The Disease of Modern Medicine Blog

When I began at medical school, I remember being somewhat bemused that the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates was best known for his dictum “first do no harm”. It just seemed so trite, even obvious. If this man was the father of modern medicine, surely there must be a more profound primary insight that had been passed down from generation to generation of physicians.

The more I have gone on in the medical profession, the more I have come to understand and respect the importance of this simple but profound injunction. I suspect that any doctor that has spent time treating patients will agree. It is deceptively easy to worsen a situation one is trying to help. The problem, simply put, is unintended consequences. Human beings are extraordinarily complex: physiologically, psychologically and sociologically. And unfortunately we, as physicians, are not as good as we would like to be, despite astonishing advances in modern medicine. It is therefore something of a natural law, that when dealing with complexity, it is very much easier to make things worse than to make things better. This was the genius of Hippocrates’ powerful insight.