And In Stories, Endings Matter.

After Readinf Some Essay On The Nature Of Human Fallibility, I Was Very Aware That We Are The Recipients Of A Huge Amount Of Discovery Over The Last Century. Medicine Exemplifies This. And That Has Transitioned Us From A World In Which People's Lives Were Mostly Governed By Ignorance To One That's Constrained By Ineptitude. A Century Ago, We Didn't Know, For Instance, What Diseases Afflicted Us, What Their Nature Really Was, Or What To Do About Them. And That Has Changed.

The Big Thing That's Happened Is, In The Time Since The Affordable Care Act Has Been Going On, Our Medical Science Has Been Advancing. We Have Now Genomic Data. We Have The Power Of Big Data About What Your Living Patterns Are, What's Happening In Your Body. Even Your Smartphone Can Collect Data About Your Walking Or Your Pulse Or Other Things That Could Be Incredibly Meaningful In Being Able To Predict Whether You Have Disease Coming In The Future And Help Avert Those Problems.

Better Is Possible. It Does Not Take Genius. It Takes Diligence. It Takes Moral Clarity. It Takes Ingenuity. And Above All, It Takes A Willingness To Try.

Courage Is Strength In The Face Of Knowledge Of What Is To Be Feared Or Hoped. Wisdom Is Prudent Strength.

Sometimes We Can Offer A Cure, Sometimes Only A Salve, Sometimes Not Even That. But Whatever We Can Offer, Our Interventions, And The Risks And Sacrifices They Entail, Are Justified Only If They Serve The Larger Aims Of A Person's Life. When We Forget That, The Suffering We Inflict Can Be Barbaric. When We Remember It The Good We Do Can Be Breathtaking.