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David
Dr. Bartok was patient and took his time with his examinations and explanations. He never hurried me, and we often chatted about things other than my illness. He planned to retire soon, but I would be gone before then.
My routine appointments involved the review of my vital signs and the doses of my various medications. It was an ongoing challenge to get the dose levels right. I once asked him why the medical system couldn’t formulate simple and effective drugs to treat my conditions, especially with the dramatic advances in medicine that I’d witnessed in my lifetime.
He explained that the system I grew up with was funded by major pharmaceutical companies investing in drug research and development with a payback over long periods of patent protection, and with patients who liv
