Utter Perversion (I) - "Disease Care"

Utter Perversion (I) - "Disease Care" - Funny, have you ever noticed the phonetic similarity between the words hippocratic and hypocritical? If the answer is no, don't feel all too bad. In fact, it has just dawned on me, too. Old Hippocrates, (a renowned Greek physician and the Father of Western medicine) after whom the Hippocratic Oath was named, would quite likely be rotating in his grave. It is one of the most widely known of Greek medical texts. In its original form, it requires a new physician to swear (by a number of Gods) to uphold specific ethical standards [...] establishing several principles which remain of paramount significance today [...] such as medical confidentiality and non- maleficence. This still being understood as a rite of passage for medical graduates in many countries, I am truly beginning to wonder how much hypocrisy there is in that Hippocratic Oath these days? Just the other night, I got to watch the last few minutes of a show called Under The Lens. People were randomly asked for their opinions on several political topics of current relevance. When some woman referred to Health Care as "Disease Care", I literally stopped on a Dime. Kudos, how genius to call it just that! Honestly, I could not have coined a better word in spite of the fact that this is definitely not the first time that I am blogging about the problems of Medical Care here in this country. Health Care should be a universal right and therefore free to anyone as any life here is just as equally important as a life anywhere else. Nobody should have to pay for standard procedures, regardless of their income, age or previous medical history. Most naturally, this is easy to say for someone like me who spent most of her life in a Socialist country. Believe me, when I assure you that there is absolutely nothing wrong with the concept of offering full basic coverage (including dental and vision) to every citizen in several European countries and even Canada. After all, the people actively contribute to the workforce, so Health Care for all can be sustained further on. Of course, the medical field exists in absolutely inseparable co- dependence with the pharmaceutical one because quite apparently, neither one would make it without the other one. Or so it seems, right? Needless to say, I am most grateful for all the many phenomenal progress with regard to medical treatment options, although I consider myself a naturalist and hence not quite the ecstatic pill- popper. No doubt, I lack knowledge concerning Hippocrates' ancient ways of treating his patients back in the 300/ 400 BC, and actually, it does not really matter if and how much I know. Sure enough, though, he could impossibly have worked miracles by means of administering such intricately concocted chemical bombs as are commonly used today. Quite the opposite was the case judging from the following quote of his which reads as follows: "Natural forces within us are the true healers of disease." Sadly, the primary focus appears to have been shifted from the once noble ethical standard of healing at all costs to gaining maximum profit from people's modern ailments by chemical manipulation, prolonging and not seldom worsening their overall health. Promising holistic as well as natural medicinal approaches are fought vigorously and viciously often to the point of advocates ultimately being shut up for good. I am not saying that each and every physician automatically ends up being corrupted in the light of that main objective dictated by the powerful pharmaceutical lobbies all around the world. No, I would love to believe that the good guys are still outweighing the black sheep. However, I definitely call the Medical Board responsible for working in cahoots with exactly those money- hungry lobbies. As a matter of fact, every single domestic doctor has to report to the Board and hence finds themselves under constant control and monitoring which makes it rather impossible to swim against the mainstream and eventually act out of line. Evidently, it is the goal to clearly deviate from Hippocrates' original idea of bascially just assisting the sick in regaining their health. Instead, it very much looks like patients are audaciously exploited financially through all those physiologically altering meds that often bring little to no relief but keep the money machinery going and going. We are just not supposed to be quickly healed but to get sicker and sicker which guarantees the profit stream to never cease. In this sense, long live our Disease Care!