Something Life Science related that I have my mind on to write about is the crippling reliance of capitalistic gain to drive basic medical rights in our country. An example is how the geriatric focus in medicine is diminishing. Medical schools are closing geriatric branches, geriatric teachers are few and far between, and less people want to go into the specialty. Even geriatric units in hospitals are decreasing in both size and number. This would all make sense if the need for geriatric specialists was also decreasing, but it is not. These changes all come at a time where our world population is maximizing longevity and new technology is advancing life expectancies everyday. Why then, when the need is so great for geriatric practices, is the availability disappearing? The answer is money. Because people are living longer lives, the regular age of retirement leaves people with much more time after they stop working to rely on their savings. When is comes to medical needs, they also increase as the patients age: more prescriptions, surgeries, maybe a nurse assistant or nursing home, and thats where medicare comes in. Often times, medicare patients lose money for hospitals, therefore making hopsital CEOs and the primary earners disenchanted to serving them. If a majority or medicare patients are geriatric needs, simply closing the geriatric unit helps hospitals maintain a higher ratio or earnings to expenditures. And so all these people joining the aging population are greatly in desire for something that people don't want to provide them with, all because of money. To me, that is wrong. Medical care nowadays can do so much in achieving solutions to novel problems, so why not extend that ability to all the people who need it, not just the ones who make the hospital profit the most.
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