There can be no denying that the stakes of the presidential elections are higher than they've been in years. "W" has done little to shift the painfully eroding health system into a better place. Congress has done less and we are all in for unlimited pain if we anticipate a governmental fix to our health care problems. It always comes down to a simple truth.......... Take control or experience the whims of politicians. OUCH! That will definitely leave a mark.
Where can you go to find the answers to the questions about your deepest fears about life-and-death issues that require wise counsel and true compassion? The discount "five-and-dime" quickie doc? I think not. I've been reading the medical literature from the United Kingdom (England for the most part) and I find one consistent thread. The give and take of serious scientific discussion and the spirited argument of brilliant clinicians is rapidly being replaced by technicians parsing the minutiae of the latest algorithm. Sad! The legacy of medicine in the 21st century is hanging in the balance and we'd better be paying attention. If the "land of the free and the home of the brave" falls prey to socialistic bean-counting demagogery the whole world may suffer for generations, if it ever fully recovers. This is possibly our finest hour to demonstrate what leadership means.
I can't even imagine what our world would look like if the scientific communities of days past would have had to contend with the legal insanity of our current time. Politics, litigation, entitlement mentality and complete abrogation of personal responsibility have made it almost impossible to give every possible benefit to my patients. If love is the driver for excellent outcomes then personal ownership of the process has to be required of each participant. It seems almost too basic to mention that near-perfect results demand total commitment. When the slightest whiff of entitlement or victimization is inappropriately assigned the outcomes will always be less than perfect! As the hooker in "Pretty Woman" once said "Work it, own it" makes more sense than ever!
