why does anime hate doctors?

[edmonddantes]

This is a repost from another forum where I didn't get a lot of useful replies, I thought I might have more success here.

So just a few nights back I was watching Detective Conan: The Phantom of Baker Street (the sixth movie)

Now, at one point a character in the movie criticizes, among other things, "Doctors, who only care about money," saying it as if its a general problem with doctors.

I remember other anime that did this too--most notably Naoki Urasawa's Monster, which also presented pretty much the entire field of medicine as a bunch of greedly, politically-driven assholes. I can't remember but it may have been a recurring theme in Osamu Tezuka's Blackjack as well. I do know I see it a lot.

And I'm like.... why?

Now, I myself have a pretty positive opinion of doctors. I don't see how you couldn't: Their whole job is based around saving lives, after all. But apparently there are some manga and anime writers who hate them.

Now, I understand there's probably some huge differences in how it works in Japan vs America, like no medicaid or anything, but what's with this shit about Doctor's being greedy assholes? Do doctors in Japan literally not do anything for you unless you pay them money up-front or something?

Thanks in advance.

[Snake]

Dislike for doctors is nothing that is secluded to Anime.  But your choices are anecdotal at best.  Considering that there are doctor-focused/doctor-positive stories like Takashi Hashiguchi's Saijo no Meii (he is most famous for Yakitate! Japan), Team Medical Dragon (a manga about performing difficult surgeries and medical personnel dynamics), or  Doctor Wa Amai Kisu wo Suru (I think that translates to something like a Doctor's Sweet Kiss).  

In Hunter X Hunter, the very reason Leorio takes the hunter exam is to earn money to pay for med school. He basically is gone for most the series because he's studying to be a doctor.


The very idea that doctors are money-hungry is a generalized phenomenon that I hear from patients all the time.  But I can tell you from people I know personally what I have observed. People who become doctors, or join the medical profession have some types, such as:

1.  The one who dreamed of being a doctor to help people, genuinely enjoys it.  Better still if they are constantly studying, reading the latest research, write their own books, and become exemplary in their chosen specialty.  These are the good guys. This the kind of person you want as your doctor.

2. The one who dreamed of being a doctor, but after working at Kaiser Permanente (or other hospital) for several years, becomes disillusioned. That is a combination of long, overworked hours on-call, extreme patient load for minimal amount of time, and the consistent stupidity of the patients he sees who don't take medical advise and do nothing to improve their situation. (For example - constantly moaning and desperately opiate-seeking).  This also includes patients who have no notable medical condition after doing blood-work, imaging diagnostics... they are just trying to get a doctor's approval to stay on disability.  Such doctor is beginning to think the money is not worth the insane work hours, also in consideration of having $150,000+ in student loans, not to mention the 8 years of being broke during studying and residency.  *one of my friends is like this.

3.  The person who becomes a doctor because they were at a loss for career choices, but decided to be a doctor because it pays well and societal standing seems to be prestigious. *one of my friends is like this. Granted, she's a dentist, makes boatloads of money.  But always rejoices on facebook when she finally gets time off.

4.  Same as number 3, but also because their parents pushed them to do it.

5.  Doctors who abuse their position, to pile on more billable ICD-10 codes, who recommend un-needed, costly, and irreversible surgeries.  Imagine having a gallbladder or uterus removed, when it was not medically necessary.  Worst still, if it was a misdiagnosis.  *I have clients who come to me, after losing faith in such a way because of their previous doctor.

6. Doctors who just clock-in, and clock-out to collect a pay-check.  Maybe not abusive like scenario 5, maybe harbor some jadedness like scenario 2, maybe some shared sentiment with scenario 3 and 4.  But they've been a doctor so long, especially with patient-load where they can only spend 10-minutes with each patient: people are treated as just a number, or a bean to count.  Think of someone who functions as a highly educated bean-counter.  To them, their career as a doctor feels like busy work.  


Then think of the bell curve.  The top 10%, or 5%, 1%, they passionately love what they do and excel at it.  The bottom 80%~90%... not as much.  That's not just doctors. That includes lawyers, politicians, professional athletes, school teachers, accountants, etc.  Hence why the average person may change careers 3-4 times in a lifetime. 

[llj]

I think Tezuka's Black Jack doesn't really comment on it so much as present him as being superior to other doctors.

Honestly, the anti-doctor thing in Japan is no different from the anti-Big Pharma idea in the west.

I don't think doctors themselves are bad, but many of them simply follow current trends, and a lot of those trends can sometimes be new and untested ones too. Like, the whole opioid crisis started because they were being prescribed too liberally in the medical community, without further research into what we now know as its addictive properties. If you were a conspiracy theorist you would almost think that many knew this and wanted people to depend on it.

I have great respect for those working in the medical community actually in the battlefield though. This year I had to deal with them a lot because of my father who was in the hospital for over a month for a heart issue, and despite his shitty attitude at times towards the staff during the stay, they did good work with him and have now possibly tacked on a few extra years onto his life.