How many CABG's, transplants, knee reconstructions, hip replacements, etc were done 50 years ago? Technology has also seen a rise in life expectancy, such that people are needing the health system who in previous generations would have been, to put it bluntly, dead.
Of course things have moved on a great deal. Memory is a funny thing, but an image from that ward suddenly came to mind. A dignified surgeon in pinstripe suit, was looking pleased with a patient. He was saying words to the effect, ‘Only a while ago we would have had to amputate (his leg) now we can take a vein from ???? and replace the blocked one.' Cutting edge (ouch!) Technology just that short time ago.
This year here in S Texas, a surgeon who had invested a vast sum in his own clinic, spent an hour showing me his latest kit. The most stunning was a CAT scanner with some really powerful software. Being able to remove unwanted images and leave the plumbing was impressive enough, but when he moved into the vessels and examined the inner surfaces, I could scarcely believe what I was seeing. The fact that he had invested millions was I suppose, a reason that the profession has become, in some strange way, ‘dis-balanced'. It's a bit like aircraft manufacture, one wonders how on Earth the investors will ever get their money back–let alone make a profit.
When it comes to people's well-being, I feel that such vast outlay should always be financed by a government, at least when a high proportion of the population are going to benefit. Looking for wealthy clientele to make the payments on medical equipment, is a really shaky way to run a company and also leaves the poor in an unenviable position. I hasten to add that I believe a dollar driven world works for many types of science and construction, but this is a different issue altogether.