The business of medicine and surgery with medical aid: Time for regulation and legislation?

The medical and surgical professions have dominated the health sciences for the past few centuries. As these disciplines evolve with practice, new methods, research, and the cost implications for both the healthcare practitioner and patient have increased substantially. The practice of medicine and other health science occupations have also evolved over the years due to the escalation of various diseases and mortality rates. It is however common knowledge that inadequate lifestyles coupled with a lack of movement; inadequate diet and mindsets have contributed to this debilitating epidemic we are currently plagued with. Due to this rapid evolvement, one cannot oversee the business involvement behind medicine and surgery. From one perspective, there is a majority of people in third world countries that cannot afford medical aid rates while the other shows the minority of patients that continue their treatment and live an inadequate lifestyle. Furthermore, one could argue that medical aid companies have capitalized on the notion of people affected by ill health in order to acquire monetary goals. The aim of this article is to showcase the business involvement of medicine and surgery with medical aid and to motivate the reasons for regulation and legislation across varied sectors. We would advocate a need to facilitate and streamline appropriate healthcare practice through transparency, patient awareness and ethical behaviours from all stakeholders involved.