Ten points if you recognize the quote! :-)
At least the first part is what springs to mind, when one contemplates the MESS that the medical industry has become. I'm not afraid of what would happen to me if i were in an auto accident, i'm "afraid" of what could happen, were i incapacitated enough to go into an institution for the long term. Modern medicine does wonderful things for trauma patients (if they don't die from infections first), but what it considers a healthy diet, i consider a catastrophe.
The nurses who blog and comment give us a very depressing picture of institutional life; even if a nurse spots a mistake in a doctor's protocol, s/he may not dare mention it. THAT is appalling. Mistakes can be knowingly made, and that's just tough beans for the patient. Going outside the customary "chain of command" has got to be nearly impossible too, i'd wager.
Is it the culture of "i'm-okay-you're-okay" that allows acceptance of such incompetence in the world? My husband, an engineer, sees a lot of this lack of performance-standard in his work, too. "We didn't accomplish what we REALLY needed to, today -- OH WELL!" Somehow, this just does NOT cut the mustard with my sense of "rightness" ... and it drives HIM crazy.
Somehow, we've got to create a sense of responsibility in people, and it HAS to start in childhood. Unless there is some accountability for non/mis/malfeasance in homes and schools, it's hard to see how it can be developed in society at large.
As for the competence and accountability of those self-anointed "gods" of the medical industry, let them learn a little humility and sense of personal responsibility, let them not be afraid of being alerted to a possible error by their "inferiors" -- arrogance and delusions of invincibility can set one up for a hell of a fall.
Another quote (same source): "The human and fallible should not arrogate a power with which the divine and perfect alone can be safely intrusted." No doctor i've ever heard of has been perfect, let alone divine.
"but what it considers a healthy diet, i consider a catastrophe."
ReplyDeleteI had surgery a couple years ago and afterwards I was supposed to eat a liquid/soft diet for the first day or so until my system could handle more solid foods. Everything they offered me had lots of sugar in it - all the juices, jello, pudding etc. Being anti-sugar, I complained to my doctor and she said "okay, I can fix that!" Big mistake on my part as she stuck me on the diabetic "healthy heart" diet and basically they kept the carbs (but no "sugar") and got rid of all the fat out of my food. When I wanted something better on the menu they wouldn't let me have it as I was on the "Healthy Heart" diet via the doctor's orders. I could choose what "healthy heart" options I wanted, so I avoided all the breads and pasta and basically lived on green salad and chicken breast. After 3 days of this,I was extremely glad to leave the hospital so I could get something decent to eat.
ye gods.... :-P that's when i'd be happy to be able to "eat" my own fat, just like beginning vegans do. have you read this: http://www.gnolls.org/1596/vegans-are-cannibals-the-truth-behind-the-new-vegan-high/
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