Il medico della mutua

by Giuseppe D'Agata

Romanzo comico e "divertente" sull'assistenza medica e sul commercio dei malati in ITalia, "Il medico della mutua" è anche, come ha sostenuto lo stesso autore, un'"avventura narrativa" che nasce dal tentativo di agganciare il lettore a problemi di interesse generale. Qui il medico vive e incarna, con cruda evidenza, alcune contraddizioni del nostro tempo: da un lato vanta il nobile ruolo umanitario e sociale della sua missione, dall'altro si serve del suo privilegio per trasformare la sua missione in affarismo.

Genres: Fiction

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1964

Reviews

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Se non associassi il libro al faccione bonario di Sordi e alla sua comicità, dopo aver letto venti pagine mi sarebbe venuta la pelle d'oca. Ovvio che poi, quando stai male e il dottore ce l'hai davanti, non credi affatto che ti consideri merce di scambio, ma per istinto di sopravvivenza ti affidi a lui e alla sua competenza. "E' solo un libro" pensi. Ma D'Agata - sono andata a leggerlo nella quarta di copertina - il medico l'ha fatto per davvero, quindi sa di cosa sta parlando. E racconta appunto di Guido, neolaureato in medicina, cinico e calcolatore fino allo spavento. Lui e la madre formano una assoluta "macchina da guerra", che ha pianificato l'ascesa sociale ed economica della famiglia fin dalla scelta della facoltà e che si accanisce ancora di più adesso che il pargolo deve ritagliarsi un posto tutto suo nel territorio degli avvoltoi in camice. La vocazione, a Guido, sta venendo forse adesso - forse - ma non è neppure troppo importante. Il punto è: sgomitare per accaparrarsi mutuati, fare le scarpe ai colleghi, lisciare dove più c'è convenienza e scegliersi una compagna giovane, ricca & bella che gli faciliti l'escalation. Teresa, povera, è buona solo per lavare i piatti, pagare cambiali e offrire cene - logico che vada tolta dalla circolazione a breve.
Non mi piace questa iena da ambulatorio. Preferisco di gran lunga il collega sfigato che se ne sta in laboratorio a sognare la ricerca o il Primario che ha una sua filosofia di vita da medico d'èlite di cinquant'anni fa. Guido è solo un robot, talmente poco appassionato e convinto di dover arrivare, che anche quando avrà raggiunto il suo obiettivo non sarà soddisfatto. Perchè come non è in grado di godersi la sua professione adesso, così non riuscirà ad entusiasmarsi una volta che sarà diventato qualcuno.

[Realini Ionescu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Il Medico Della Mutua aka the Doctor of ‘Mutua’ - based on the book by Giuseppe D’Agata, with the Miracle Artist Alberto Sordi http://realini.blogspot.com/2017/06/n...

9 out of 10





The Doctor of Mutua aka the Doctor of The Insurance company reveals aspects that were terrible and amusing in Italy, many decades ago, there are problems even now, no system is perfect, only you can’t help but think that many of the preposterous habits, corrupt practices have been eliminated in Italy, more or less, but are still rampant in a realms like the one we live in, where doctors can be awful and rich…



Mind you, my sister is a doctor, therefore I respect the profession, it takes so long to get ready, and then they have to keep learning, to be aware of the new research, medicine, treatments that they deserve admiration, a very good compensation and special places in society…having said that, you can find (like in any group of humans that is large enough) some bastards that are appalling, such as this komodo dragon that comes to the pool and sauna and supports Putin, blaming the invasion on, well the other side.

The creature is rich, he kept speaking (when he revealed is penchant for mass killing tyrants I tried to reason with him and when that failed, I went out of the hammam, and never spoke with him ever since) of the properties he has, hence I tried to explain it so that he can understand (like in those old jokes that made fun of all kinds of groups, populations, using the setting of a bar in which a guy from this country or the other walks, they speak about jokes on his ethnicity, nationality, etc. and when he protests that he is from the place they want to ridicule, they say ‘do not worry, I will tell it to you slowly’ what is not said is ‘so that you can understand’) first with the Cuban missiles, which he used as an ‘argument’ in his conspiracy theory, telling him that the Americans have not invaded Cuba, like Russia has been doing for more than a year with Ukraine



Then this local Doctor of the Mutua has had a permanent complaint over the fact that he gets calls connected with a very valuable (maybe north of one million dollars, could be five mill) property that folks want to buy, and I explained, or asked him, what will say if instead of these annoying telephone messages, you have a Putin, Z tank, entering your land and saying ‘davai’, taking this asset from you, and pointing the gun, if he has not killed you already, and then confiscating the other things you have, money, houses, torturing, killing loved ones, friends…then you should note that Russia has already attacked this country.

Not with rockets, not yet, but with cyber weapons, and The Economist mentions that there are tens of billions of damage caused, not all here, but still, for a country that has a long way to go before reaching prosperity…this is one of the Doctors of the Mutua that I will be glad to see replaced by AI, or anything else for that matter



Artificial Intelligence will replace people in many, actually it looks like most jobs, from drivers – Yuval Harari, one of the most outstanding luminaries of our age, writes about this in his marvelous Homo Deus – A Brief History of Tomorrow http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/h... and in his other wondrous books, Sapiens, A Brief History of Humanity and @1 Lessons for The 21st Century and the fact that cars, lorries will be driven by a combination of Michael Schumacher and Immanuel Kant, humans make mistakes and cause accidents and deaths, indeed, one of the few professions that look secure for now would be…archeology, because it does not present an interest for business, to introduce AI would not bring in savings, there are no ‘material profits’ there

Some of the first doctors to be out of a job would be – let me just show some more cruelty and nauseating nastiness here and say that Putin lover, if the Russians come his way, he may offer his homage and give all to them, or as an alternative, there could be some laws passed to deal with traitors, if the Russian propaganda has been blocked on some venues, as Russia Today, they still have acolytes and messengers like this eejit, who just makes the job of those internet pirates, spreading propaganda and love for tyrants – those working like Guido Tersilli in the story, but also the ones interpreting echography, images, because AI has the ability to analyze and compare with millions of cases.



In other words, a human with extended experience, can keep in his mind maybe hundreds, thousands of examples, only the immense data base of a an AI ‘doctor’ will be able to look at millions, perhaps hundreds of millions of images, in a second or less and see where the match is, what this particular lesion has in common with other problems in other patients, and of course you would opt for one ‘doctor’ that has seen, knows about millions of cases and thus can predict, analyze with much more accuracy what the pictures, the film says about your stomach, liver or whatever it is at risk…

The doctor in the story want more patients with the Insurance company, because this way, he will get much more money, and there is some competition, which is always good for the patient – they used to have a tendency to require a lot of care and pills, many decades back – if there is no corrupt race that ends with doctors trying all sorts of schemes that fail to put the sick ones at the center of their attention



At one point, Guido Tersilli, tries to get the long list of a dying (if he does expire) colleague and become one of those who are too busy to really look at the problems, the people seeking help are just pushed quickly – this is some problem that even the celebrated NHS, the British National Health Service has, not to the ludicrous degree illustrated in the comedy, but with the pandemic and lockdown, the pressure on the British and most other health systems has reached the point where most of the surgical and other procedures have been postponed, and now there is a long waiting list, just as presumably would be the situation elsewhere –and eventually, the doctor ends up with some sort of ‘postmodern’ practice, as if he were one of those ‘remote workers’, he speaks on the phone with his nurses, and has them look at the ‘clients/patients’ and then tells them over the phone what medicine to recommend

http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/u...



Note written by Realini The Revolutionary - - here is the article from Newsweek that covers the 1989 Revolution that took down Ceausescu http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r...

[Laura Costantini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un interessante documento sull'evoluzione (in senso peggiorativo) della sanità italiana negli anni '60 quando i medici decisero di "creare" i malati per assicurarsi un comodo e proficuo bacino di pazienti. Al contrario del film con Alberto Sordi, non ha momenti divertenti e traccia, senza alcuna pietà, un quadro di uno squallore disarmante.

[Cititoare Calatoare · Rating 5 out of 5]

Personajul autorului italian cauta sa-si croiasca drum spre lumea celor avuti, sub obladuirea mamei sale, pentru care diploma de doctor este o garantie suficienta in a-i asigura o viata indestulata si o pozitie respectata in societate.
"Asiguratii", oameni din toate paturile sociale, sunt doar o marfa care este schimba in functie de nevoile si iscusinta doctorilor. Medicii devin adevarati negustori cu diplome, iar concurenta dintre ei are ca miza numarul asiguratilor si nu succesele profesionale.
"Medicul" este un roman care va fi mereu de actualitate.

[Benedetta · Rating 3 out of 5]

spero davvero di non diventare così