I practiced Psychiatry and Child Psychiatry for a number of years before switching over to Integrative Healthcare. Although I did witness some people have symptomatic improvement on anti-depressants and other types of psychotropic medications, the battlefield was littered with the wounded, victims of friendly fire. I could no longer stom…
I practiced Psychiatry and Child Psychiatry for a number of years before switching over to Integrative Healthcare. Although I did witness some people have symptomatic improvement on anti-depressants and other types of psychotropic medications, the battlefield was littered with the wounded, victims of friendly fire. I could no longer stomach the harm I was doing by prescribing these medications, and gradually reduced and finally eliminated my prescribing of these toxic substances. The good that they do is more than outweighed by the harm caused, from my direct experience. I couldn't stomach it, and I had no idea how other psychiatrists were able to tolerate harming their patients as they must have. I think it is part of the degeneration more broadly of the field of medicine from a "First Do No Harm" emphasis to a "standard of care" emphasis, where medical decisions are made not in the interests of the patient, but in the interests of protecting the doctor from the accusation of "deviating from the standard of care".
These were once supposed to be synonymous but it has been painful obvious from the very start that this was never true. I hope that we will soon reach the denouement for the debacle of standard of care medicine and return to Hippocratic and humanistic principles, which were the basis of why most doctors went into medicine into the first place. Standard of care medicine is just corporate welfare, a wolf masquerading in sheep's clothing. It is high time to rip off the costume and get back to first principles of medical ethics.
I think a lot of it is that everyone filters to see a select version of reality, and most people's filters are biased by what they want to believe, whereas a smaller number are willing to see things that threaten their reality.
True enough. Many are afraid of the truth. We have learned as much from the past five years. However, the old saw of Upton Sinclair likely applies as well: "It is hard to convince a man of something when his salary depends on not believing you."
Thank you for bringing up the standard of care. Think of how many therapies were the "standard of care" that were actually useless and often harmful and remained the standard until someone found a new treatment breaking with the standard of care.
The discovery that H. pylori infection is a primary cause of most peptic ulcers led to a paradigm shift from symptomatic treatment to curative therapy through bacterial eradication.
Key Contributors: Dr. Barry Marshall and Dr. Robin Warren identified H. pylori in 1982 and demonstrated its role in gastritis and peptic ulcers. They were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2005 for their groundbreaking work. Dr. Marshall was criticized for his finding Hp in ulcers so he infected himself with the bacteria and cured it with an antibiotic.
Ignaz Semmelweis (1818–1865): The Father of Hand Hygiene
Contribution: In 1847, while working at Vienna General Hospital, Semmelweis observed that physicians often transmitted infections from autopsies to patients in maternity wards, causing high mortality rates from puerperal fever. That was the standard of care. He introduced mandatory handwashing with a chlorinated lime solution, which dramatically reduced mortality rates from 18% to less than 2%
Joseph Lister (1827–1912): Pioneer of Antiseptic Surgery
Contribution: Building on the germ theory proposed by Louis Pasteur, Lister introduced antiseptic techniques in the 1860s, including washing hands and instruments with carbolic acid to prevent infections during surgery. He published his findings in The Lancet in 1867, revolutionizing surgical practices and reducing post-operative infections significantly.
Legacy: Lister's work led to widespread adoption of handwashing and antiseptic practices by the 1870s, making surgery safer and earning him the title "Father of Modern Surgery"
I just retired after 40 years an Anesthesiologist. By the time I retired, I was only using 2 drugs I was trained with.....I started in internal medicine and I still read IM and try to stay reasonably caught up to guide my care and the my wife's care. I was a "corporate doctor" until COVID. I thought most drug companies did right by their patients even if they were profit driven. I thought the NIH had our best interests in mind. I thought the American Dietary Association was looking out for us. COVID changed ALL of the that . I don't reflexively distrust everyone in medicine but they don't get my automatic trust anymore. I question everything and I am now advising, when asked by younger friends, to think long and hard before taking their kids to the pediatrician and vaccinating according the CDC schedule and for sure not to vaccine with more than one vaccine on one day with a week between vaccines. I also now question how and what we are teaching our medical students. We need to be highlighting functional medicine and then allopathic/osteopathic medicine only when that fails.
I am glad James, that your mind has been opened by the COVID experience. Many people, I have learned, did not learn from it. But you did. I appreciate having you on Team Skeptic.
I practiced Psychiatry and Child Psychiatry for a number of years before switching over to Integrative Healthcare. Although I did witness some people have symptomatic improvement on anti-depressants and other types of psychotropic medications, the battlefield was littered with the wounded, victims of friendly fire. I could no longer stomach the harm I was doing by prescribing these medications, and gradually reduced and finally eliminated my prescribing of these toxic substances. The good that they do is more than outweighed by the harm caused, from my direct experience. I couldn't stomach it, and I had no idea how other psychiatrists were able to tolerate harming their patients as they must have. I think it is part of the degeneration more broadly of the field of medicine from a "First Do No Harm" emphasis to a "standard of care" emphasis, where medical decisions are made not in the interests of the patient, but in the interests of protecting the doctor from the accusation of "deviating from the standard of care".
These were once supposed to be synonymous but it has been painful obvious from the very start that this was never true. I hope that we will soon reach the denouement for the debacle of standard of care medicine and return to Hippocratic and humanistic principles, which were the basis of why most doctors went into medicine into the first place. Standard of care medicine is just corporate welfare, a wolf masquerading in sheep's clothing. It is high time to rip off the costume and get back to first principles of medical ethics.
I think a lot of it is that everyone filters to see a select version of reality, and most people's filters are biased by what they want to believe, whereas a smaller number are willing to see things that threaten their reality.
True enough. Many are afraid of the truth. We have learned as much from the past five years. However, the old saw of Upton Sinclair likely applies as well: "It is hard to convince a man of something when his salary depends on not believing you."
Thank you for bringing up the standard of care. Think of how many therapies were the "standard of care" that were actually useless and often harmful and remained the standard until someone found a new treatment breaking with the standard of care.
The discovery that H. pylori infection is a primary cause of most peptic ulcers led to a paradigm shift from symptomatic treatment to curative therapy through bacterial eradication.
Key Contributors: Dr. Barry Marshall and Dr. Robin Warren identified H. pylori in 1982 and demonstrated its role in gastritis and peptic ulcers. They were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2005 for their groundbreaking work. Dr. Marshall was criticized for his finding Hp in ulcers so he infected himself with the bacteria and cured it with an antibiotic.
Ignaz Semmelweis (1818–1865): The Father of Hand Hygiene
Contribution: In 1847, while working at Vienna General Hospital, Semmelweis observed that physicians often transmitted infections from autopsies to patients in maternity wards, causing high mortality rates from puerperal fever. That was the standard of care. He introduced mandatory handwashing with a chlorinated lime solution, which dramatically reduced mortality rates from 18% to less than 2%
Joseph Lister (1827–1912): Pioneer of Antiseptic Surgery
Contribution: Building on the germ theory proposed by Louis Pasteur, Lister introduced antiseptic techniques in the 1860s, including washing hands and instruments with carbolic acid to prevent infections during surgery. He published his findings in The Lancet in 1867, revolutionizing surgical practices and reducing post-operative infections significantly.
Legacy: Lister's work led to widespread adoption of handwashing and antiseptic practices by the 1870s, making surgery safer and earning him the title "Father of Modern Surgery"
The standard of care is a moving target. It moves from day to day at times.
I just retired after 40 years an Anesthesiologist. By the time I retired, I was only using 2 drugs I was trained with.....I started in internal medicine and I still read IM and try to stay reasonably caught up to guide my care and the my wife's care. I was a "corporate doctor" until COVID. I thought most drug companies did right by their patients even if they were profit driven. I thought the NIH had our best interests in mind. I thought the American Dietary Association was looking out for us. COVID changed ALL of the that . I don't reflexively distrust everyone in medicine but they don't get my automatic trust anymore. I question everything and I am now advising, when asked by younger friends, to think long and hard before taking their kids to the pediatrician and vaccinating according the CDC schedule and for sure not to vaccine with more than one vaccine on one day with a week between vaccines. I also now question how and what we are teaching our medical students. We need to be highlighting functional medicine and then allopathic/osteopathic medicine only when that fails.
I am glad James, that your mind has been opened by the COVID experience. Many people, I have learned, did not learn from it. But you did. I appreciate having you on Team Skeptic.
Excellent comment, thank you, Dr. Brody.