A Story About the Egotistical Nature of Modern Medicine
by Vin Miller
If you think that you can trust any medical professional based only on their credentials and the assumption that your welfare is their top priority, the following story might upset you.
The best doctors and specialists are those who are open minded and are willing to do and try whatever is necessary and reasonable to provide their patients with the best care possible. Unfortunately, the prestige and dogma that so commonly characterize the medical profession tend to discourage this type of mentality.
The Story of a True Doctor
After completing the first two years of medical school and finding the experience to be “militaristic”, Dr. Burton Berkson decided to pursue something different which led him to earn a masters degree and a PhD in microbiology and became a professor.
Having several family members who were suffering from various illnesses, Dr. Berkson was displeased with how they were being treated by the medical community. He was told by a number of his family’s doctors that as a biologist he wasn’t qualified to question their treatment choices and should mind his business.
Despite his frustration with the medical community, Dr. Berkson decided to complete the residency portion of medical school that he needed to earn his degree. The first university that he approached about doing this told him that because he thinks like a biologist, he would have to retake the first two years of medical school to be reprogrammed to think like a doctor. This was the same type of militaristic philosophy that originally encouraged Dr. Berkson to leave medical school years ago, but it didn’t discourage him and he found another university that would allow him to complete his residency.
Saving Lives Doesn’t Matter
During Dr. Berkson’s residency, it was noticed that none of the patients under his observation had died. This was very unusual because most residents would typically have observed 15 to 20 deaths by this point. As such, a supervisor assigned two new patients to Dr. Berkson and told him that they were diagnosed with terminal liver disease and would surely die within two weeks. He was ordered to observe their deaths and present his notes afterward.
As Dr. Berkson says, medical doctors are trained to follow orders and biologists are trained to pursue new ideas. Rather than merely watching these patients die, he made an effort to find a treatment that might help. He was given the suggestion to try intravenous alpha lipoic acid which had been shown to assist in the regeneration of the liver. Dr. Berkson followed the suggestion, and within two weeks, the two patients who should have been dead at this point were completely fine. Amazing, right?
Instead of being applauded, Dr. Berkson was reprimanded for not following orders and for making the hospital look foolish after the families of these patients had been told that death was certain. Dr. Berkson was told to never do such a thing again, and worst of all, there was no genuine interest in what he did to save the lives of these patients. I find it appalling for anyone to have such a blatant disregard for human life, especially a medical professional. Unfortunately, stories like Dr. Berkson’s are far too common.
What the Medical Profession Should Really Be About
Life is precious and our ability to experience it in an enjoyable and rewarding manner is greatly dependent on our health. As such, the medical profession has the responsibility of protecting the most significant and meaningful aspect of all humanity. Instead of handling this tremendous responsibility with the humility and care that it demands, too many modern medical professionals are close minded and have lost sight of the true purpose of their profession. They’d rather conform to a broken system and act as middlemen for the drug industry than risk tarnishing their reputation by using a less conventional approach to truly address the needs of their patients. After all, if saving a life is not recognized as an amazing achievement, then what is?
How this Affects You
I find it very unsettling to think of how many people’s lives are ruined by passively believing the medical professionals who tell them that they’ll surely die or that a dangerous treatment method is their only choice. There’s almost always another choice, but you’ll never benefit from it unless you believe that it exists and are willing to pursue it.
Even the medical professionals who prescribe dangerous medications on the slightest whim, reject anything that defies the dogmas of modern medicine, and give up hope on their patients far too easily still tend to have a genuine concern for the welfare of humanity. However, keeping a patient healthy requires a lot more than just good intentions. This is why it’s so important to educate yourself and take responsibility for what you choose to believe and the resulting decisions that you make.
Fortunately, there’s an increasing number of knowledgeable and open minded medical professionals who are genuinely passionate about the welfare of humanity and regard it as their top priority, but they’re a minority and can be hard to find. Even if you’re able to find someone like this, they won’t have all the answers, and as such, it’s still important for you to be prepared to make informed decisions. Otherwise, you’ll be left having to rely on blind faith.
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Right on, Vin!
It is our primary responsibility to take care of our own precious health.
so, Doctors, secondary!
Without the egostistical nature, we can get the best of the secondary also, that is doctors being true to the point of medicine (holistic definition of health), not reactive approach to profit!
Note:This article is not to undermine doctors, but expose their untapped true potential!
Sad, but far too many people take the secondary route, because they are simply unimformed, due to the deception of big Pharma! The doctors are responsible informing us, not threaten us.
We people also need to know our untapped powerful potential, simply have the passion to learn!
The progress of science should help, not be abused in the reactive approach to profit! We are using science wrongly and even creating bogus ones, most of the time: Is Science Smarter Than Nature?
One missing ingredient to capitalism truthful, not bogus knowledge!
I feel this is my best comment so far!
ægil, this is an excellent comment indeed! Thank you!
I’m glad you recognized that this article is not intended to demean medical professionals. As you mentioned, my primary intention was to provide an example of why it’s so important to take responsibility for your health. You can’t always rely on others to do it for you, and that can even include doctors!
In regard to health, having a passion to learn should automatically result from having a passion for life!
I made this comment after exercising!
As a person who had less than 2 patients pass during a 4 year residency i can tell you that this story is way off…Truthfully, i think this idea of a “militaristic” approach may have been this gentleman’s opinion of his experience however many of us practicing physicians that care about patients and “think outside the box,” think differently of our training. If anything in the past fifteen years medical training has departed from the days of old one way thinking. Also this idea that doctors are middle men for the pharmaceutical industry is as well a bit off. Many of us utilize different modalities including preventive medication, thomsonian/homeopathic medicine, acupuncture, massage, and nonpharmacologic intervention in addition to various medicines to help care for persons with various diseases. We do agree that the system is very broken. And attempts at reform must address many more issues that the ones currently addressed in Washington
Hi Ken,
Thank you for sharing your valuable input!
Before I say anything else, I want to make it abundantly clear that this article certainly doesn’t apply to all medical professionals. As I said, there are many great ones out there.
Perhaps Dr. Berkson’s residency was in an area of medicine in which death is much more common. Either way, this doesn’t change the primary message of the article which is that people need to educate themselves and take responsibility for their health.
I’m sure there are many great physicians who didn’t find medical school to be militaristic. However, many of the books I’ve read were written by MDs who’ve adapted a holistic and natural perspective and they tend to share the same belief that their medical school education promoted a focus on treating symptoms with drugs rather than addressing the root cause of illness. Although this isn’t necessarily the same thing as militaristic, it’s likely to have the same outcome.
I do recognize that more physicians have embraced alternative therapies, and maybe medical schools are starting to change. While this is encouraging, it’s just the beginning. Even with the use of natural therapies, many physicians rarely go deeper than treating symptoms and often don’t give enough attention to important lifestyle factors. Furthermore, the mainstream perception of a healthy lifestyle is dramatically different than what most natural health practitioners know it to be, so even if the typical physician were to consider lifestyle factors, the resulting recommendations would likely be based on mainstream perspectives and be less effective at promoting optimal health.
I understand that physicians don’t have the time to adequately educate their patients, but they can certainly learn for themselves what a truly healthy lifestyle is and emphasize to their patients that in many cases it’s the most effective long term strategy for dealing with health issues. I recognize that there will often be a need for a more specific treatment protocol which may even include prescription medication, but healthy living should always be the foundation and conventional western medicine rarely regards it as such.
Although it may be a bit harsh to say that many physicians are acting as middlemen for the drug industry, it’s still common for people to be given prescription medications in cases where a serious look at lifestyle would be much better for their long term wellbeing. I’ve experienced it myself, I see it with my friends and family, and I read and hear about happening to others all the time. Granted, there are patients who will never embrace the idea of living a healthier lifestyle, but there are many patients who would like to and aren’t being given the necessary guidance to do so.
Finally, it’s not my intention to bash the medical system, physicians, or anyone else. My true motive is to help people to think more for themselves, and in support of this, stories such as Dr. Berkson’s are excellent examples of why it’s so important.
Ken, as someone who has seen quite a few doctors and specialists in one of the largest cities in the U.S. which has the worlds largest medical complex, I can also say this article is most definitely NOT “way off”. Vin was making a point. Every time I myself write a blog article, somebody takes it as categorical and gives a counter-example. If you can’t write something without it applying to all people in all situations then it is “way off”. We might as well never write anything. He is generalizing of course, but his generalizing is “way on”.
I was taking 12 prescriptions before I cleaned myself up and got rid of all of them. The doctors treat one symptom and then send you off to another specialist to give you another drug for another symptom. Instead of treating the one or two underlying problems instead of things like lifestyle. My sister was literally drugged to death over a 10 year period.
Well done Vin!
Thanks for your support and for sharing your experience, Stephen!
Wow, Vin. This article came at the perfect time for me. I recently met a doc in residency on a local dating site. We spoke on the phone for the first time and I thought he was cool until I mentioned the state of medicine and my natural thoughts. He turned into the most arrogant S.O.B. you could ever meet. I asked him why interns are forced to stay awake for 30 hour shifts by an industry that is supposed to promote health. Airline pilots, bus drivers, dentists, other responsible industries are never asked to do this. So here we have docs who you are putting your life in their hands..and they are sleep deprived!! Nice! This moron’s response was that all of this made him a better doctor.
I also brought up the importance of Vit D and he said that studies haven’t been that strong on it. He said “It’s only good for bones”. He told me that my research is based on biased studies that have been twisted and numbers tortured to meet the author’s agenda. LOL..yeah? And what do the drug companies do?
Well, he emailed me the next day and told me that I bored him to tears and that I need to “get an education”. This email came the day after Pfizer got busted. I was hoping he heard the news.
So this is a 39 yr. old, Native American guy who is a resident in cardiology.
What did all of this teach me? I will never consider dating a doctor who is an allopath.
Hi Sharona,
I didn’t even know about the Pfizer incident (A result of me intentionally avoiding the news I guess
). It fits perfectly with this article, thanks for mentioning it! For anyone who’s interested in the details, here’s a report from CBS News.
I’m sorry to hear about you experience with this guy. If it’s any consolation, you raised some great points! Although, I can’t believe that he’s a cardiologist and you didn’t bring up saturated fat and cholesterol!
Tibetan Medicine could be the cure for all of this western medicine and things are changing programs for spirituality are begining to be run even though they are possibly one day classes.
Hi Ralph, thanks for your comment!
Tibetan medicine could be a valuable part of an integrative approach, but think we still need to embrace the benefits of other forms of medicine.
Vin; Great responses on this topic and timely with the national debate on health care reform.
You hit it right on with “This is why it’s so important to educate yourself and take responsibility for what you choose to believe and the resulting decisions that you make.”
This is true in whatever one does. But with ones own health why would one not want to know more than one persons trained opinion on what ails them. Sure enough, opinions and test results can help one make a better decision but the energy one puts in the endeavor should not be any less than one puts in shopping for a new home.
Today’s mainstream medical profession is at its best at relieving patient symptoms but at its worse at relieving the underlying causes of the symptoms. I believe this is true because many of the cures for the causes of many ailments are too strong for individual professionals to cope with; behavior modification, environmental degradation, and the patient economic standing.
The profession has taken this easy route to patient care and Hippocratic code has been superceded with the profit motive. The outcome of this is soaring health care costs. Until doctors are put on a salary and work for medical institutions where a patients are treated by a team of doctors with different views and perspectives will we start to get the care we deserve at a reasonable price. Check out the medical practice of the Mayo Clinic.
Thank you, George!
I agree that this is very relevant to health care reform. In fact, I wrote an article about this not too long ago.
Exactly! The prospect of a happy future should be more than enough motivation to live a healthy lifestyle, but for many people and a variety of reasons, it’s unfortunately not. I hope I am changing that for at least a few people.
It seems that the Mayo Clinic can shield its doctors from the pressure of insurance companies and allow them to spend more time with patients. That’s great! The infamous 5 minute visit is definitely a problem with conventional medicine.
If you want to get right to the source of any sickness I found a Dr in California who sends you for a blood test and according to its findings he puts you on minimal supplements that will regenerate your cells and has had a very high success rate in getting people off their wheelchairs etc. I put him to the test and sent him a friend with kidney decease and he is actually getting better after starting a simple regiment. Then I sent another one with a different decease and again, he is getting better, now I am sending a third one and we will see what happens with that. I told him he needs to teach his findings to all Doctors around the world as he is not able to get to everyone and this will inimize allopathic medicine tremendously . Just for the heck of it I will be doing this test myself to prevent anything that might be coming my way. The cool thing is, that he faxes you the test papers anywhere you live, you go to the lab and fax him back the findings and he will read your cells like a book. Put him to the test, say Laura sent you and he won’t charge you for his consultation fee. If you want his contact info let me know. He will be going all over the world talking about this and I saw him in action, genious man
Hi Laura, thanks for your comment!
I think it’s great that this doctor has such great results. Even with this type of success, supplements aren’t always the answer and it’s still important for doctors to have a holistic and integrative perspective and consider lifestyle factors and other forms of therapy.
Does this doctor have a website?
Yes, http://www.MyHolisticHealth.net and he has a toll free number, I did him no justice by talking very simply about him, try talking directly to him and you will see. He is old fashioned, does not like computers…..lol he also does Medical Thermal Imaging
I just checked out his website and it sounds like he has a great program. Thanks for letting us know about him!
No problem, try calling him and you will be in for a treat. Have a great week!
Vin, thanks for such an insightful article. People go into denial about how dysfunctional the medical system is, but you can’t look the other way if you want to make lasting changes to your health and lifestyle. You have understand how and why it is dysfunctional if you are to learn from it.
What’s striking to me from this article and discussion is the effective conditioning by the medical culture to use statistics as a way to avoid progress, especially when it deviates from dogma. And that the great hypocrisy is that doctors themselves are in many ways prevented from having a healthy lifestyle. Oh, there’s not enough doctors, they say. But there’s actually a cap on how many medical students are accepted each year. Meaning, we have a limit to how many doctors we *can* have, and we’re under supplied. Now why would that be?
Hi Melissa, thanks for your comment!
I think it’s important that we all speak our beliefs and values through our actions, and as you mentioned, it’s unfortunate that doctors are prevented from doing this. How can a doctor who is encouraged to overwork themselves effectively show their patients to not do the same? I figure this to be one of the many reasons why most physicians don’t pay as much attention to lifestyle as they should.
The cap on acceptance is unfortunate as well and I assume that it’s done to preserve the prestige of the more highly regarded schools which encourages the arrogance that this article is about.