Negative implications:
Unnecessary treatment and procedures. Doctors proposing
unnecessary tests (e.g., MRI), the latest surgical procedures (e.g., key-
hole surgery), and prescribing expensive drugs in order to charge
higher fees; cosmetic procedures such as liposuction and cosmetic
surgery may be dangerous and serve only to pander to vanity rather
than health. All of this has a negative (often financial) impact on the
patient and their families.
Positive implications:
People are living longer and healthier lives, and infant mortality has
decreased significantly: Humans had a 35-year average lifespan in
the nineteenth century. In affluent nations today, the average
lifespan is 78 years, and neonatal mortality is negligible. These are
commonly acknowledged criteria for the success of medical science.
Medical science advocated a healthy lifestyle of a balanced diet,
exercise, and excellent public health and cleanliness, aided by clean
drinking water and contemporary sanitation.
Pollack, R. E. (2013). The faith of biology and the biology of faith: order,
meaning, and free will in modern medical science. Columbia University
Press.
