Hippocrates, 6 rules

Hippocrates, the legendary physician of ancient Greece, is supposed to have written two wonderful ideas,

“First, do no harm.”

and,

“If you want to learn about the health of a population, look at the air they breathe, the water they drink, and the places where they live.“

But upon reading his works more thoroughly, I was surprised to read…

1. First do no harm.

2. Mention toxicology, but generally avoid it.

3. Scare them to hell.

4. Drug them with toxic concoctions.

5. Slice ‘em and dice ‘em.

6. Take their money.

In other words, his beliefs represent the core paradigms of Modern Industrial Medicine.

Much of his work was plagiarized, and it is difficult to determine what is original.

He reminds me of my dentist, speaking of the cause of cavities.

“We were only taught:

1. Find ‘em

2. Fill ‘em

3. Bill ‘em”