A Reflection On Modern Medicine Essay

The Hippocratic Oath is a promise in center of attention to do no hurt make by a rude(a) doctor before becoming a practicing physician. The oath has been a prototype of the medical community for several centuries. It endures bonny as pregnant and valid today as when Hippocrates wrote it in 400 BC. Medical moral philosophy in todays modern society has be generate precise blurry and hard to understand (Price 1). It is non the oath that has acquired a much complicated meaning. It is the practice of medicine that has become more(prenominal) complex.Presently, it is becoming more and more more difficult for doctors to discern good medicine from bad medicine. In our current society governmental correctness, policy, and politics have come to go down good medicine as opposed to what is best for the affected role. Over a century ago, H. G. surface was criticized for his novel The Island of pervert Moreau written in 1896. literary critics and the general public were appalled b y the atrocities depicted in the text. present-day(a) authors, physicians, and scientists could not fathom the cruel behavior of Doctor Moreau.And it was easy to key that Dr. Moreau was practicing bad medicine and had broken his vow to do now harm. The Island of Doctor Moreau was a novel written late in 1896 by H. G. come up. The speckle seems relatively simple and typical of a science fiction novel. A preteen civil servant is the sole survivor of shipwreck. He is name floating along side the island of Doctor Moreau who rescues him. The five-year-old man has no knowledge that Doctor Moreau has fled from his home nation fearing charges of animal cruelty. Upon first impressions, the young man falls in love with the island.Slowly he remembers stories most Dr. Moreau and the horrors he created. The lush fauna and sandy beaches be exciting and y out(p)hful to him. To paraphrase John S. Partington, in The Death of the Static H. G. Wells and the kinetic Utopia, Dr. Moreaus isla nd was give care Eden, Dr. Moreau was God, and Prendick was like Adam. When curiosity gets the best of him he wanders tardily into the overgrowth and what he finds there is bassly shocking. Doctor Moreau is using a process called vivisection to create a hybrid of animal and human beings. His research culture is to make man be absent of evil.In the end Moreau is killed and the young man, Prendick, escapes and lives to tell the tale. To gain a better understanding of the novel and the beliefs of H. G. Wells it is important to look at the prevailing scientific knowledge of the epoch in which the novel was written. The late 19th century was when Darwin first made known his theories of evolution and survival of the fittest. Darwin believed that all species including humans, change with term. In beat when God was the creator of all, the idea of evolution and our link to other species was genuinely disturbing to the general public.H. G. Wells was a contemporary publishr of this period. In both of his most famous novels, The Time Machine and The Island of Doctor Moreau, he investigates the conflict between nature and God. In summary, H. G. Wells was not just an author but alike a trained biologist. What could be more frightening than an island of beasts butchered by a mad scientist. Dr. Moreau does not just wangle the bodies but using charge card surgery to make them appear human but also their minds (Mclean). He has them recite the laws he created. The gather in concert and chant Not to go on all-fours that is the Law.Are we not men? But that is not the worst of it. After the chanting of the Law comes the hymn of praise to their Creator His is the House of Pain. His is the Hand that makes. His is the Hand that wounds. His is the Hand that heals. His is the lightning-flash. His is the deep salt sea. His are the stars in the sky. To summarize Freeman Dyson station in his book titled Disturbing the Universe, a biologist like Wells has had to confront th e idea, can the scientific community play paragon and if so, can they stay sane (Dyson 111).Can the scientific community remain objected and no let the power of invigoration, death, and creation which is left in their hand go to their heads. If the answer is no, than the lesson is learned, and Dr. Moreau is what will be produced. A man who knows no ethical boundaries, who believes he is more powerful than God. Much of H. G. Wells musical composition explores the idea of what are the implications of modern biology g iodine equipment casualty. By allowing raft and animals to be altered, even if it is treatment for their own good the human racetrack will loose two important anchors- our sense of identity, and the brotherhood of mankind.These two things keep us sane and of course any visitor to The Island of Dr. Moreau looses these completely. Certainly, Prendick does, he must fight for his life and kill, an activity he would never do had he not wandered upon the Doctors Island. The scientific community has come a long way since 1896. The knowledge of DNA, we know in situation how life is produced and reproduced. Whoever can read the DNA language can also learn to write it. Whoever learns to write the language will in time learn to design living creatures according to his whim. Presently, the public should fear not the crude Dr.Moreaus with knives but the young, bright zoologist sitting at his computer cloning an extinct animal, or splicing genes in and out the human genome to create a superior human. Though it was science-fiction in 1896, Wells novel is frighteningly close to science today. The issues he pressed in this novel are still current. purge more so because the lines of what constitutes harm are very blurry. What Doctor Moreau did was wrong but arent plastic surgeons modern versions of Doctor Moreau? Except clients actually pay them to slice them up and make them more perfect humans. In 2003 there were 8. 7 meg cosmetic plastic surgeries.This n umber is up 32% from 2002 (Hill). What Doctor Moreau did was wrong but arent therapists taking advantage of a nations worth of people who are emotionally underdeveloped, psychically frail, and requiring the ministrations of mental wellness professionals to cope with lifes vicissitudes. Being in touch with ones feelings and freely expressing them have become paramount personal virtues. Today-with a book for every ailment, a counselor for every crisis, a effort for every grievance, and a TV show for every conceivable problem-we are at risk of degrading our native ability to cope with lifes challenges. (Sommers). Is that any worse then Doctor Moreau solution of having his juke humans chant the rules of being human? Sally Satel who wrote Victimizing the Victims, which is the rendering exploring how political correctness in the medical profession is hindering the quality of patient care people receive. In summary Satel says, the goals of the public health welkin have changed from us ing science to improve peoples lives to a global ideology to manipulate the way people think close disease and its remedies. The change is not for the better. Today, she fights, victimology is one of the biggest trends in medicine. in that respect is a trend in the medical world to look at link as the cause and make diagnoses accordingly. For example, its true that wealthier people turn tail to be healthier. But can you assume that poverty is responsible for high levels of disease among the poor? Are the poor incapable of helping themselves? Well, yes, argue leading indoctrinologists, as Satel calls the backers of poltically correct medicine.Which is why two health experts could write in the American Journal for Public Health, we must address the social inequalities that so reliably produce these inequalities in health (Satel). HMOs offer a similar problem. To paraphrase Sarah Cay Bradley viewpoint with the change magnitude of HMOs there has been a drastic decrease in how mu ch Americans spend on healthcare, also decreasing is the quality of healthcare people are receiving. Doctors are forced to stick with the rules of their demanding HMO partners. Even if what is in the best interest of the patient does not mention those rules.There are several cost effective policies that physicians are required to follow today. One concept is time is money, the quicker a doctor gets a patient out the more money that is saved. Doctors always seem to be in a hurry spending very little time actually speaking to their patients. Which can lead to misdiagnosis or overlooked health problems. Political correctness, policy, and politics drive the current scientific and medical communities. kind of of producing healthcare professionals who are compassionate and reflective, they produce professionals can simply follow instructions.Just because doctors today are following the rules set forth for them by insurance companies, and the government does not mean they are practicin g good medicine. peradventure they too, like Doctor Moreau, have forgotten their oath to do no harm and replaced it with the creed make more money. In 1896 H. G. Wells, pondered in text, the what ifs of what could go wrong with modern medicine and science. The public rebuked his rather blunt commentary as foolishness and vulgarity. A hundred years later, Dr. Moreau has become the norm. working Cited Dyson, Freeman.Disturbing the Universe. New York Basic Books, 1979. Questia. 10 Dec. 2005 . Hill, Theresa. More Than 8. 7M Cosmetic formative Surgeries in 2003, Up 32 Pct. Over 2002 For 12th Year, American rules of order of Plastic Surgeons Reports Statistics. US New Wire Service. 8 March 2004. 09 Dec. 2005 . Mclean, Steven. W. rabbit warren Mclean. H. G. Wells Traversing Time. Utopian Studies 16. 2 (2005) 320+. Questia. 10 Dec. 2005 .