Great Expectations

American society and the medical profession place great value on the individual. Individuals seek medical care with a complaint and/or after the onset of sickness, The ethical principle is to do everything possible for the individual. Doing everything possible most often is perceived as more medical care, high technology medical care and specialized medical care. Under conditions of uncertainty and stress, which include sickness, people fall back upon convention and new information is not processed efficiently because it is unclear what information is relevant. During sickness people will fall back upon their ingrained health beliefs and what they want to be true. The increase in chronic diseases for which there are few, if any, cures creates a disconnection between public expectations and the capability of the medical care system.