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Home / Thoughts / Sean's Thoughts / Arrogance of medical community

Arrogance of medical community

Written by Sean on Friday, November 25, 2005

I am continually amazed at the arrogance of the medical professionals when it comes to make judgement calls about quality of life for other people. It’s been shown that approximately 85% ER doctors and nurses judge the potential quality of life of SCI patient to be horrid, whereas about 80% of quads 5 years post injury think their quality of life is equal or better than before their injury. And this impacts on us transabled folks.

There was a documentary about doctors that did elective amputations. The shrinks working with the potential recipients of such surgery gave the all-clear to the guy who wanted a single above knee amputation, but not to the gal who wanted a double above knee amputation. Part of the reason being that the potential problems this person would have later in life would be bigger, in other words, a judgement call on quality of life and ability to function later on.

Granted, it *would* be physically more difficult, but who is to say that physical difficulties can’t be completely compensated by emotional comfort? This is a definite judgement call from someone in the medical profession who most likely is not familliar enough with disabilities to be able to make such a call.

And of course, if they aren’t willing to allow someone to get a double above knee amputation, they would not allow me to have an SCI, which would impact on me physically more than amputations.

And so my chance of getting through the process, even if there was an accepted process, is slightly worse than that of winning the jackpot at the lottery (and statistically, you are more likely to be killed by a vending machine than win the lottery!)

All that because some medical professional who doesn’t have the proper knowledge and attitude towards disabilities makes a judgement call about my potential future quality of life.

Which ties right in to the difference between medical model and independent living model of disabilities, where in the medical model, the medical professional knows best, and where in the IL model, the "patient" knows what is best for them, and should be able to make their own decision, based on having the right information to make that decision.

Aye, there are many similarities between being transabled and having a disability. Perhaps not enough. Perhaps enough, just different disabilities (I’ve said oft enough that I didn’t mind the label of mental illness, which is, after all, a disability type).

And that thought leaves me nowhere closer to finding some peace of mind.

La di daaaaaaaaa.