Sometimes we chiropractors unfairly and inappropriately castigate the medical profession because of the increasing incidence of iatrogenic diseases. We also wonder why the medical profession does not seem overly concerned about them. The fact is that iatgrogenic diseases are not upsetting to them because they are a normal, natural, accepted part of the practice of medicine. We cannot blame medical doctors for them, they are not medical doctors’ fault. They are inherent, intrinsic to the practice of medicine. It’s like being critical of guns because they are dangerous. Guns are meant to be dangerous. They would be worthless if they were not. Medicine would be worthless if it did not cause iatrogenic diseases. Its ability to fight disease is what makes it effective (in a limited way), what makes it successful and what makes it dangerous.
Perhaps we need to try an altogether, different approach to physical well-being than the approach of trying to treat or destroy disease or address disease at all. But until we do, let’s quit complaining about iatrogenic diseases. Sure chiropractic doesn’t cause iatrogenic diseases, but then, it is not nearly as effective a treatment for most diseases as is medicine. Wiffle-ball bats don’t kill as many people as guns. The reason is obvious, they are a lot less effective as a weapon of defense than a gun. When you try to destroy something that is bad, you have to use greater violence or more force to do it. A drug must be powerful enough to overcome the manifestation of a lack of health (disease). That causes effects which some diagnose as iatrogenic diseases. That’s why guns are so dangerous. Because a 98-lb, little old lady using one can stop a 280-lb burglar coming at her with a knife. Iatrogenic diseases are an indication that the drug is doing its job. It is overcoming the disease within the body. The only thing left for us to do is to decide whether that objective (fighting disease) is worthwhile. But if we accept the objective, we have to accept the side-effects. Just as if we accept the rights of little old ladies to adequately defend themselves with more than a wiffle-ball bat, we must accept the dangers and the so-called side-effects associated with guns.v12n2