This column is written the day the world lost Queen Elizabeth II. For many (myself included), she was on the throne before we were born.
Former Prime Minister Paul Keating (a republican) said in a statement that she was “an exemplar of public leadership” and that “with her passing her example of public service remains with us as a lesson in dedication to a lifelong mission in what she saw as the value of what is both enduringly good and right.”
In no way is our role as doctors the same as the monarch. However, we too are duty bound to do what is both enduringly good and right for our patients. For centuries the medical profession fought for its independence and its right to act in the best interest of the patient in front of us.
Over the past three decades the will to defend the independence of the profession has waned. Over the past two years, our will to even be questioning edicts has diminished. It is useful to look back in history at the results of medicine becoming a tool of the state.
This month’s theme is musculoskeletal health. Regular physical activity is good for both physical and mental health. Among the many harms of lockdowns was the inability of people to exercise. A new paper in the British Journal of Sports Medicine concluded: “Regular physical activity seems to be related to a lower likelihood of adverse COVID-19 outcomes. Our findings highlight the protective effects of engaging in sufficient physical activity as a public health strategy, with potential benefits to reduce the risk of severe COVID-19.”
Over the past three decades the will to defend the independence of the profession has waned. Over the past two years, our will to even be questioning edicts has diminished.
An exhaustive review published in July found “no consistent evidence in the main avenues of serotonin research that there is an association between serotonin and depression, and we found no support for the hypothesis that lower serotonin activity or concentrations are responsible for depression.”
Breakfast as the most important meal of the day was an advertising slogan as was 10,000 steps per day. The pharmaceutical industry has more than three lobbyists per each member of the US congress, spending three times that of the oil and gas industry in 2021.
We are starting to ask questions about what we have accepted unquestioningly.
Queen Elizabeth was both a traditionalist and a realist. Her approach to matters changed over 70 years but her underlying values did not. How we do things in medicine changes but our values and what is enduring right and good must not.
Vale Queen Elizabeth – an exemplary life.