BIG MEDICINE: WHOSE HEALTH ARE THEY PROTECTING? 331something confusing here. I'm confused.' And that's the controversy.
That's all it is."
John tells a story about seeing a thirty-eight-year-old man and his
wife after the man had suffered a second heart attack. As the attending
resident (not their primary physician), he asked the patient what he
was going to do to prevent a third, fatal heart attack. "You're thirty-eight
years old with a beautiful young wife, five kids. What are you going to
do to keep your wife from being a widow and your kids from becom-
ing fatherless?" The man was despondent, frustrated and said, "There's
nothing 1 can do. 1 don't drink. 1 don't smoke. 1 exercise, 1 follow the
same diet the dietitian gave me after my last heart attack. There's noth-
ing more 1 can do."
John told the couple what he had been learning about diet. He sug-
gested that the man might reverse his disease if he ate the right way. The
patient and his wife received the news with enthusiasm. John talked
with them for quite a long time, left the room and felt great. He had
finally helped someone; he had finally done his job.
That lasted for about two hours. He was called into the Chief of Med-
icine's office. The Chief of Medicine wields absolute authority over the
residents. If he fires a resident, not only is that person out of his or her
job, that person is out of his or her career. The excited couple had told
their primary physician what they had just learned. The doctor replied
that what they had been told wasn't true, and promptly reported John to
the Chief of Medicine.
The Chief of Medicine had a serious conversation with John, who
remembers being told that "I was stepping far beyond my duties as
a resident. 1 should get serious about medicine and give up all this
nonsense about food having anything to do with disease." The Chief
of Medicine made it clear that on this point, John's job, and his sub-
sequent career, was on the line. So John bit his tongue for the rest of
his education.
On the day of John's graduation, he and the Chief of Medicine had a
final talk. John remembers the man as being smart, with a good heart,
but he was too entrenched in the status quo. The Chief of Medicine sat
him down and said, "John, 1 think you're a good doctor. I want you to
know that. I want you to know that I like your family. That's why I'm
going to tell you this. I'm concerned that you're going to starve to death
with all your crazy ideas about food. All you're going to do is collect a
bunch of bums and hippies."