The ongoing Pandemic has solidified my belief that that most people would be better off in this world if they listened less to laypeople who think they know a lot about medicine and instead listened more to people who have graduated medical school and have a whole bunch of framed diplomas and certificates on the walls of their medical office. It's also a good indicator of competence if they have a medical office.
I am not saying doctors are infallible. We all have stories of one being utterly wrong about what was ailing someone and/or about how to make things better. But I think they're right way more often than non-doctors — and I don't think its twice as often or thrice as often. It's way more than that, varying with how serious the ailment is. If you're really sick, you really need a real doctor. In fact, you really need a real Very Good Doctor.
If you don't have one, work towards getting one. There are many opinions out there about what would constitute adequate medical care in this country. I would think the least of it would be that everyone had access to a Very Good Doctor and could afford to see that V.G.D. not just for emergencies but also for check-ups and preventive maintenance.
If you use a little common sense, it is possible to find a Very Good Doctor and even one can lead to a network of them. Very Good Doctors usually recommend other Very Good Doctors when you need a specialist. When I recently had a stomach problem, my very good General Practitioner sent me to a very good Gastroenterologist and the ailment was fixed.
And I should add that my definition of a Very Good Doctor is not limited to that person knowing a lot about medical matters and diseases and spleens and pills. It often has a lot to do with rapport and understanding and not having such a busy schedule that you can never get them on the phone or just sit and talk with them. The Very Good Doctor for me might not be the Very Good Doctor for you.
The other day, I was in for a minor check-up and consultation with a Very Good Doctor for me and we got to talking about The Pandemic. If I understand him correctly, he thinks the medical community has done a pretty good job with the challenge of COVID, given the fact that so little was known about it when it first burst into our lives. Doctors suddenly had to treat people for it while they learned what it was, how it spread, how to prevent it, etc. And while vaccines were being developed and tested and approved.
He said — and I'm paraphrasing mightily here — that much of what was believed about it at first was tentative and clearly identified as subject-to-change. As more was learned, the treatments and recommendations changed…and that caused a lot of confusion and distrust and accusations. Too many people expected doctors to know everything about it and to be able to treat it from Day One. Too often as knowledge of COVID expanded and new treatments were developed, what had been said or done earlier was viewed by some as incompetence…or worse, lying.
I was thinking about that as I read this fact-check on some of the things that have been said about Dr. Anthony Fauci, the chief medical adviser to the President and head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Dr. Fauci is about to step down and unlike some people, I don't think that's a cause for celebration.
It seems to me the man had an impossible job to begin with and it became even more impossible as The Pandemic became politicized and various factions were angry he didn't say what they wanted him to say. The fact-check identifies a number of out-and-out misquotes of the man.
Merely treating the crisis as a crisis infuriated many. I don't know how you can be the Chief Adviser to Donald Trump and then be the Chief Adviser to Joe Biden without making someone consider you The Enemy. We live in a time when if you're not actively on one side, you're presumed to be part of the opposition. Doctors ought to be on the side of medical accuracy and preventing suffering and saving lives. They should not be attacked because what they're saying might be injurious to the chances of the guy you want to see elected getting elected.