A window into the mind, heart of the healing profession

“In Defense of the Physician”
By Homobono Calleja, M.D.


Many of the comments on the professional descendents of Hippocrates (400 BC) – the physicians – have been coming from outside the profession, whether good or bad, unflattering or complimentary.
Hardly do doctors take time to make their views heard. Rarely do they engage government, media, or civil society in a debate – except in their own journals whose readers are confined to fellow medical practitioners. When the Generic Act of 1988 was yet a bill, the debate was lopsided in favor of the piece of legislation. Little did we know that the entire membership of the Philippine Medical Association opposed the bill, calling it the “Genocide Act.”
With the rise of non-traditional medicine, the return to natural healing, and the increasing popularity of “herbal medicine” – not to mention religious cults that rule out any need for surgery or other tested remedies – how we wish we would hear a voice from their favorite “whipping boy” – traditional medicine.
Little did we know that there is such a voice – and a book – published at the turn of the century. The voice has an eloquence and literary flourish that’s rarely (so we thought) found among the men and women donning stethoscopes in regulation white gowns.
The book, “In Defense of the Physician,” by noted cardiologist Homobono B. Calleja, is notable for its forceful essay about the profession and the profession’s creed, commitments and concerns.
Listen: “Only the physician sees the kaleidoscopic spectacle of life from cradle to grave, not merely as a passive witness to the creation, development, growth, and end of being – but also as an active, caring advocate of life. His intricately woven knowledge of the chemistry of carbons and the electricity of atoms of life makes him the healer of the body.” Is this your doctor talking?
That’s the author of the book speaking. The book is a collection of essays, speeches and articles fro medical journals, and turn out to have popular appeal to people who have always wanted to have a window into the physician’s mind and heart. The seemingly sedate, almost passionless and taciturn professional turns out to ban a advocate of unmatched devotion to a cause and an uncharacteristic intensity reserved for firebrand activists.
In a chapter titled “Generics or Genocide Act of 1988,” the author dared to lock horns with fellow physicians, now Senator, Juan Flavier. Calling it a second-class medical delivery system,” Dr. Calleja questions the fundamental basis of the Generics Law, which states that “drugs with the same generic ingredients and the same dose are equivalent.”
The author counters: “The statement has no grain of truth,” pointing out that drug preparations are “equivalent” if they satisfy three “equivalence” requirements: chemical, biologic, and therapeutic. For laymen like us, the author provides explanation in the book.
On the same controversy, the author likens the medical association with Galileo (1633) who was imprisoned by the Roman Inquisition of the Vatican for supporting the Copernican “heliocentric theory” (the sun is the universe’s center), when the acceptable belief was “geocentric” (the earth as center).
The author stretches the analogy identifying his profession with Galileo, saying: “The true science of medicine will prevail over the pseudo-science of political medicine formulated by the callous of the Department of Health and Congress.”
The book is not all passionate polemics and stirring defense. It is peppered with appropriate quotes from the world’s greatest thinkers and verses written by the author. A verse, directed at what he calls a “health provider licensed by an HMO,” with this line laden with sarcasm: “Once I saw a doctor and his license/ He used to diagnose disease by his expertise/ Now he is limited by his HMO plan.”
The book is interesting because it also touches on patient rights, malpractice suits and even media’s favorite topic: doctors playing God. On the latter, the author treads carefully and very thoughtfully on an ethical dilemma: “physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia.”
He declares: “A physicians is sworn to cure the sick and alleviate suffering… he cannot be an instrument of death; hence he cannot inject the lethal drug. However, he can lend his medical expertise to pronounce the criminal dead or still alive after the injection is given.”
Rarely does one come across a book where the taciturn physician speaks. In this book, not only is a medical doctor opening his heart and mind. The author’s voice is compelling, and his thoughts navigate the seas of God-given and human wisdom in history, poetry and science – or lack of it (in politics, the author’s nemesis)
Amid high profile views on non-traditional medicine, this book provides a reassuring picture of both profession and physician – who is steeped in medical training fiercely committed to his Hippocratic oath, and – as the book shows – one driven by a single devotion to heal. This book is a must read, especially for executive concerned with their health (after worrying about wealth) or when, at time, they contemplate their own mortality.