[spwa4]

Also keep in mind that you get hip replacement surgery because of constant, quite intense, pain.

The doctors obviously also talked to the patient and he or she obviously felt that just reducing the pain was worth the risk (because a replacement hip will still be long-term painful, so it's an improvement, not a solution. This will have been discussed extensively with the patient) ...

Or the patient may even have felt that the risk was in fact also a solution to the pain. The patient may have chosen not to talk about this to their relatives.

When you're really young medicine can feel like it solves problems permanently, especially when you're still growing. This is almost never actually the case. Medicine mitigates, makes bad situations livable for longer, restores part of your previous health. If you treat it like a solution once you're ... say 50 ... you will be severely disappointed and that can lead to drastic decisions. Or if you live your life like some people do "medicine will fix it, let's JUMP" you're likely to be disappointed, suddenly.

[qsera]

Quite frankly, no one expects that and that is not where the disappointment comes from.

The disappointment comes from the fact that doctors are mostly clueless and follow checklists, and thus prescribes measures without having a deep understanding (or interest even) of the situation.

Why? Because these people (doctors) were never curious to begin with. 99% of the never cared to understand biology before they started Medical school. They are only in for the $$$ and status. And I will never trust a doctor, or even a programmer who is not curious about the specific situation or the problem that I am having. And such people are becoming rarer and rarer to find...

[kashunstva]

> 99% of the never cared to understand biology before they started Medical school. They are only in for the $$$ and status

This is a very cynical take on the subject and I can’t imagine it’s backed by any data. As a retired medical doctor, my observation differs; idealism and curiosity appear to me far more common among medical trainees than you give credit. I spent my entire career in teaching hospitals. I do despise the ostentatious display of amassed wealth among some doctors; but wouldn’t take a general message about the profession from that.

[qsera]

>This is a very cynical take on the subject and I can’t imagine it’s backed by any data.

Imagine if being a doctor did not pay as well. Imagine it only pays just enough to sustain a small family. What percentage of your trainees do you think would remain in the course, for the love of the trade?

[jmalicki]

So you're talking about doctors in Europe.

Europe has plenty of doctors.

[NuclearPM]

Most would. US is different because of the cost of school.

[spwa4]

There is a LOT of curiosity in the medical profession. And outside of the medical profession, even more. In fact, far too much. If you think this through I think you'll agree it has no place in the treatment of a patient, especially not where the condition is not life-threatening.

Trying medicine because "you've heard that ..." is a fancy way to commit suicide, or worse. And yes, a great deal of people want to do that, until of course, they have to face the consequences. Then they want it fixed, except there is no fix. No doctor should want to be part of that, and these Chinese "researchers" should be made to answer for manslaughter for what they did.

Surely the story we're talking about illustrates this problem? For all we know the gene-editing worked! That was NOT the problem that killed the girl. Congrats, your "curiosity-based treatment" would have made the girl 10% smarter in 10 years. Probably. Unfortunately, she's dead in less than a week. Congratulations!

Is that REALLY something you'd like to hear about anyone you know? Would that satisfy your curiosity? Big risks, even ones your not aware of, are NOT a reasonable price for trying out medical treatments.