A Reflection On Modern Medicine Essay

The Hippocratic Oath is a ring in essence to do no suffering made by a new doctor before give way a practicing physician. The oath has been a old-hat of the medical exam familiarity for several centuries. It carcass exactly as meaningful and legal nowadays as when Hippocrates wrote it in cd BC. Medical ethics in straightaways ultramodern high society has establish very blurry and hard to agnize (Price 1). It is non the oath that has acquired a more than(prenominal) complicated meaning. It is the practice of music that has be add together more complex.Presently, it is becoming increasingly more difficult for doctors to discern good medicine from bad medicine. In our genuine society political congealness, policy, and politics have deign to define good medicine as opposed to what is trump for the long-suffering. Over a century ago, H. G. come up was criticized for his tonic The Island of define Moreau written in 1896. Literary critics and the frequent publi c were appalled by the atrocities render in the text. Contemporary authors, physicians, and scientists could non bottom the cruel behavior of mendelevium Moreau.And it was piano to see that Dr. Moreau was practicing bad medicine and had low-down his vow to do now harm. The Island of bear upon Moreau was a novel written fresh in 1896 by H. G. Wells. The plot seems comparatively simple and typical of a friendship fiction novel. A subatomic civilized servant is the sole survivor of shipwreck. He is found floating along lieu the island of debase Moreau who rescues him. The young man has no knowledge that doc Moreau has fled from his home kingdom fearing charges of animal cruelty. Upon starting signal impressions, the young man falls in love with the island. lento he remembers stories about Dr. Moreau and the horrors he prep ard. The unstinting fauna and sandy beaches be raise and new to him. To paraphrase John S. Partington, in The Death of the Static H. G. Wells and the energising Utopia, Dr. Moreaus island was like Eden, Dr. Moreau was God, and Prendick was like Adam. When distinguishing characteristic gets the best of him he wanders deep into the gigantism and what he finds there is deeply shocking. set up Moreau is use a process called vivisection to grow a hybrid of animal and human. His inquiry goal 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 part understanding of the novel and the beliefs of H. G. Wells it is burning(prenominal) to look at the prevailing scientific knowledge of the prison term in which the novel was written. The late 19th century was when Darwin first made known his theories of exploitation and excerpt of the fittest. Darwin believed that all species including mankind, neuter with time. In time when God was the creator of all, the idea of evolution and our link to other species was very disturb to the general pu blic.H. G. Wells was a modern-day bring throughr of this time. In two of his to the highest degree famous novels, The Time Machine and The Island of Doctor Moreau, he investigates the conflict between constitution and God. In summary, H. G. Wells was not just an author scarce in any case a trained biologist. What could be more scare than an island of beasts plainlychered by a mad scientist. Dr. Moreau does not just alter the bodies but using plastic surgery to make them come forward human but also their minds (Mclean). He has them recite the laws he created. The gather together and chant Not to go on all-fours that is the Law.Are we not Men? just now that is not the worst of it. After the intonate of the Law comes the hymn of praise to their creator His is the House of Pain. His is the baseball glove 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 Freem an Dyson orientate in his leger titled sad the Universe, a biologist like Wells has had to confront the idea, mess the scientific community of interests play god and if so, fag they baffle sane (Dyson 111).Can the scientific community remain objected and no let the author of smell, death, and creation which is left in their manpower 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 h whizst boundaries, who believes he is more powerful than God. much(prenominal) of H. G. Wells writing explores the idea of what are the implications of modern biology gone wrong. By allowing pack and animals to be altered, even if it is give-and-take for their own good the human pelt along will loose two outstanding anchors- our sense of identity, and the brotherhood of mankind.These two things stay us sane and of course all visitor to The Island of Dr. Moreau looses these completely. Certainly, Prendick does, he must foment for his biography 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 detail how life is produced and reproduced. Whoever can read the DNA address can also learn to write it. Whoever learns to write the language will in time learn to design spiritedness creatures according to his whim. Presently, the public should fear not the crude Dr.Moreaus with knives but the young, noctilucent zoologist sitting at his ready reckoner cloning an extinct animal, or lap joint genes in and out the human genome to create a superior human. Though it was science-fiction in 1896, Wells novel is frighteningly obturate to science today. The issues he pressed in this novel are still current. plain 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? Exce pt clients actually pay them to track them up and make them more thoroughgoing(a) humans. In 2003 there were 8. 7 zillion cosmetic plastic surgeries.This number is up 32% from 2002 (Hill). What Doctor Moreau did was wrong but arent therapists taking advantage of a nations worth of state 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 sire paramount personal virtues. Today-with a book for every ailment, a counselor for every crisis, a lawsuit for every grievance, and a TV show for every presumable problem-we are at risk of corrupting our native ability to cope with lifes challenges. (Sommers). Is that any worse thus Doctor Moreau solution of having his pseudo humans chant the rules of being human? snap Satel who wrote Victimizing the Victims, which is the commentary exploring how political correctness in t he medical profession is hindering the role of patient care pot receive. In summary Satel says, the goals of the public wellness area have changed from using science to meliorate peoples lives to a world-wide ideology to manipulate the way people think about disease and its remedies. The change is not for the better. Today, she argues, victimology is one of the biggest trends in medicine. thither is a trend in the medical world to look at tie-up as the cause and make diagnoses accordingly. For example, its true that wealthier people tend to be healthier. But can you assume that leanness is responsible for higher levels of disease among the vile? Are the poor incapable of portion 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 reality Health, we must address the social inequalities that so reliably produce these inequalities in health (Sat el). HMOs offer a similar problem. To paraphrase Sarah Cay Bradley point of view with the increase of HMOs there has been a drastic decrease in how much Americans spend on health care, also decreasing is the quality of healthcare people are receiving. Doctors are forced to survey the rules of their demanding HMO partners. Even if what is in the best interest of the patient does not keep an eye on those rules.There are several monetary value effective policies that physicians are required to prolong today. One concept is time is money, the speedy a doctor gets a patient out the more money that is saved. Doctors eternally 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. Instead of producing healthcare professionals who are compassionate and reflective, they produce professionals can sim ply follow instructions.Just because doctors today are following the rules set away for them by insurance companies, and the government does not mean they are practicing good medicine. maybe they too, like Doctor Moreau, have bury 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 numb commentary as foolishness and vulgarity. A hundred years later, Dr. Moreau has become the norm. flora Cited Dyson, Freeman.Disturbing the Universe. New York Basic Books, 1979. Questia. 10 Dec. 2005 . Hill, Theresa. More Than 8. 7M Cosmetic Plastic Surgeries in 2003, Up 32 Pct. Over 2002 For twelfth Year, American Society of Plastic Surgeons Reports Statistics. US New Wire Service. 8 surround 2004. 09 Dec. 2005 . Mclean, Steven. W. Warren Mclean. H. G. Wells Traversing Time. Utopian Studies 16. 2 (2005) 320+. Questia. 10 Dec. 2005 .