Ever since Hippocrates, the doctor-patient relationship has been the cornerstone of good medical care. This relationship is being threatened daily, and as a result our health care system is in critical condition.

To better understand what is wrong with the health care field, imagine for a few minutes that one has invented a series of new products that would decrease disease, pain and suffering. To sell these products, they open a business called The American Healthcare Store.

If you went shopping there, what would you think if you were charged twice as much as the customer in front of you? What would you think if other customers were not even let in the door?

What would you think if before you could buy the product the owner had to call a toll-free number and convince someone that you needed that product? Even worse, what if that person on the phone profited every time they denied a sale?

I assume you would say this was a terrible way to run a business. Well, this pretty much describes our health care system in the United States. In our current system, doctors are increasingly frustrated and patients are unhappy with their care.

At the core of good medicine is the sacred, caring and trusting bond between a doctor and his or her patient.

This bond is being fractured daily by insurance company intrusion, increased regulations, large corporate takeovers of medical practices and doctors being required to spend more time on their electronic medical records than they do sitting with, listening to and comforting their patients.

It is time to start making changes in the health care field that emphasize the healing power of the doctor-patient relationship. The lives and health of all of our citizens depend on it.

Thomas J. Lantos, M.D.

Falmouth

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