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Modern Times
SURVEY OF OPHTHALMOLOGY
VOLUME 52 NUMBER 4 JULY–AUGUST 2007
TIME OPH MICHAEL MARMOR, EDITOR
Modern Times Modern times can seem propitious With tools and toys that meet all wishes. Yet there’s a problem quite pernicious That undermines this air delicious.
And watched the road,’’ then you’d be taking Responsibility . . . not faking That some outside undertaking Is at fault for your own mistaking.
I do not mean the problems national, Religious intolerance or war irrational, Or even warming international— No this is something much less fashionable.
Increasingly, the way of our lives Seems to be one that continually strives To make others responsible for our own dives: Be they terrorists, governments, or wives!
And this will intersect our role As ophthalmologists who hold Our patient’s vision as the goal Of our medico-ideologic soul.
We get the flu: it’s the fault of the airline. We lose a lover: it was the barber’s new hairline. We wear out a car: it was bad design. There’s always someone to malign!
What undermines our safe gentility, And hides behind a false civility, Is very simply the lost ability To take personal responsibility.
‘‘S. happens’’ at times with no explanation, Should people still ask for reparation? The answer we sadly make as a nation Is always more governmental regulation.
And accept that which is unpredictable. For sadly the future isn’t always depictable, In a world where things may be conflictable And the ‘‘best laid plans’’ can be contradictable.
When E. coli in hamburgers got folks unnerved, From just a handful out of a billion served, The societal remedy was quite undeserved: Cook the next billion till no taste is conserved.
What do I mean by the foregoing? As an example, say you’re going Down a street where a hose is showing, And you trip on it without knowing.
If taking a pill should get one socked, or Infection leave one’s visage pocked, or A surgical outcome make one shocked, for Sure that’s malpractice by the doctor.
You could curse that God is dead, Or sue for negligence that led To your bad fall. But if you said ‘‘I really should have looked ahead.
Yet there isn’t a drug on the market today That may not do evil in some quite rare way. The fault isn’t always the FDA: It’s the risk we take crossing the street every day! 454 0039-6257/07/$--see front matter doi:10.1016/j.survophthal.2007.04.004
455
MODERN TIMES
Our society needs to make separation Between rare events and true ill-preparation. Malpractice exists and needs firm expiation; Bad luck can’t be stopped by legislation.
How do we get back to a state of affairs Where we don’t need a label to make us aware That coffee is hot, or tools need care, Or that vagaries of life aren’t always fair?
As doctors we really must shoulder some blame For failing to weed out the ones who defame Our profession. Until we correct this great shame Our anger at lawsuits will to others seem tame.
How do we alter this sorry condition And stop our societal moral attrition? The answer is simple, be you patient or physician: Don’t pass the buck—that’s a sin of commission!
For all of us in modern society, I fear for a future where our propriety Lies in laws and rules and mandated piety Instead of self-motivated rational sobriety.
—Michael Marmor, MD Stanford, California, USA doi:10.1016/j.survophthal.2007.04.004
VOLUME 52 NUMBER 4 JULY–AUGUST 2007
TIME OPH MICHAEL MARMOR, EDITOR
Modern Times Modern times can seem propitious With tools and toys that meet all wishes. Yet there’s a problem quite pernicious That undermines this air delicious.
And watched the road,’’ then you’d be taking Responsibility . . . not faking That some outside undertaking Is at fault for your own mistaking.
I do not mean the problems national, Religious intolerance or war irrational, Or even warming international— No this is something much less fashionable.
Increasingly, the way of our lives Seems to be one that continually strives To make others responsible for our own dives: Be they terrorists, governments, or wives!
And this will intersect our role As ophthalmologists who hold Our patient’s vision as the goal Of our medico-ideologic soul.
We get the flu: it’s the fault of the airline. We lose a lover: it was the barber’s new hairline. We wear out a car: it was bad design. There’s always someone to malign!
What undermines our safe gentility, And hides behind a false civility, Is very simply the lost ability To take personal responsibility.
‘‘S. happens’’ at times with no explanation, Should people still ask for reparation? The answer we sadly make as a nation Is always more governmental regulation.
And accept that which is unpredictable. For sadly the future isn’t always depictable, In a world where things may be conflictable And the ‘‘best laid plans’’ can be contradictable.
When E. coli in hamburgers got folks unnerved, From just a handful out of a billion served, The societal remedy was quite undeserved: Cook the next billion till no taste is conserved.
What do I mean by the foregoing? As an example, say you’re going Down a street where a hose is showing, And you trip on it without knowing.
If taking a pill should get one socked, or Infection leave one’s visage pocked, or A surgical outcome make one shocked, for Sure that’s malpractice by the doctor.
You could curse that God is dead, Or sue for negligence that led To your bad fall. But if you said ‘‘I really should have looked ahead.
Yet there isn’t a drug on the market today That may not do evil in some quite rare way. The fault isn’t always the FDA: It’s the risk we take crossing the street every day! 454 0039-6257/07/$--see front matter doi:10.1016/j.survophthal.2007.04.004
455
MODERN TIMES
Our society needs to make separation Between rare events and true ill-preparation. Malpractice exists and needs firm expiation; Bad luck can’t be stopped by legislation.
How do we get back to a state of affairs Where we don’t need a label to make us aware That coffee is hot, or tools need care, Or that vagaries of life aren’t always fair?
As doctors we really must shoulder some blame For failing to weed out the ones who defame Our profession. Until we correct this great shame Our anger at lawsuits will to others seem tame.
How do we alter this sorry condition And stop our societal moral attrition? The answer is simple, be you patient or physician: Don’t pass the buck—that’s a sin of commission!
For all of us in modern society, I fear for a future where our propriety Lies in laws and rules and mandated piety Instead of self-motivated rational sobriety.
—Michael Marmor, MD Stanford, California, USA doi:10.1016/j.survophthal.2007.04.004