If it were not for doctors and medical science, I would have been dead for 30 years. (I suffered acute appendicitis, which was quickly resolved at a local hospital.) In fact, most people over the age of fifty would be dead were it not for life-saving drugs, medical procedures, and the care of doctors and hospitals. So, this post is to counter-balance my recent post about medical errors being a leading cause of death, either the 8th or the 4th, depending on which study you read. Although I believe those numbers, there is another side to consider.
We must remember that doctors, nurses, and hospitals save lives every day. So, while their errors may be a leading cause of death, let us also acknowledge that they are the leading cause of saving lives.
Further, one must understand that, when people are hospitalized, their circumstances may be dire. A patient may already be on the brink of death and, in such circumstances, a small medical error can easily tip the patient over from life into death.
Doctors are generally extremely intelligent and decent human beings who are dedicated to helping us and keeping us alive and healthy. They deserve our respect and often our admiration. I admire my doctors because all of them are great. 😊
And there are many doctors and medical researchers who are legitimate heroes: Jonas Salk, Marie Curie, Louis Pasteur, Edward Jenner, Alexander Fleming, and Hippocrates, to name just a few of the most well-known.
I needed to write this to counter-balance the bleak statistics I blogged about recently.
Carl B. Barney
July 11, 2022
