Caution: soap box rant ahead. Change channels if you wish..
The lawsuit-happy American populace has caused the US medical professsion to take on huge costs in malpractice insurance.
The rate of new information flooding it the practical aspects of medicine (the world of the clinician) in any country is NUTS. More and more information is squeezed into the education of an averge MD, who leaves medical school with huge debt, before he/she has ever made a penny. This knowledge requires unusual diagnostic abilities. As new hypertext online searching allows practitioners to catch mistakes, identify missed symptom evaluation, and maybe clarify unusual case presentations..the majority of the problem solving is still conducted within the mind, based on relative experience and intuitive ability. Not every tom, dick and jane is a gifted diagnositian and clincian.
The indoctrination program of the intern and resident, a trial by fire approach, has its momumental weaknesses as well. Its inane, akin to the conditioning program of the armed forces that strips both lean mass and fat of its trainess. Both training programs further impair the health and mental condition of tainees by sleep deprivation and overly long work hours. And these are the folks treating us in hospitals and clincs. Fucking-A!! No wonder mistakes are made.
Lastly, the mentality of Western (Modern Industrial Age) societies in the UK, Europe, and here in the US have engendered a "fuck it all" attitude among the populace with regards to responsibility for their own health, with the provision of 'No-fault" coverage for a lifetime of bad lifestyle choices.
Unfortunately, the flood of those who seek a little pink or blue pill to fix these preventable chronic diseases is breaking the backs of the medical systems in just about every country. Think how much more efficient the system could be if 80% of the caseload vanished..thru preventive actions take on by would-be patients.
The third world now has many of these preventable diseases. Good god. You have no idea of what is coming...
(climbing off of soapbox). We return you to your regular subforum programming.
PS: This is not directed at Ryan. I am reacting to the standard blame that is shifted from the right to the wrong target.