Rouser2 said:
You in effect call the man a liar out of what? Hatred? Or just downright ignorance???? I know of not a single salient point made in any of Mendelsohn's books which have been challenged as to fact. In fact, many of his criticisms have led to reforms. But I do know of at least one mistake in his "Heretic." book. And that mistake further confrims my belief in the man's integrity with documentary evidence in the form of a letter to back it up.
That "mistake", minor though it was, was not cited by any reviewer, nor any MD doctor, nor eminent PHD in something or other. It was discovered by my own brother. The mistake concerned something Mendelsohn had written on alleged research fraud concerning the Mid-Wife Toad. Somehow, my brother remembered the tale from decades earlier from a biology class or some such and personally wrote to Mendelsohn pointing out the error.
Now one might expect such a letter from a 'nobody" would be ignored. Normally, when doctors are challenged as to their knowledge or expertise by a lay person or a patient, he/she would probably question the critiic's credentials, saying something like,
"And just what medical school did YOU go to???
But in this case, Dr. Mendelsohn wrote back, thanked my borther for the letter, admitted the mistake, and promsed a correction in future editions. I really wonder how many other doctors would have done the same. In my view, the man exudes credibility.
Rouser2,
You are probably the most hypocritical and pointlessly venomous person I have ever had the misfortune of coming across. It scarcely behooves you to accuse others of hatred when you yourself, in your opening post, have written the statement:
"Hmmm. Another reason to think twice before entering Modern Medicine's Temple of Doom."
You go ahead to accuse doctors of routinely performing surgeries merely for the purpose of "training interns/residents". By saying so, you accuse them of dishonesty, maliciousness and blatant disregard for the patient. If there's anyone who's filled with hatred, it's you.
No I haven't read Mendelsohn's book, but if he possessed even the slightest bit of integrity, he would cringe at the thought of having someone like you as his advocate. On the other hand, if your postings here are an accurate reflection of his writings, then my time would be better invested in reading publications and statistically based scientific research papers, rather than in reading anecdotal evidence.
You might notice that I did not call Mendelsohn a liar. My question was:
"So you would rather believe that the entire medical field is running a giant malicious conspiracy than face the possibility that Mendelssohn's "observations" and "personal experiences" might be wrong or fictional?" I am questioning your unquestioning belief of him. I'm sure you do not accept all of his claims as true merely because of his very gracious correction of the mistake pointed out by your brother. It does not matter what kind of person he is - if his claims are supported by evidence, he is right. If they aren't, he isn't. If all the accusations that you've blanketly made against the entire medical profession (as opposed to a handful of unscrupulous practitioners) are taken from his book, then I, for one, am very curious to see the extensive studies that must have revealed to him these gems of insight.
Medicine, like every branch of science, is constantly being tweaked. There is no end to the acquisition of knowledge, and we shall never reach the point when there shall be nothing more to learn. In the course of the journey, we will realise that we had ideas that were mistaken and we will correct them. That is how science works.
No doctor ever looks at medicine as the absolute holy grail. We look at it as a constantly evolving mass of information. We recognise its limitations and its pitfalls. And we use research to continuously refine it.
You, on the other hand, see it through a horribly jaundiced eye. You see only the limitations, not the dramatic successes. When you look at general anaesthesia, you see only the possibility of anaesthesia failure (0.02%). You do not see the decreases in mortality and morbidity that anaesthesia has produced in a dazzling array of medical conditions. When you think of the polio vaccine, I'm sure you see the potential of the vaccine to faultily produce poliomyelitis (1 in 2 million) while conveniently ignoring the preponderance of limping children that inhabited the world before the vaccine was introduced.
Yes, vaccines have the tiny but distinct possibility of causing harm to the recipient. Which is why smallpox vaccination was stopped in the late seventies - because the disease had been eradicated and the benefits of the vaccine were outweighed by the potential side-effects. Protocols and policies are changed on the basis on the current understanding that we possess of the world. That's how science works.
You seem to consider yourself a renegade reformist. Let me assure you that you're not. The medical field is full of reformists - legitimate doctors who use rigorous scientific methods to evaluated the available data, and who suggest changes in medical methodology based on sound statistical justification.
You are merely a vituperative troll. You are the one filled with hatred. And as long as you continue to spew, there will be people willing to counter you with that pesky thing called statistical data.
). My guess is that it is just one of those things. Under anesthetise and you get some partial level of consciousness. Over anesthetise and you could get death. What doesn't help is when doctors patronise patients, as they did me.