The Awakening of a Surgeon by David H Janda

Author:David H Janda
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781587266638
Publisher: Spry Publishing LLC

CHAPTER TEN

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

“Man is man because he is free to operate within the framework of his destiny. He is free to deliberate, to make decisions, and to choose between alternatives. He is distinguished from animals by his freedom to do evil or to do good and to walk the high road of beauty or tread the low road of ugly degeneracy.”

—MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.,

“THE MEASURES OF MAN,” 1959

In my journey over the past decade and a half, I’ve experienced happiness, exhilaration, frustration, and utter anger and disappointment in my fellow human beings. I’m a little biased, but I believe, and many other individuals believe, the Institute has had an enormous impact on the sports population internationally. We’re the only organization worldwide that focuses on sports injury prevention and its health care cost savings. Sports injury statistics worldwide are truly mind-boggling. In the United States alone, over four million children age five to fourteen will seek emergency room attention this year. Another eight million children will visit their primary-care physicians’ offices for treatment of sports-related injuries. We contend that the vast majority of these injuries can be prevented.

You would think that no one would truly oppose the work of the Institute or any charitable organization that focuses on the prevention of youth and adult sports injuries. Unfortunately, such is not the case. Members of our board, advisory board, friends, and I face opposition on basically three fronts.

First we face opposition from those who doubt that the Institute genuinely has the interest of the public at heart. I can appreciate this concern. I welcome a healthy dose of cynicism in the sports medicine research arena where major economic interests are at play. Big money funds many medical studies and undermines their objectivity. For that reason, we structured the Institute to avoid potential conflicts of interest. We never have solicited, will never solicit, and have never received funding from sporting goods manufacturers. Some individuals seem to feel this decision suggests a snobbish attitude. We contend that to receive funding from sporting goods manufacturers or related corporations with a vested interest in our findings would truly compromise our research and represent a conflict of interest. Unfortunately some of this cynicism comes from individuals who let their egos get in the way of public health concerns. When one’s professional expertise becomes more important than the public welfare, it tarnishes what researchers say and how they interact with our organization and other individuals within the medical community.

The second group of individuals I feel less generously inclined toward. These individuals oppose our efforts for economic reasons. As I noted above, many organizations and individuals make large sums of money selling sporting equipment products. We have no problem with companies earning a fair profit from sales of products; however we believe their sales and marketing efforts should be done in an honest and ethical manner. I believe that corporations and/or individuals should be held accountable for statements they make implying a public health benefit in their products.

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