3 ms·

The problem with diseases like this is doctors having nothing to offer at all. A relative of mine had this condition and they had so much trust in their doctor

The problem with diseases like this is doctors having nothing to offer at all. A relative of mine had this condition and they had so much trust in their doctors. They'd go to the doctor regularly and every time the doctor tells them they're sick after giving them a few trivial tests, sends them home and sends them a bill. It's a real farce. They could try some radical therapy, like stem cells, but they don't. Instead they keep going to the doctor who is happy to take their money and tell them there's nothing they can do. I feel like the doctor should have a priest on staff to tell them to say their hale mary's and douse them with holy water. At least it would partially justify the cost of the visit.

nradov 10y ago
What do you expect? Medical professionals are not witch doctors or snake oil scammers. The first rule is "do no harm". It would be wildly irresponsible to inject a patient with stem cells or whatever just for the sake of trying something. If there's a reason to suspect that stem cells might help then encourage them to conduct a properly controlled clinical trial. Many hospitals do have chaplains (priests and others) on staff. Some patients find them to be a great source of comfort.
- narrator 10y ago
  A good counterpoint to this is Banting and Best (https://www.nobelprize.org/educational/medicine/insulin/discovery-insulin.html https://www.nobelprize.org/educational/medicine/insulin/disc...). These guys back in the 20s discovered insulin and brought it to market and started using it on patients in widespread distribution in 3 years. As soon as they figured out it would work by injecting a dog, then themselves, then a patient they went into a children's hospital and started injecting kids with it who were in diabetic comas and they started waking up. These days their research would require multi-million dollar clinical trials and take 10 years or longer. The point being, the drug testing process for terminal illnesses is very very slow. There are also drugs that show some efficacy in curing Parkinsons like Nilotinib, but they won't cure anyone who isn't getting it outside the system for at least another 10 years, even if it works perfectly. I think there should be some more risk tolerance and looser regulation for people with terminal illnesses as long as the research is done on a non-profit basis. Even if you had the cure for a terminal illness right now it wouldn't be on the market for 10 years and a lot of people would die needlessly because of that.

nradov 10y ago

What do you expect? Medical professionals are not witch doctors or snake oil scammers. The first rule is "do no harm". It would be wildly irresponsible to inject a patient with stem cells or whatever just for the sake of trying something. If there's a reason to suspect that stem cells might help then encourage them to conduct a properly controlled clinical trial. Many hospitals do have chaplains (priests and others) on staff. Some patients find them to be a great source of comfort.

narrator 10y ago
A good counterpoint to this is Banting and Best (https://www.nobelprize.org/educational/medicine/insulin/discovery-insulin.html https://www.nobelprize.org/educational/medicine/insulin/disc...). These guys back in the 20s discovered insulin and brought it to market and started using it on patients in widespread distribution in 3 years. As soon as they figured out it would work by injecting a dog, then themselves, then a patient they went into a children's hospital and started injecting kids with it who were in diabetic comas and they started waking up. These days their research would require multi-million dollar clinical trials and take 10 years or longer. The point being, the drug testing process for terminal illnesses is very very slow. There are also drugs that show some efficacy in curing Parkinsons like Nilotinib, but they won't cure anyone who isn't getting it outside the system for at least another 10 years, even if it works perfectly. I think there should be some more risk tolerance and looser regulation for people with terminal illnesses as long as the research is done on a non-profit basis. Even if you had the cure for a terminal illness right now it wouldn't be on the market for 10 years and a lot of people would die needlessly because of that.