Medicine for profit - and we call ourselves civilized? - why is medicine without profit civilized? You're gonna have to expand on this point.
This would depend on personal POV. If you feel that the bottom line (ie, profits) are more important than easing pain and suffering, then for-profit medicine is civilized. If you believe that relieving suffering and saving lives is more important than the bottom line, then it is not.
The issue is complex. It's not a simple business. None of these problems are simplistic, which is why the debate can be endless.
When you realize that most of the expensive medical research is funded by *drum roll please* the public purse, and then handed over to big pharma for final trials - oh, and to reap billions in profit, you may get a bit miffed.
When you realize that a box of tissue sold to a hospital costs 5 times as much as the higher quality box of tissue you purchase at the department store, you may rethink that 'for-profit' thing a little bit.
We NEED hospitals, we NEED drugs - these things are over-priced, and billions of dollars go from OUR pockets into the pockets of big business. Why? Because people will pay ANYTHING to save their child's/wife's/parent's life - to ease their pain, etc.
But that matters not - it's all about supply and demand. And that's okay, because we are capitalists! And the bottom line is all that matters.
We can go on and on about "other" cultures, and how barbaric they are, yet care not that millions in our own countries live in horrible conditions of pain and suffering. That woman has diabetes and can't afford her insulin? Tough - get a second job and stop whining. Okay, whatever. (BTW, had a friend in FLA in that position - late 30s, lost a couple of toes because she couldn't afford her insulin injections, and can tell many more stories like that) So yeah, I think it's uncivilized.
But like I said, that is my personal opinion. No empirical studies, just anecdotal experiences. : ))
