It has come to us from the publishing house Laterza the book “White coats and pyjamas “, written by, it seems, a physician in anonymousness. The first page one read it has been obviously the preface. The anonymous author tells episodes highlighting the cultural and moral degradation of the medical class. Well then a further book to denounce the existing bad health system and to help the common citizen to safeguard himself. Voltaire said: “the sins of the cheats are the sins of the honest too; the sins of the wicked are those of the good too...” and so on. Dear anonymous, the sins of the courageous are those of the cowards too. Masking one’s own prejudices behind the anonymity surely does not let you pontificate. All what he tells is without any doubt disgraceful, as on the rest his too easy denouncing and hiding at the same time, waiting maybe for better times. What you have written, as they say, “is like taking money from blind beggars”. Nevertheless we cannot neglect those, and they are a lot, that work with honest professionalism, paying personally even in career terms, gratification etc. Unfortunately the origin of the degradation corresponds to the political class, becoming aware of the magnitude of the financial budget and of the power coming from the management of the health sector. For years the ministry of health has been deemed second range, employed in a sizeable part as patronage allocation. Those that, among the intermediate personnel, have been “allocated “ this way are numberless, as well as the management personnel of the several bodies, also belonging to the medical class. In fact before the first reform has been a real wall of Berlin for health. The consequences of the entry of the politicians in the health field have been and are going on being devastating, not only as regard to the financial management, but also and overall for the moral and ethical degradation they produced. The Medical Association, that must constituted a insurmountable wall to safeguard the deontological and professional values, has not been able to develop its task and has lost along time both authority and functions. It has becomes, its turn, an access to policy. The cases pointing out no deontological behaviours of the members are innumerable, not only toward patients but also within the structure where they work, one’s own team, among colleagues etc. Against those physician it has been never taken any measure. The careerism and the lack of professionalism are the main reasons of the lack of ethics. It is so much talked about of health reformation, all reforms till now had added disasters on disasters. To reform health seriously it is required to get back to the origin with few and clear disposals whereas it is not possible to find subterfuges to evade the law. The confusion the several reforms and circulars create (needing further circulars to explain the previous ones) cannot generate anything but immoral behaviour and not only in the health field. To add up balances of permanently in deficit structures it is necessary for who manages even only a section to strive after impossibilities; it will always be who, along the way, will prick and he will not be the only guilt.

 

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