Medicine is not merely a science - although science is a foundational principle of medical practice and progress. It is also an art, a craft and most importantly a vehicle through which physicians may pass on to fellow human beings that most noble of all human virtues - compassion, itself a product of love.
But the reason the public places an extraordinary and unique trust in physicians is because of the way science informs and inspires the compassion, the art and the craft. Many patients for that reason, will prefer the brusque and rude surgeon who is nonetheless a science-based physician and who is a “bloody good” technical operator, over a “nice” surgeon who does not pay attention to the science and has a sloppy operating technique.
Therefore, to be truly compassionate, the physician must also be a good scientist - although of course, if a physician cannot be kind, compassionate and polite, he or she should probably have chosen another profession!
How egregious then, when the science that underlies the practice of medicine is subjected to censorship! The censoring agency/authority in this case, is attacking a foundational pillar of the doctor-patient relationship that is based on trust; and attacking both the patient and the physician, who are the parties to that trust.
When a patient presents to the physician’s clinic, there is trust that operates at multiple levels and the patient assumes that the doctor will always act in his or her best interests. Censorship of the physician immediately places a glass wall between patient and doctor - the patient sees and perhaps even hears the doctor, but is unable to truly communicate, since the doctor is working with one hand tied behind his back and the patient cannot possibly get the benefit of a free inquiry into the science in the patient’s best interest.
During the covid pandemic, the heavy hand of the censor made a mockery of both science and the doctor-patient relationship. No longer were doctors allowed to act in the patient’s best interest, they had to tow the censor’s line - or be suspended, investigated or fired. Licensing bodies who have a mandate to regulate the profession by protecting the public from incompetent physicians, instead started regulating the science and disciplining ethical, compassionate and evidence based physicians! In the history of modern medicine, this interference with and infringement of the patient’s autonomy and the doctor-patient relationship, is unprecedented.
As a result, the public’s trust in the medical profession and its regulators has become splintered and broken - and it might be a few generations before that trust is recovered.
Why did this happen? How do we prevent this from happening again? This is the subject of the Free Speech in Medicine Conference in Baddeck, Nova Scotia that will start later this week.
I have the privilege of being one of the speakers at this conference - and next week, my Substack essay will have details of the speech I delivered at the conference.
My faith in doctors left long ago when I was a student and working in medicine to determine my future. I experienced the arrogance of physicians who rarely listened to the actual patient, never supported nutrition and exercise as solutions, and relied heavily on Pharma for solutions.
Then my daughter was vaccine injured, sparking an allergy overnight, she went from a sleep-through-the night two month old to an all over rash, crying and in-pain baby. Did my pediatrician figure it out? Aside from recommending ground up chicken and high fructose corn syrup (prescription formula), no. A friend pointed out how to fix the problem (stop eating any milk product or soy product) and my baby healed and thrived.
This was after being treated by an OB/gyn who told me after four years of trying to get pregnant (and two rounds of fertility meds and ultrasounds) that I didn’t ovulate and I would need IVF. Instead, I cleaned up my diet, took herbals for a few months and I was pregnant. I now have five children.
My husband got shingles a week after his daughter snuck off and got the chicken pox vax with the help of her bio mom. He went to the ER and they diagnosed him with a sinus infection, but it was shingles on his face. He was finally diagnosed by a doctor close to retirement after three days of excruciating pain.
My dad almost died of a brain bleed from taking eliquis in 2020. I had to fight tooth and nail to be with my mom while making life-saving decisions. Only one of us was allowed with him, even though his survival rate was extremely small. He did survive. And then he was convinced to take the V, and now his leukemia is advanced. My mom took the vaccine and now has heart arrhythmia, passed out on the sidewalk and broke her arm and face. She needs a pacemaker. My sil now has MS symptoms but has not been given any diagnosis (but many different meds) since the V. My aunt had her thyroid removed for suspicion of cancer.
Unless I am dying, I am not going to the doctor or hospital. The Pharma method of treatment has caused so much harm, all while the FDA is trying to eliminate natural medicines used for hundreds of years. I use homeopathy, nutrition, herbals, and I haven’t taken an antibiotic in 15 years. At 51, I’m not on a single allopathic medication.
You want people to trust medicine? You’ll need to completely re-educate doctors out of the Pharma model.
Doctors indeed should not be censored so that they cannot articulate scientific truths (such as the fact that a particular vaccination policy cannot be presented as absolute truth because science is an open-ended process of inquiry); at the same time, doctors, like people in all professions, should self-censor and self-examine to ask themselves whether the values and principles that should govern their profession are alive in their hearts. In a well-functioning civilization, doctors should be humbly using the science and art of medicine to help solve and manage medical problems--which is indeed a noble and very helpful profession. While many doctors in our society are doing that, it is also important for doctors to ensure that the high status that society has given them is not misused for purposes of control and that they do not demand blind obedience and “worship” from society. Given how useful medicine often is for solving problems, maintaining and restoring trust and respect should not be excessively difficult if doctors focus on their mandate of serving the health needs of individual patients.