Hippocratic Oath in liberal capitalism seems as just ceremony while new medical-drs getting their diplomas !?
Yes, profiteering-from-disease has become the leading medical model in crony capitalism; that is bad news for the serious medical professional.
Maimonides / Musa bin Meymun would have no chance !
I refused to participate in the Hippocratic Oath Ceremony back in 1988. I didn't like rituals and I tended not to agree to literal interpretations in some issues like abortion or euthanasia.
Are there any more recent alternatives that incorporate guidance on AI, genetic engineering, data privacy or esthetic surgery or social network marketing?
"satisfy financial greed of their private hospital bosses"? While "greed" may be a factor in some cases, reducing the dynamics of the medical-pharma-industrial complex to personal attitudes is, I think, a mistake. We're talking here about a CAPITALIST industry. A "service" industry it may be, but it still operates essentially on the same model as other capitalist industries. Which is to say: 1) its managers strive to profit maximize, not just to fatten their personal wallets, but to grow their institution. They plow profits into investment in expanding their enterprises. 2) They exploit their workers just like every other capitalist business, all of them, from janitors & nurses to doctors and technical assistants, imposing as much alienating work as they can get away with - too many hours, too many patients, etc. 3) They manage that workforce like other capitalists, by organizing a hierarchical pay scale of wages & salaries designed to foster competition among workers rather than collective action against their bosses. Within this kind of organization workers either do the best they can as individuals - which may include maximizing their own income, prestige and position in the hierarchy - OR they organize collectively for mutual aid, defense against exploitation & alienation, and for better pay and improved working conditions. Nothing new here, same old capitalism, set up to foster "greed" as only one of its many ideological mechanisms to control its workforce. Within such institutions doctors & staff who resist, individually or collectively, offer alternative values juxtaposed to those of their corporate bosses and a reminder that medicine CAN BE a truly caring profession - in line with the Hippocratic Oath.
While there are instances of profit motives influencing healthcare decisions, it's not accurate to say that most doctors abandon Hippocratic ethics for financial gain. Many healthcare professionals prioritize patient care despite institutional pressures.
Chuck, "healthcare decisions" are taken at many levels. Administrators & owners make some decisions, doctors, nurses & other workers in the industry make other decisions - usually within the framework set by administrators & owners. I see no stats warranting either an assertion that "most" doctors act out of greed, or one that "most" act ethically. But I think you're correct that "many" DO "prioritize patient care".
It's the same in other industries, how workers behave depends partially on the framework set up by their bosses but also on their personal motivations. Fortunately, a great many don't blindly fall into line with their bosses priorities but assert their own values, either overtly or covertly, depending on the degree of surveillance to which they are subject.
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Econ
- Manufacturing
- Industry