Why mortality decreases when doctors are on strike or on salary
What follows is not medical advice, but a perspective based on personal observation, experience, and evidence available in the public record. Many doctors and nurses genuinely care and help people. The point is not to condemn individuals or a profession, but to question whether the medical system as a whole is always the best choice for achieving health.
“I recently visited an 83-year-old friend in the hospital. Her meals consisted of pudding, instant potatoes, and a slab of canned meat. Her frail frame needed nourishment, yet her tray offered little that was health-oriented. Meanwhile, she was given 23 different pills daily — each prescribed with good intentions, yet creating a chemical load no one could truly understand.
She had placed her life entirely in the system’s hands, unaware that such dependency can sometimes do more harm than good.
The total number of contraindications and side effects reported on the drug inserts for these 17 medications was over 350. This pilling was self-inflicted because every time she had a complaint, off to the doctors she’d go. They would oblige with yet another medication, insisting that the meds were what was keeping her alive.
She trusted her physicians — as most people do — not realizing that no one, however well-trained, can predict the complex interactions of dozens of drugs.
People surrender to modern medicine because they assume, with all the doctor training and medical technology, it’s the best option. Similarly, we surrender to experts when our car, computer, and refrigerator break.
It seems to be the common-sense thing to do.
However, cars, computers, and refrigerators are machines for which every detail is known. Although the body is also a machine, its details are not only unknown, they’re beyond comprehension.
Therefore, no one, regardless of credentials, is an expert on the human body.
Hundreds of medical procedures, tests, and drugs believed to have been proven safe and effective have had to be withdrawn.
(462 medicinal products withdrawn from worldwide markets for safety reasons: Post-marketing withdrawal of 462 medicinal products because of adverse drug reactions: a systematic review of the world literature Hundreds of product withdrawals and recalls over the decades, according to the FDA and EMA: List of withdrawn drugs - Wikipedia Hundreds of reversals of established medical practices/procedures: Evidence-based de-implementation for contradicted, unproven, and aspiring healthcare practices)
Such backtracking is because research supporting medical interventions may be flawed in one way or another. For example, a person unknowingly taking a sugar pill placebo can have nausea and lose their hair when they think the pill is chemotherapy. This placebo effect makes all studies uncertain. Preventing adverse events of chemotherapy by educating patients about the nocebo effect (RENNO study) – study protocol of a randomized controlled trial with gastrointestinal cancer patients - BMC Cancer
Here are some of the medical interventions and tools reported in medical journals that have faced serious questions, controversies, or reversals:
• Pharmaceuticals
• 65% of surgeries and 85% of treatments
• Prostate biopsies and PSA tests
• Newborn injections, treatments, and circumcision
• Cervical cancer screening and mammography
• Carotid endarterectomy, coronary bypass, angioplasty, and pacemakers
• Yearly checkups and checkups before exercise
• Colorectal screening
• C-sections, amniocentesis, ovulation induction, ultrasound, neonatal ICU
• Laparoscopic gall bladder cholecystectomy
• X-rays, irradiation, CT scans, mammography, and fluoroscopy
Resources: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2740057; Exploring unnecessary invasive procedures in the United States: a retrospective mixed-methods analysis of cases from 2008-2016 - Patient Safety in Surgery;
Other considerations before making an appointment:
• Some studies suggest that medical error and adverse drug reactions may be among the leading causes of death in developed nations. Johns Hopkins study suggests medical errors are third-leading cause of death in U.S.
• Hospitalization can sometimes limit patient autonomy unless legal precautions are taken.
• Early hospital release increases the rate of recovery.
• Thousands of questionable doctors still practice. Public Citizen Releases Database With Names of 6,700 “Questionable Doctors” in 12 States - Most Still Practicing - Public Citizen
• During doctor strikes and hospital closures, mortality rates sometimes decreased. Doctors’ strikes and mortality: a review - PubMed
• Surgeries and other procedures decrease if doctors are on a salary. How should we pay doctors? A systematic review of salary payments and their effect on doctor behaviour - PubMed; How should we pay doctors: a systematic review of salary payments and their effect on doctor behaviour
The lesson is simple: no system or professional can replace self-responsibility. Health begins with daily choices — healthy nourishment, rest, mindset, and lifestyle. Modern medicine has its place, but lasting well-being rests in our own hands and the informed choices we make.
