Meet the Clumsy Elephant in a China Shop: Can Tonsil Removal Provoke Polio and Autoimmune Disease?
Every procedure is safe and effective until it is not
This story is about the wisdom of the skeptical peasant’s nose. It is also about how The Science constantly changes, and the people who have trusted the confident tone of the old science marketing brochure get hurt and mercilessly tossed out.
You know how I keep saying that modern medicine is much like a very clumsy elephant in a china shop? I keep saying it because there is never a lack of self-confidence and exclamation points in the medical marketing brochure. (Case in point: lobotomy used to be touted as a miracle “surgery for the soul”.) And yes, in acute situations, modern medicine is a godsend. But when it comes to understanding of the interconnectedness of different body parts and various mysterious things that nature knows and we don’t, the scientists are babies. And often, they are very confident babies with a strong drive for career growth and a very impressive marketing brochure.
The philosophical problem is that our civilization runs on i…
