I'd Touch Up the Hippocratic Oath

   Perhaps I would rewrite the Hippocratic Oath, to insert what I thought was already there, the promise to do those things medically that bring health to the patient.
   You will say that is already in the oath. And, perhaps it is. It says, "I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures that are required, avoiding those twin traps of overtreatment and therapeutic nihilism." (Nihilism is the rejection of religious and moral principles, with the belief that life is meaningless.)
  How about, "I will seek to do the medical good that medicine can do."  Some would say that goes too far. Indeed, the oath warns against "overtreatment," and later says the medical practitioner shall consider "economic stability."
  We could keep a lot of people alive if expense were not a concern.
  I will only say, I think sometimes the value of the patient's life should be preserved even if it comes at great expense. I think of the old adage, that money doesn't matter when it comes to your health.
  If it really doesn't, let's keep more of them alive.