Woes of the commercialization of medicine - octuplets??

There was a convergence of a number of medical issues in today's Straits Times: The controvery of the recent octuplet birth, Andy Ho's review of multiple IVF births and Dr Huang Shoou Chyuan's letter on doctor's fees guidelines.

The common but often missed thread that connects these is really the fact that the practice of medicine has become so commercialized. Medical ethics has become the servant for the need to generate revenue through medical procedures. To those who would disagree, let me ask if doctors would hesitate to say 'no way' if we were still operating in a 'government hospital' system? Let's be honest, that we are now smack in the middle of the fees-for-services rendered (or more a services-for-fees paid) system makes it extremely difficult for doctors (or even their hospital ethics committees) to be objective about the ethics (or lack of ethics) involved.