The Healthcare "System"

Healthcare has become a "system", requiring huge investments, driven by profits and obsessed with metrics which are used to drive the doctors to perform. 

The focus is on the Doctors' careers, money, and return on capital. 

The doctors are armed with knowledge gained from a highly corrupt scientific establishment which is driven by evil Pharma companies with motives that do not align with the health of the patient who lies at the end of the value chain, helpless in his hospital bed, with the tentacles of every stakeholder in the system embedded into him, sucking his blood. 

Neither the patient nor the doctors have any power in the giant blood sucking machine called the medical establishment. They interact with each other in a role play that could be a tragi comical charade, except that it is for real. 

The way to deal with the system is for us the patients to reclaim the power to decide for ourselves what is good for us, but for that we need to be well informed and have courage of conviction, which is very difficult when you are attached to the system in so many different ways. 

You cannot expect your doctor to give you good advice for they know very little about what constitutes good health, and are, with or without their knowledge, driven by incentives that have nothing to do with the patients' health or wellness. 

You certainly cannot expect your hospital to care about your well being. 

There is nothing surprising about what the doctor is outlining in his book, but the establishment is acting surprised. The establishment has to do that, what choice does it have? Those who know about its evils and profit from them, have to pretend that they never knew and they are cursing the bloody doctor who wrote the book. Those who didn't know about the evils of the system and are truly surprised are the naive trusting aam janta, who don't have a choice. They have to trust the system since it exists for their benefit, right? 

Right. The medical system, education system, civic amenities system, food system, government system, everything exists for their benefit. 

Right, sure, of course!

Meanwhile, I have some rules that I follow to deal with this evil machine called the medical establishment. 

Never go for "preventive" medical checkups. Never, ever, go for preventive medical checkups. 

If you are walking on the road and passing a hospital, cross to the other side so that even the shadow of the hospital does not fall on you. 

Just because you are insured does not mean you go in for treatment. Remember, the more you get into the system, and the more you spend, the more you get fucked. 

Retain the right to decide which medicine to take, and which to avoid. Remember, the doctor is merely a consultant, you are paying him for his services, and you have the right to decide which part of his advice to follow. In the rare occasion that I happen to visit a doctor, I am fully attired in an armour of scepticism, it has helped me immensely. 

Never ever get trapped into taking life long medication for any illness. The moment that happens, you are doomed. 

There are a thousand illnesses with several  thousand symptoms with millions of drug combinations. It's all very confusing. 

But the rules for good health are very few. Very very few. Focus on health and not on illness, and you will never go wrong.