Today you'll learn that systemic medical corruption — brought about by misaligned incentives — is certainly horrific, but it isn't new, nor is it extraordinary. History shows us how the belief "this couldn't possibly happen" is dangerously wrong.
From a book called Chronicles of Geneva (second tome), pages 395–402, authored by François Bonivard:
When the plague hit Geneva in 1530, everything was ready. They even opened an entire hospital for plague victims. With doctors, paramedics and nurses. Merchants contributed, and the magistrate gave grants every month. Patients always gave money," and if one of them died alone, all the property went to the hospital.
But then a catastrophe happened to the hospital: the plague died out, and subsidies depended on the number of patients.
For the staff of the hospital in Geneva in 1530, there was no talk of right and wrong. If the plague brings in money, then the plague is good. And then the doctors got organized. At first, they only poisoned patients to raise mortality statistics, but they quickly realized that statistics don’t have to be just about mortality, but about plague mortality.