BANG BANG, YOU'RE DEAD: AGAIN. This time it's a doctor.

On Monday, January 28, 2013, Dr. Ronald Franklin Gilbert was shot to death in an examining room in his office. The person who shot him stayed in the room until police arrived to arrest him.

     Okay, I’m not going to rant on and on about gun control. All I’m going to say is, when all is said and done, I’m fairly certain the investigators will find out that the murderer is a reclusive nut case. Just my guess, but I’ll betcha I’m right.

     This brings up another point, however. One I’ve wanted to rant about for a long time. And that’s the way people who have gone into healthcare are treated at times. No one goes into healthcare to become rich and famous. Doctors certainly don’t become rich any more. Those days are gone. They spend long hours getting their degrees and the ONLY REASON PEOPLE go into healthcare is because they have a desire to help others and to “give back”. No one goes into healthcare in order to do harm to others.

     We are mortal souls. We are born, we live, we die. It’s basically pretty simple. WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE! I’ve been a nurse for 46 years. I’ve seen a lot. One thing I’ve observed is the idea many in our society seem to have gotten that everything can be fixed. If it can’t be fixed they become angry and blame the medical establishment. Sometimes they become verbally abusive. I’ve heard lots of rants over the years from patients and family members because they are angry that they can’t be cured of a terminal disease. Sometimes the disease is something they’ve brought on themselves by overindulgence and not taking care of themselves. But, it becomes the doctor’s fault. Sometimes they sue. That’s okay with me. But, the outcome this time was much worse. The doctor was murdered in cold blood. Why on earth would anyone do that? How can anyone possibly think a doctor would purposely harm them?

     Of course mistakes are made on occasion, but most of the time what I hear people complain about aren’t mistakes. It’s just nature. People get sick and they don’t always get well. More people get well now than they did in the past. And why is that? It’s science and modern medicine. We’re living longer and healthier. Maybe that’s why some folks abuse their bodies more by overindulging? They think everything can be fixed.