cost of, Health care costs

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Malpractice: a nightmare of fear

Article Abstract:

Malpractice in medicine has had a very detrimental effect on the profession. It denies that physicians are human and capable of making mistakes. It wedges distrust into the physician/patient relationship. Fear of law suits lead to mistrust, waste of medical resources, and an unwillingness of physicians to use alternative treatments or intuition. It prevents creativity in the profession. Malpractice suits have greatly added to the costs of medical care and prevent doctors who want to offer inexpensive medical services from doing so. Many doctors have left the field or retired early because they were frustrated with the way malpractice prevented them from practicing medicine. The Gesundheit Institute refuses to carry malpractice insurance to keep their practice from being paralyzed by fear, greed, and alienation. Bad medicine should be prevented, but malpractice encourages it more than it prevents it. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Physicians, Medical malpractice

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