" modern medicine still isn't very far removed from medieval torture. The only big difference is anesthetic.

Sounds like the start of another thread to me. Hmm..... "

Well, you're on, dood...

I disagree on the basis of my experience and what I have observed in and out of various facilities over the years. Specifically, five years ago, I received a new heart valve. Pain and discomfort throughout the procedure was trivial, but more importantly I am still functioning today and remain reasonably active, especially for someone in their late 70's. Without the new valve, I would have died about two years ago. Just last week, I encountered another guy, hale and hearty, who had experienced the identical procedure, also with good results .

More importantly, the vast majority of medical folks are dedicated to alleviating human suffering and improving quality of life (There are exceptions, of course. Today's paper had a front page story about the conviction of a physician for second degree murder - wantonly careless drug prescriptions).

I have delivered accident victims to ERs many times, and I have been there myself on occasion as a patient, and I have seen only positive intentions, usually with the same results.

What in your experience leads you to equal medical care with medieval torture? It seems to me that the intent and mindset of your average medieval torturer differs greatly from that of today's doctors and nurses by quite a bit, to say nothing of the different methodologies involved.....