The Social Policy in the U.S. Health Care System - Essay Example

In the early 1800s, the medical system of that time was not based on the scientific approach that we see these days. The medical field of that time was dominated by people with various training backgrounds including herbalist, lay healers, homeopathic doctors, regular physicians with medical degrees, and others. Most medical attention was given at home and hospitals were seen as last results to failed home remedies. (Popple and Leighninger, 2003)Problems that led to creation of the policy Initially, there were problems in the medical sector in America because the sector because the sector had not embraced scientific medicine.

The practice of medicine was not regulated and it was practiced by different people. There were a lot of medical problems arising from the way it was practiced.  During the 1800s, principles of treatment had not changed since the time of Hippocrates. Treatment of the diseases remained to use drugs and chemicals, bloodletting and exposure to various elements which were believed to heal the person. Modern medicine has referred to those processes as purely unnecessarily as compared to the current practices.

Most of these procedures ended as harmful to the person rather than being beneficial to the person.  An example is given in who a pregnant woman who had convulsions as the delivery approached was bled of eight ounces of blood and given a purgative. However, the woman did not stop suffering from the convulsions. The following day she suffered more convulsions and medical practitioners drew twenty-two ounces of blood once more. This medical procedure was more harmful since the symptoms led to more bloodletting which later caused vomiting, ice packs on the head and mustard plasters on the feet.

In the end, the woman ended up delivering a stillborn child.  The procedure of administering medicine was not organized and domestic medicine was common. Wives’ mothers were in-charge of healing. This was usually practiced at home level. On the foal level, there were practitioners with some type of training in medicine.