4 ms·

Most of the time we also know how to get people to take the medicine, but an outdated code of ethics prevents us from doing it.

• emiliobumachar 10y ago
  What do you mean? Could you please elaborate?
  • Something1234 10y ago
    He means forcing them. It's for your own good. It's taking the decision out of their hands.
    • 794CD01 10y ago
      Their hands are not the problem, it's the brain driving those hands that shouldn't be trusted.
  • 794CD01 10y ago
    I mean that we expect patients to provide "informed consent" to medical treatment, something which is impossible because the vast majority of patients are not physicians, and even those who are will usually not be experts in the relevant specialty. Most of the time, patients have the sense to trust and listen to their doctors. However, sometimes they do not, and the fact that the option exists means that a vital skill for physicians has become the ability to persuade patients into accepting the right treatment, a skill which is largely orthogonal to the one of deciding what the right treatment is. For a concrete example, all you have to do is look at the recent outbreaks of measles due to parents choosing not to vaccinate their children.