Few things a doctor does are more important than relieving pain.. . pain is soul destroying. No patient should have to endure intense pain unnecessarily. The quality of mercy is essential to the practice of medicine; here, of all places, it should not be strained.

Marcia Angell
About This Quote

In this quote, Dr. Thomas M. Holmes, a surgeon from the 1930s to the 1950s, is speaking about pain relief in a hospital. He is saying that for a doctor to do his job well, he must take care of all his patients.

Instead of asking his patients for pain relief why doctors should not do that they should offer them pain relief because it relieves their pain and helps them get better. Pain is a natural part of life and it will always be there but no one should have to live in pain unnecessarily.

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More Quotes By Marcia Angell
  1. Few things a doctor does are more important than relieving pain.. . pain is soul destroying. No patient should have to endure intense pain unnecessarily. The quality of mercy is essential to the practice of medicine; here, of all places, it should not be strained.
  2. There is something so biologically implausible that your attitude is going to cure a disease. There's a tremendous arrogance to imagine that your mind is all that powerful.
  3. The pharmaceutical industry likes to depict itself as a research-based industry, as the source of innovative drugs. Nothing could be further from the truth. This is their incredible PR and their nerve.
  4. Probably most dying patients, even when suffering greatly, would choose to live as long as possible. That courage and grace should be protected and honored, and we should put every effort into treating their symptoms.
  5. Health care is a need; it's not a commodity, and it should be distributed according to need. If you're very sick, you should have a lot of it. If you're not sick, you shouldn't have a lot of it.
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