Medic or Politic?

Colin Beckingham | Oct 28, 2020

In the Frontenac News editorial "Contemplating winter with the COVID"

(Oct 7, 2020) the editorial writer raises an interesting issue, that of the role of doctors helping to find a way through the maze of possibilities. Mr Green certainly appreciates their sharing of information and expertise, but does not comment on their heavy influence in formulating policy. Medical doctors and others in the health field are technical experts in treating the sick. In fact the Hippocratic oath, written in terms of the healer and the individual patient, calls for the healer to do no harm. This injunction tends to fall apart when dealing with a community rather than the individual. As is so often the case, what works for a single individual may not work as well at scale.

This is where the politicians must take over; they are bound by a different oath, can take into account the advice of the technical experts, but in the manner of their own calling and responsibility can balance the risks and benefits attaching to certain policies. Policies that on balance benefit the entire community may not accord with what the medical experts recommend. Unfortunately there is little to support those courageous leaders who decide to forego the medical strictures.

I just returned from Hartington on a trip to support the Community Caring people - the volunteers there were working diligently to abide by the guidelines set out by the health unit, but this involved a dozen or more people waiting outside in a freezing cold wind in order that the few allowed inside could minimize a minimal risk of picking up one of many common bugs. The editorial mentions "winter reality" and that is right - there's nothing like a long half hour of a biting wind to make you wonder if the political balance between community inertia and medical responsibilities has been correctly struck.

Colin Beckingham