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mick

08/24/20 11:04 AM

#221072 RE: mick #221066

One thing that the COVID-19 pandemic has absolutely exposed is a rift between the medical community and the public. That rift is a divide over their respective priorities.

The medical community's priorities can be basically summed up in a few words: to promote health. Everything else comes second.

The public, on the other hand, has priorities that are altogether different. A person's health might become his top priority when he loses it. But up until that point, everyone takes risks (big or small) with their health. Smoking, speeding, sleeping with the wrong people... 100% of the population does something unhealthy.

And here's where we find our rift: The public is willing to take way more risks than the medical community would ever recommend.

Consider one of the fundamental precepts of health care: Primum non nocere. You probably know this better as the Hippocratic oath: “First, do no harm.” Harm generally begins with taking risks.