[PLUG-TALK] [PLUG] Open source and medical care (was Downturns ... )

[Rich Shepard]

On Wed, 26 Nov 2008, Paul Heinlein wrote:

> I regularly ask nurses who work in clinical, non-hospital settings a
> question to the effect of what percentage of their patients are seeing the
> doctor for largely psychological reasons. The answer is almost invariably
> 80% to 85%.

Paul, Keith, et al.:

   A long time ago I learned that too many folks see a physician for
medicines to "cure" a cold. Rather than educating the patients that colds
are caused by viruses (at least 100 different ones), antibiotics work on
bacteria, and over-the-counter symptom relievers are all that are needed, the physicians
give them a shot of something or a prescription for antibiotics. Too many
have weakened their immune system this way. I seem to recall reading that a
benign placebo worked just as well with these folks who demanded a cure. The
most visible results of this uncorrected ignorance are the
multiple-drug-resistant (MDR) strains of Staphylococcus aureus and
Mycobacterium turbercularium (is that the correct species name?).

   I've always felt that eating a few grams of dirt each day helps keep our
immune systems tuned up and current with the latest nasties in the
neighborhood. Seems to have worked for me. (Of course, this is much easier
during election campaigns, but that's for a different thread.)

> If I were a doctor and wanted to ensure my livelihood, I'd do everything I
> could to ensure that people are isolated, greedy, resentful, unforgiving
> and fearful. The stream of patients would never end!

   Yup. I've read letters where lawyers tried to scare clients into hiring
them for some expensive work and I know of several consultants who consider
environmental permitting of a project to be a cash cow that they'll milk as
long as they can. In the latter case the companies are usually not fooled,
and heavily resent the attitude. Unfortunately, getting them to accept a
different business model is extremely difficult. Fear of change is deep and
epidemic.

Rich

-- 
Richard B. Shepard, Ph.D.               |  Integrity            Credibility
Applied Ecosystem Services, Inc.        |            Innovation
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