Why the Medical Paradigm Fails
We all make mistakes. I’ve made more than my fare share. Many mistakes we can recover and learn from, but many health mistakes cannot be reversed or rectified.
When I was 2 years old I had swollen glands in my neck. A very helpful, friendly and highly qualified surgeon put me in hospital and took them all out. He was just doing his job. What a shame nobody told my mother about my milk allergy.
At the age of 11, a kind dentist my mother worked for pulled out 3 of my teeth, irreversibly damaging me forever. He was just doing his job. Shame nobody told him how your teeth play an important role in stimulating your brain.
My ex-wife had her tonsils removed. The clinical indication for the operation? Her brother was having his removed so she may as well have hers done at the same time.
I have treated a lot of people over 25 years. About 12000 new patients and 120000 visits. I listened and learned from all their experiences and stories. Almost all of them came after they tried the conventional doctors/drugs/surgery approach.
Based on my experience, I will admit to a rather biased view of traditional medicine. I respect parts of it enormously – trauma and emergency care are wonderful and save many lives. But health care, well…..
What is interesting is how I (and many like me) can study all the same subjects as a medical doctor, for just as many hours, and come out with a completely different attitude to practice.
It’s called a paradigm. We all have them, and medical doctors have their own special paradigm.
It doesn’t really matter to me who you choose for your healthcare. What matters is that when you walk into any doctor’s office you understand their paradigm, or the remedy you want may not be the diagnosis and treatment you receive. And as we have seen, medical mistakes are not easily rectified.
Over the next few weeks, I am going to give you an overview of the medical paradigm – essentially “how doctors think” so that you can ask better questions and be better informed.
Actually, this is not about medical “mistakes”. Medical mistakes kill, harm or injure thousands of people every year. “Safety breaches in Australian healthcare are killing more people than breast cancer or road accidents,” Associate Professor Bolsin said. (Source: Online SMH 11.07.07) Mistakes occur within a paradigm (you can read about the horrible consequences of medical mistakes here).
I am not arrogant enough to point out other professional’s mistakes, I’ll leave that to the lawyers. I will only consider the inevitable consequences of the paradigm itself.
I should charge for this information, as it is probably worth hundreds or thousands of dollars and could save your life, but for now it’s free because I want to see if I can write on this subject in a way that is compelling and useful to you.
One day it might become a book.
So sit back and relax as I take you on a journey into scientific medical thinking that could save you from medical mishap and misadventure. I welcome criticism and comment as they will help make my arguments bullet-proof.
If you want to contribute, I am posting each article into a blog so you can have your say.
I hope you enjoy this series. I’ll send you the first instalment tomorrow and send one a week for about 8 weeks.
They won’t be long, and they’ll be easy to read.
It’s your body, let’s get it working the way it should
Simon King
Chiropractor
TWEAKS
Tel 02 66422900
PS One of the problems with arguing against a dominant paradigm is that you will always be regarded as a kook, a nutcase and worse, a threat – which is why you won’t find this information anywhere else.
I assure you I am none of these but it is necessary to issue the following disclaimers:
1. I believe all doctors are responsible, ethical and caring individuals who are doing their very best for their patients. It is their paradigm I will examine, not them as individuals. 2. I believe every individual has right to make their own healthcare choices. None of my articles should be taken as medical advice. If you feel like you are not sufficiently informed to make your own choices, you should seek the advice of a qualified professional.
