Are doctors really not motivated enough to treat seriously ill patients older than 70 years old?

There are different models and approaches of decision-making in recognizing and curing disease. The first and traditional biomedical model is the single-cause/single-cure model. It has long been a root for medical researches and education. In this model, the physician becomes a truth-seeker; he identifies a single cause and diagnoses a cure, and it is crucial not to deviate from the right path. Since the physician is the authority, he must take the responsibility of finding the best treatment.

The other biomedical model is known as the usual model in which different symptoms, signs, and factors are considered and examined to give a cause of the disease. In this model, the physician finds many factors; he also knows that different patients respond differently to the same situation. Therefore, one single treatment may not work on many people. Based on his knowledge and experience, the physician arrives at a specific diagnosis and chooses the proper treatment.

The fact is that diagnosis and treatment are not easy, and they require consideration and flexibility; some experienced doctors are like, “there is a possibility of disease A, B, C and so on. And the treatment may be D, E, F.” However, some typical doctors ignore such 1 in 100 possibilities and rely more on extensive experiences. In this way, they sound more trustable. The studies have shown no significant difference between these results and those gained through careful analysis of those experienced doctors.