Hi Lisa:

You are very correct. We treat medicine as if it were an exact science. It's not. Usually it's a matter of sorting out the percentages. An inexact science coupled with human error (no one is perfect) equals lots of money for lawyers. Luckily, we don't generally have that problem in Canada.

When my husband first started practicing, I remember he naively stated that he wouldn't blindly dispense drugs. If someone had to eat healthier, lose weight, quit smoking or start exercising, that would be his advise. In the real world, it didn't happen that way. Patients come to doctors for drugs, bottom line. I think they just simply wore him down. They don't want to hear about their problems or addictions, they want a quick fix. And let me tell you, they get downright cranky when they can't walk out with a prescription in their hands. We have become a hedonistic, "instant gratification" society.

When I grew up (and health care wasn't free), you didn't go to the doctor unless you were deathly ill. Parents knew how to care for their children. Now with free health care in Canada, we have patients who come in every week with minor complaints. It's such a huge drain. We've had hospitals in our area closed down to visitors and minor emergencies because people were coming to the emergency with the flu (along with their barf buckets), making the hospital staff sick.

People have to get back to taking their health into their own hands. Until then, we've got problems.