TARRANT COUNTY PHYSICIAN (27)
January/February 2021
it is happening without having to suffer a
war! Or because of a war!
In our country, 315,000 people have
died as of today, December 18th, 2020.
Because of COVID-19, 315,000 families
have suffered the consequences of
those deaths, and it will be a long time
before they can accept their losses,
if ever. Including the life of one of my
cousins, also a physician. He left a wife
and four children when he succumbed
to the virus. He had been constantly
exposed as he treated patients suffering
from COVID-19 pneumonia.
I pray for the tranquility of their souls.
For them, the victims and their families,
the arrival of the cure will be too late, and
I am terribly sorry for them.
For many others it will be the
resurrection and, as in pandemics of the
past, there will be a Renaissance. A time
to further create and build and adapt to
a world with what is left by the passing
pandemic.
As for me, I will use my imagination
since I want to believe, I truly want to
believe in
al·tru·ism;
/altrooizm/
“The belief in or practice of
disinterested and selfless concern
for the well-being of others.”
But humans being what they/we are,
have always shown their voracious
appetite for gold. War and plunder are
the most reliable and longest lasting
“benefits” for some.
Therefore, since I am stuck on this
planet, I simply shall pretend not to
notice it, but I do know that the special
interest groups have lined up ready to
take advantage of the current chaos
and promptly are finding ways to further
increase the volume and size of their
wealth by the acquisition of stock and
ownership of the equipment necessary
for the sale and distribution of the
desperately needed vaccines.
But, as Vonnegut said, “So it goes.”
I do remember the Nobel Prize
rightfully earned by N. Paulescu, MD, but
given to Banting and Macleod, for the
discovery of insulin.
. . . And yes, there was a touch of
al·tru·ism;
/altrooizm/
“The belief in or practice of
disinterested and selfless concern
for the well-being of others.”
. . . Since Banting and Macleod sold
the formula for the production of insulin
to their university for one dollar.
But the omnipresent avaricious
have managed to control and sell the
insulin, and in 2020 they do so at a very
expensive price.
In the U.S., 34.2 million people suffer
from diabetes (reported in 2018), and
those of type 1, five percent to 10
percent of them need insulin to control
it, approximately 8.3 million at a cost
of 450.00 USD/month. You do the
arithmetic . . . it represents a staggering
sum of money.
“The most commonly used forms
of analog insulin cost 10 times more
in the United States than in any other
developed country.”1
There was an attorney from India,
Mahatma Gandhi, who in 1947 said,
“Earth provides enough to satisfy every
man’s needs but not every man’s
greed.”2
Yet, in my mind and heart of hearts,
I will be pleased to witness the many
people who will cease to suffer, and their
families who will be elated, children will
be able to hug their grandparents!
I am grateful for my imagination; I
know that my heart and soul are covered
with pleasant thoughts that will allow me
to enjoy my passing through the planet
while tolerating the vulgarity of reality.
Please, do allow me to believe in
al·tru·ism;
/altrooizm/
“The belief in or practice of
disinterested and selfless concern
for the well-being of others.”
References
1 S. Vincent Rajkumar, MD :https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.mayocp.2019.11.013
2Mahatma Gandhi. https://www.goodreads.com/
quotes/30431-earth-provides-enough-to-satisfyevery
man-s-needs-but-not