Updating the Hippocratic Oath

“First do no harm” was said by Hippocrates but is not actually part of the Hippocratic Oath that some doctors take.  This is what they do say as part of the oath.

“I will follow that system of regimen which, according to my ability and judgment, I consider for the benefit of my patients, and abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous.”

It is basically impossible for a doctor to do no harm because every medical intervention carries some risk.  I guess that is why “first do no harm” does not show up in the oath.  It would prevent doctors from doing their job.  So what did Hippocrates mean when he said “first do no harm”?  Well, I can’t be certain since Hippocrates died almost 2400 years ago but this is what I think he meant.  When the harm from a treatment is balanced with the benefit of the treatment make sure you do not land on the harm side of the ledger.

“First do no harm” is a reference to the destination not the road you took to get there.  When you finish the patient should be better off than when you started.  But even when you apply this more nuanced interpretation of “first do no harm” you still cannot explain the COVID vaccines.  Almost no one was at risk from COVID.  There was no discernable benefit to young healthy people but there was a high level of uncertainty to this new medical treatment.  Any doctor concerned about staying off the harm side of the ledger would not have administered the jabs to anyone other than high risk patients.  So why did they all do it?

A general rule is that people do things for love or money and when it comes to the COVID vax cash is king.  Doctors were given very lucrative incentives to use the jabs.  It was even an escalating incentive where each successive jab was worth more than the last.

Doctors abandoned medical ethics for money.  There was no benefit for most of their patients that they jabbed; only risk.  How many of their patients died to service their greed?

I guess after 2400 years it is time to update the Hippocratic Oath to reflect the realities of modern medicine.  The guiding principle of “first do no harm” should be re-written “First do no harm, unless it is profitable”.