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I don't fully get the title from the content, but perhaps NPR is saying that we should have a different control structure for health related maters... Like for

I don't fully get the title from the content, but perhaps NPR is saying that we should have a different control structure for health related maters... Like for example in Star Trek the only people that can override the captain is the doctor. For medical emergencies they can basically force some course of action. It seems in most countries the top brass is making decisions even though they are not technically qualified to do so.

AnHonestComment 6y ago
Doctors can’t override the captain, except on medical choices and only narrowly. They can relieve the captain — but they can do that in the US, too.
throwaway201103 6y ago
If the government is going to tell me I can't leave my house, I want that decision being made by an elected official with some accountability to the public, not by a staff doctor of some sort.
- AnimalMuppet 6y ago
  I hear you, and I understand your reasoning. And yet... Let's say it's an election year, and the decision is going to be made just a few months before the election. Let's say that the lives saved by a stay-at-home order will be mostly saved after the election, but the pain of the lockdown will be before it. (If any of that sounds familiar, it should.) Now how much do you trust your elected official? Still more than the doctor? I trust the doctor to be non-political. Sometimes I really need that. I trust the elected official to more politically cued in. Sometimes we need that. I don't know how to pick. I want a balance, not one or the other.
- xxpor 6y ago
  In Ohio, the only person in county government with power to arrest the (elected) sheriff is the (elected) coroner.
0xffff2 6y ago
>Like for example in Star Trek the only people that can override the captain is the doctor. For medical emergencies they can basically force some course of action. I guess most people who are familiar with this at all are familiar with it from Star Trek, but it's worth mentioning that this is just a natural extension of Starfleet's pseudo-military basis. When I was in the Army, my word carried nearly as much weight on medical matters as my immediate commanding officer's, even though I was a lowly line medic, not a near equal as the doctors in Star Trek usually are to their respective captains. I had no official authority of my own, but the fact that I could go to my medical superiors for backup meant that I was never questioned when I said something was medically necessary. My point is, we don't need to go to a SciFi TV show to see this dynamic. It exists in our own current society.
petertodd 6y ago
That different control structure is why Sweden didn't lockdown. The health authorities were in charge, and pre-covid, lockdowns, masks, etc. were not recommended by mainstream health authorities as tools to deal with pandemics.
- maxerickson 6y ago
  Lockdown is a terrible word for the measures taken in the US too. The most consequential orders were business closures and there was little or no enforcement of orders directed at individuals.

AnHonestComment 6y ago

Doctors can’t override the captain, except on medical choices and only narrowly. They can relieve the captain — but they can do that in the US, too.

throwaway201103 6y ago

If the government is going to tell me I can't leave my house, I want that decision being made by an elected official with some accountability to the public, not by a staff doctor of some sort.

AnimalMuppet 6y ago
I hear you, and I understand your reasoning. And yet... Let's say it's an election year, and the decision is going to be made just a few months before the election. Let's say that the lives saved by a stay-at-home order will be mostly saved after the election, but the pain of the lockdown will be before it. (If any of that sounds familiar, it should.) Now how much do you trust your elected official? Still more than the doctor? I trust the doctor to be non-political. Sometimes I really need that. I trust the elected official to more politically cued in. Sometimes we need that. I don't know how to pick. I want a balance, not one or the other.
xxpor 6y ago
In Ohio, the only person in county government with power to arrest the (elected) sheriff is the (elected) coroner.

0xffff2 6y ago

>Like for example in Star Trek the only people that can override the captain is the doctor. For medical emergencies they can basically force some course of action. I guess most people who are familiar with this at all are familiar with it from Star Trek, but it's worth mentioning that this is just a natural extension of Starfleet's pseudo-military basis. When I was in the Army, my word carried nearly as much weight on medical matters as my immediate commanding officer's, even though I was a lowly line medic, not a near equal as the doctors in Star Trek usually are to their respective captains. I had no official authority of my own, but the fact that I could go to my medical superiors for backup meant that I was never questioned when I said something was medically necessary. My point is, we don't need to go to a SciFi TV show to see this dynamic. It exists in our own current society.

petertodd 6y ago

That different control structure is why Sweden didn't lockdown. The health authorities were in charge, and pre-covid, lockdowns, masks, etc. were not recommended by mainstream health authorities as tools to deal with pandemics.

maxerickson 6y ago
Lockdown is a terrible word for the measures taken in the US too. The most consequential orders were business closures and there was little or no enforcement of orders directed at individuals.