We need to lead and not be led.

摘要

The many advances in medical therapies and technologies we have witnessed in recent years have been applauded for the apparent improvements they have brought in treating a variety of urological conditions while maintaining or enhancing quality of life. An undercurrent of skepticism, however, has also emerged as some of these "advances" have been suggested as being the manifestation of artificial markets that have attracted public attention to certain "conditions," which in turn have led physicians to apply treatments that are costly, may not really be necessary, do not truly fulfill advertised outcomes, and may in certain instances have led to serious side effects and complications.As importantly, the very processes by which some of these new treatment approaches have developed could threaten the ethical underpinnings that we as a medical profession have valued and so jealously guarded through the years. This is because we and our Institutions appear to be at increasing risk of becoming influenced by processes that are economically driven and that have insidiously undermined the manner in which "quality of health care" is perceived and delivered despite our best intentions.