Compassion is the feeling that arises when you are confronted with another’s suffering and motivated with a deep desire to help.
Health care workers demonstrate a high level of compassion. They often go the extra mile to help relieve a patient’s suffering because the deep desire to help kicks in. We should all be extremely grateful for that.
At the other end of the spectrum, health care focused companies often state compassion as a core value whilst rarely demonstrating it in their practices.
Most recently, astronomical drug price increases, denial of early access to life saving therapies, minor tweaks to drugs to compounds facing generic competition so that they can be relaunched for profit are all commonly practiced. Even their own employees are usually tossed on the scrap heap when they are injured or develop chronic illnesses. These tactics demonstrate the opposite compassion – apathy, indifference, meanness, greed.
Compassion as a core value.
The health care spectrum
So whilst the health care worker takes transit to work and brings a brown bag lunch, those working in industry wear Armani suits, carry Kate Spade bags and drive Audis.
So isn’t it about time we called out these companies to either demonstrate their stated value of compassion or change their value to what they practice which is ultimately greed?
