Quoting Petros (Petros.Listig@fdrive.com.au):
BTW: I read once that in old China the doctor was paid money when the patient was healthy (not when he was sick).. Sounds like a good idea in principle but I don't know whether it would be feasible to implement in modern society.
I'm reminded of the ancient Temple of Asclepius (god or healing) in Epidauros: Aspiring visitors needed to climb a long staircase to reach the priests and plead their case. So, the temple design rather brilliantly weeded out many of those troublesom _ill_ people. My friend Wallce Sampson, MD (surgeon oncologist at Stanford) once proposed a sure-fire design for a crank medical regime based on that general idea. The nature of the nostrum handed out doesn't actually matter very much. The secret lies in case management: Patient arrives and is treated. Time passes. Case #1: Patient gets better. Victory! Claim credit. Case #2: Patient gets worse. Too bad. When patient dies, life is full of tragedies, but patient can no longer complain. Case #3: Patient remains about the same. State it's too bad patient delayed so long, and up the dose. Iterate.