A couple of weeks ago, I responded on the wall of some Facebook acquaintances when they shared something really offensive about how to decline a vaccine. I hardly ever do that. Truthfully, the barrage of misinformation and healthcare hatred hits a little differently when you are literally in the middle of a pandemic, scared for your patients, your family, your colleagues, and yourself. And I honestly feel that part of what you sign up for when you take the oath is to educate, and fight misinformation. It has just become so hard.
For some reason, some people are convinced that I *meaning physicians/healthcare workers* put my health and my family’s health in danger, that I sacrifice precious time with my little ones, for some malicious plot to keep the public in line. Or they’ve convinced themselves that thousands of people who are the in the top 1% in academic intelligence and are extremely hard working and trained in the art of scientific skepticism have all been brainwashed and can’t possibly know as much as they do about *insert topic* and that this rogue scientist that the thousands discount must be right because they confirm their suspicions.
My question is why aren’t these rogue scientists treated to the same level of skepticism as the actual, scientifically based theories? Why is it that some are so ready to accept these half-baked stories at first glance?
It actually breaks my heart that there are people on my timeline—it means you know me—who feel that I and my colleagues would knowingly harm them in the name of a dollar. Who feel they need to play games to hold me to an oath I actually take very seriously. Some may be surprised to read it.
A Modern Version of the Hippocratic Oath
“I swear to fulfill, to the best of my ability and judgment, this covenant:
I will respect the hard-won scientific gains of those physicians in whose steps I walk, and gladly share such knowledge as is mine with those who are to follow.
I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures which are required, avoiding those twin traps of overtreatment and therapeutic nihilism.
I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon’s knife or the chemist’s drug.
I will not be ashamed to say “I know not,” nor will I fail to call in my colleagues when the skills of another are needed for a patient’s recovery.
I will respect the privacy of my patients, for their problems are not disclosed to me that the world may know. Most especially must I tread with care in matters of life and death. If it is given me to save a life, all thanks. But it may also be within my power to take a life; this awesome responsibility must be faced with great humbleness and awareness of my own frailty. Above all, I must not play at God.
I will remember that I do not treat a fever chart, a cancerous growth, but a sick human being, whose illness may affect the person’s family and economic stability. My responsibility includes these related problems, if I am to care adequately for the sick.
I will prevent disease whenever I can, for prevention is preferable to cure.
I will remember that I remain a member of society, with special obligations to all my fellow human beings, those sound of mind and body as well as the infirm.
If I do not violate this oath, may I enjoy life and art, respected while I live and remembered with affection thereafter. May I always act so as to preserve the finest traditions of my calling and may I long experience the joy of healing those who seek my help.”
The modern version of the Hippocratic Oath was written in 1964 by Louis Lasagna, Dean of the School of Medicine at Tufts University.
I fight misinformation because I love my patients—because when they hurt, I hurt. Because when something goes wrong, I spend hours making sure I did everything I could to prevent it from happening.
I give and get vaccines because they save lives and uphold my oath to PREVENT disease rather than cure it. I also wholeheartedly believe in supporting healthy immune systems through diet, exercise, and meditation. These are not mutually exclusive.
COVID-19 is real. It’s really killing some people. You should really wash your hands frequently, stay home when you can, and wear a mask and stay distant from those not in your immediate family for a while. When/if there is a safe and effective vaccine, you should get it. You should also eat a diet that is well balanced and full of plants of all colors and exercise.
These things aren’t mutually exclusive. No one is saying they are. Ignoring science is not the way to go, though. Ask your questions. Let’s have a dialogue.
See a blog full of immune boosting nutrients and their food sources here.
See a great, well-researched rebuttal to Plandemic here:
***Not my image