Suppose you want to reduce deaths in automobile accidents. Should you make cars safer? Seems like a no-brainer, right? But consider: suppose instead of an airbag in your steering column, we put a six-inch dagger.
“Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program.” — Milton Friedman
The real world is a complex, messy, and difficult place and helping those who need it the most requires not just good intentions, but careful planning, advice from those who came before, and, most importantly, strict attention to the wishes and needs of the people themselves, since they are the ones who understand, more than anyone, what they truly need.
Because each physician works fewer hours, they have to hand off patients to other doctors, which can lead to mistakes even more serious than those caused by fatigue.