My dad argued that in the free market, a doctor with no experience could require a lot of money to save someone, and kill that person with the operation (on purpose). He could do that scam many times, then retire with a lot of money.
What would prevent him from doing this, in the free market?
I would think that if people like being alive rather than dead, they will avoid doctors with a reputation for killing people.
Doctors who get paid after they have treated the patient.
Btw, your dad has some pretty wild ideas.
What’s stopping someone from doing that now?
What’s to stop restauranteurs from poisoning their customers? Well…people will no longer go there, right? Same with the doctor. Sure, the doctor could try to charge a lot, but market forces would mean price competition.
He could? Would you get a surgery from a doctor that killed his first and only patient? I’d say this “scam” has a rather limited life span.
The same thing that prevents any crime from being done: guns. They would just happen to be privately owned guns and not government guns.
It’s very peculiar. Some people express the most bizarre and unfounded fears about freedom and free markets. I have a word for it: agoraphobia.
From Wikipedia:
The Greeks were spot on when the coined that one.
Sure. A doctor could kill someone on purpose, but how likely would another person go to that same doctor if he/she discovered that the doctor killed his/her patient? Even if it wasn’t known that it was on purpose, just knowing that a patient died in that doctor’s care would be enough to create skepticism in that doctor. A socialized medical system, which Obama wants, would create the type of situation your dad fears most due to rationing of medical care. Those of advanced age would most likely be refused medical care because they would be deemed “too old”.
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A better word would be eleutherophobia (fear of freedom), since agoraphobia means something different.
My thoughts exactly.
Doesn’t agoraphobia mean fear of spiders… no that’s arachnophobia…
Beat me to it, in any case wouldn’t there be far more incentives to do so now with competition strictly limited due to government intervention?
I haven’t seen anyone mention how a starting doctor might attract initial customers, before being able to establish a reputation…
I think most customers would want some type of evidence that the doctor was capable before going. We might see certification companies provide for this need (voluntary ones of course), something like we see in today’s IT industry. If the doctor attended a prestigious medical school, certain customers might find that good enough. Lesser-known programs may become members of a larger group for wider recognition. It may also become easier to be a doctor, and I mean that in a good way. Doctors may be able to specialize in certain areas of practice and bypass a significant portion of traditional schooling/training that has nothing to do with their niche. This could be very meaningful in terms of service quality and affordability.
A free market doesn’t mean you can intensionally kill people without any repercussions. Free markets don’t guarantee that nothing bad will ever happen either, so I suppose you could have people practicing medicine who probably shouldn’t, but the market and legal system have a way of dealing with these people.
Some questions, please ask him because I’m interested in what he will say:
How will this doctor will get away with this over and over? Does your dad think “Free Market” means no type of legal system(s)?
How is this doctor going to charge “a lot of money” if he has no experience?
How does your dad explain all the malpractice lawsuits under our currently highly regulated system?
Good point! Starting doctors will have to build their reputation through various means, including certification, lower fees, and word of mouth from their patients. Thus, it would be darned difficult for any doctor to charge high prices and deliberately kill people, because he can’t command high prices unless people trust him as a doctor.