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Carrie Williams
Bennett, Martin
Humanities II 2, 5
19 February 2016
The Negatives of Modern Medicine
Disease has always been one of the major causes of death in the world, and until
the late 1700s there was not much one could do to prevent or fight off these diseases
(Alchin). In the 1700s scientist started wondering what they could do to decrease the
mortality rate. Most people assume that when there were advancements in medicine, it
would be a good thing for the society, on the contrary there were many negatives to
medicinal advancements that greatly outweighed the positives. The most prominent of
these negatives was that doctors got peoples hopes up when they really didnt know how
their treatment would work. There were other, lesser, negatives such as creating social
debates and arrogant doctors trying to save everyone they could.
With the coming of medicine there were many negatives caused to the society,
these included false hope to people with diseases and doctors became over confident with
their skills. In The Scope of Modern Medicine, the writer speaks on how doctors are
false prophets with their promises of cures for every human ill, and that medicine has
been a battle ground for contending political factions (The Scope of Modern
Medicine 1124). The first section of the quote shows that doctors would go around
saying that they could cure people of all of their illnesses, when really they couldnt; the
second section shows that medicine was dividing the society into groups of people who
supported it and those who didnt. When people get their hopes up and then are

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disappoint they are often very upset and tend to want to revolt. This was bad, because if
so many people want to revolt and citizens cant agree on things, the society would have
been too unstable to accomplish anything and they would be vulnerable to attacks. In
Modern Medicine, the journalist talks about a doctor that has been brought up in a belief
and a confidence in the power of his art to cure disease and that at the end of the doctors
career, all he has done has been not only useless but worse than useless (Modern
Medicine 197). This highlights that some doctors have gotten too full of themselves that
they didnt even realize that they were not helping anyone anymore. This was bad for the
society, because a doctor who was not aware of what they are contributing to society was
dangerous. They no longer looked at they big picture, they just acted on their own
audaciousness.
Another detriment brought to the society by medical advancements was an even
larger division between the religious and secular people groups. This was because the
religious people did not support medicine because they believed it was against God. As
stated by F. Jodl in Religion and Modern Science, at the end of the 19th century the
ancient conflict between religion and science is more animated than ever before (Jodl
329). This heightens ones understanding of how bad the time period was, because it
articulates that the conflict was very prominent in the society. This was bad for the
society, because all conflicts are bad; they divide families, cause wars, cause the need for
revolution, and they over throw the balance in the society. In The Scope of Modern
Medicine, the writer speaks on how medicine was against religion, because doctors were
false prophets with their promises of cures for every human ill salvation [was] to be
found by laborious experimental research (The Scope of Modern Medicine 1124).

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This displays why religious people disapproved of medicine. These devotees believed
medicine to be against God, because it called for salvation to come through research
instead of through faith. This was bad for the society because it created more divisions
within the society, i.e. creating more wars and over throwing the society.
People always praise medicinal inventors and famous doctors, because they
saved lives; but, as a matter of fact, doctors and medical advancements were bad for the
society in Europe from 1750-1914. Medicinal advancements caused divisions in social
groups, presumptuous doctors, and revolts. These things were all pernicious to the
society, a country cannot move forward politically if they are being held back socially.
Disease has always been a major cause of death and it most likely always will be.