most significant issue in medicine

[medical22]

This question is a very popular one and I'm sure that it's been addressed before. If you know the link, can you please post it?
If you can't find it, then lets start another one. What do you see as the most significant issue the medical profession will face in the next 50 years?

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[Street Philosopher]

medical ethics.
with technology develop at the rate that it is, what used to be science fiction is now or soon will be reality.

take for instance:

human cloning
abortion (already available)
cryo
genetic info (privacy issues)
brain imaging (also privacy issues)a
euthanasia (life sustaining technology)
mood altering drugs (issues concerning personality)
eugenics

and probably a lot more that I didn't list.

 

[Pickle Salt]

i am interested in pediatrics, so I always answer that question with the rise of obesity in children. While it may not be the most significant issue, this lifestyle is rumored to surpass smoking as the number one most harmful human behavior within the next ten years. heart disease and hypertension are on the rise, and i think that parents and doctors really need to be educated on how to control the weight of children. this answer always seems to go over well with interviewers.

 

[Mutterkuchen]

Money and the rising costs of healthcare. Who is going to pay for all of this?

 

[X]

I am with JBJ on this one. Sure that's is not directly related to patient care as some of the other ones (genetic, etc.). But it affects all else. This will control the kind of research conducted, the kind of treatments available, and the incentives to provide these treatments. Etc., etc. you get the idea.

X

 

[Bevo]

medical insurance and the effects that they cause.

Some doctors are having problems finding medical insurance because of the escalating costs. I know a part time doctor who helps out at a office, and the office has to pay over 30k. She's an internest. In the news lately some obgyns have stopped delivering babies because some of them cannot afford the 60k in medical insurance needed to deliver them anymore. With my mother, her doctor took all his patients off of the hormone treatments because of the new news on it. He was afraid if he kept someone on it he would be sued.

With frivoless(sp?) lawsuits on the rise, the costs of insurance are sky rocketing and influencing the way doctors are practicing medicine.

there have to be some limits in place.

Or some mechanisms to keep ppl from trying to make a quick buck off a doctor

 

[Joe Joe on da Radio]

resistant bacteria...

you can run, but you can't hide! =O

 

[doepug]

Easy.

The role of genetics/molecular biology in shaping clinical practice and therapeutics will dominate medicine in the next century.

The bridges between benchtop and bedside will continue to grow at a rapid rate, and this will affect each and every physician in very concrete ways.

Cheers,
doepug

 

[DW]

dont forget the threat of bioterrorism

 

[JmE]

Here's my $0.02 (cut & pasted from posts above):

#1) medical ethics

#2) medical insurance and the effects that they cause

IMHO, if many in the medical professions 'corrected' #1, then they would have the the guts and clarity of vision to solve #2.

Perhaps #2 isn't critical enough yet? I don't know... However, if it gets bad enough, it is going to become necessary for medical professionals to do what is best for the patient regardless of insurance, legal, & other factors.

Just my opinion...

-JmE-

BTW: I would not recommend using this in an interview/secondary, although I did.

 

[DW]

Originally posted by JmE
However, if it gets bad enough, it is going to become necessary for medical professionals to do what is best for the patient regardless of insurance, legal, & other factors.

uhhh, if insurance and legal fees continue to get out of hand, you CANT do what is best for every patient. its not economically feasible, much less lucrative. if you take in a bunch of patients who cant afford the procredures, or are paying out the wazoo in malpractice insurance, its eventually coming out of your pocket. as alluded to before, its all ready gotten to the point where some docs refuse to do certain elementary procedures cause they cant afford the financial hit.

 

[JmE]

Originally posted by DW


uhhh, if insurance and legal fees continue to get out of hand, you CANT do what is best for every patient. its not economically feasible, much less lucrative. if you take in a bunch of patients who cant afford the procredures, or are paying out the wazoo in malpractice insurance, its eventually coming out of your pocket. as alluded to before, its all ready gotten to the point where some docs refuse to do certain elementary procedures cause they cant afford the financial hit.

I understand where you are coming from, however, please see #1.

A very dear friend of mine tries to do what is best for each patient and she is most likely going broke in the process.

-JmE-

 

[Street Philosopher]

I definitely think healthcare costs is going to be a huge concern as well. With so many available options for life extension or improvement, the question becomes, can we actually pay for all the technologies we are developing? The answer is quite simple. No we cannot.

This leads to some much more complex issues.
1. is this technology being developed solely for the wealthy (i.e. those who can afford it)?

The answer to this is probably yes, although some charity cases do happen (e.g. UCLA's siamese twin surgery)

2. should medical insurance be expected to cover such an expensive range of technologies/options?

Doing so would bankrupt the system, and we have some hints that this is already happening! The cost for an overnight stay at a hospital like UCLA (sorry that's the only one I know of) is a small fortune, impossible for the average person to pay for. Perhaps if technology development were curbed, costs would decrease. But is cost management worth industry stagnation?

3. then where is the line drawn between reasonable health coverage/care and extraordinary healthcare?

I think this is the big issue.

Just some random thoughts.

 

[medical22]

Are there any good websites where I can read about some of these issues facing the medical profession?

 

[medical22]

bump

 

[cmspilot]

Some good articles here:

http://www.ama-assn.org/sci-pubs/msjama/articles/past.htm