Biomedical Faith

I found Song's piece on so-called medical tourism to be extremely interesting.  For me, it raised a number of different questions and speculations.  My main thought for this article was that I felt that I needed the context that comes with knowing the general effectiveness of these treatments.  I felt that those results could really color the way that I understand the “medical tourists” or “biotech pilgrims”.  

Another small point that stood out to me was the discussion of the pseudo-religious thought and actions that surrounded the decision to come to China to seek treatment for these ‘incurable’ diseases.  The passage stating that “their decision to subject their bodies to an experimental procedure involved an essential act of faith in the advances of biomedical science.” brought up the question of how we perceive biomedical science.  To me, there is a separation between faith and science, with each representing a different way of thinking.  The biomedical system in the developed world is *supposed* to take much of the faith and hope out of making decisions and it is interesting to see that biotech pilgrimage lies in the intersection of the two.  For me, I tend to have faith in the scientific process, and this creates a context where I can invest in the idea that biomedicine works.  For some of the medical tourists, they believe that the scientific process (i.e., clinical trials, FDA approval, etc) stifles rather than enables biomedicine to progress.  I find the contrast with my own views to be fascinating.  In the case of the medical tourists seeking experimental treatments, I really think that they are simply choosing the option that they believe is available to them and less having to do with faith in the efficacy of biomedicine.  They are frustrated by the more conservative western scientific process so they feel they have no choice to abandon their trust in our system and move to one that is similar but also dissimilar.