When my grandfather was a doctor in South Wales, the local hospital proudly unveiled its first X-Ray machine. At the official opening ceremony, the mayor removed his chain and all other metallic objects to christen the device as its first ever “patient”. This was only intended as a publicity stunt. Unfortunately the inaugural X-Ray revealed a cancer somewhere in the mayor’s chest. They operated almost immediately but he was dead within a month.
As my grandfather wryly observed, he would have survived another five years without the operation.
One of the big unspoken topics of medicine is the proportion of deaths which are in some way caused by the treatment not the disease – the technical term is “iatrogenic”. Deaths as much or more the result of medical intervention as of any illness. Or entirely new illnesses that only happen as a result of prior treatment.
Rory Sutherland writes about advertising but manages to say quite a bit about the current healthcare debate - from the blog Campaign (July 1, 2009)
It’s a good read. You should take a few minutes and have a look - tdc
