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Comment by mhkool | Hacker News Reader

The reason that health care costs rise in almost all countries is that we are doing something wrong. The question is what? Can it be that doctors who do not try to find the root causes of diseases have no solutions ? Can it be that doctors who prescribe drugs to suppress symtoms cause problems in the long run ?

Cancer is a disease with high costs where a lot can be gained. Watch a documentary about Dr Burzynski who has a cure for various types of cancer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBUGVkmmwbk The documentary shows how officials and the National Cancer Institute work against him and hence continue the high cost.

On websites like https://drhyman.com and https://www.chriskresser.com you can find doctors who explain a lot about root causes of diseases and how to cure oneself. If all would read these sites the costs for health would drop more than 50%.

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Chris Kresser -- despite his many virtues -- is not a doctor. Moreover, he has never published any research indicating his findings or results are statistically significant. While his advice is often good, there is no reason to believe that it offers 'cures' to diseases hitherto considered uncurable. If anything, the fact that you think he's a doctor with magic cures suggests the need for ever more regulation, and thus bureaucracy.

> If anything, the fact that you think he's a doctor with magic cures suggests the need for ever more regulation, and thus bureaucracy.

Why? Why should the state assume the burden of protecting someone from themselves?

I might see it differently if knowledgeable, well-researched care were difficult to find... but it's not. If someone decides they want to go to a homeopath to treat their terminal illness, why should we stop them?

The government shouldn't protect people from themselves. It should however prevent people who are not doctors from falsely advertising they are.

Because working out if someone is a competent doctor is hard and expecting every single person in society to work it out for themselves, regardless of their level of free time, education, or access to information, is a massive burden.

To rephrase this. As wasteful as it may seem to "protect people from themselves" there is a good reason to believe not having some of those protections is actually more expensive.

Consider the costs of seatbelt enforcement. They are real and exist. More, for most people and most rides, the seatbelt truly did nothing for you. To the point that if you got a ticket, it almost certainly cost you more than you are projected to save from having a seatbelt in the short term.

However, for society at large, we tremendously benefit by having everyone use seatbelts. From less time lost on the job, to fewer ER trips from lower collision wrecks.

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