The Runme Shaw Memorial Lecture 2000--treating VIPs in Washington.

My lecture is about people, power, illness, and the patient-physician relationship. It is the personality of the politician or official, the ego elevation conferred by power, the repression of the thought of illness, and the combination of these factors, which leads to subversion of the patientdoctor relationship when a very important person (VIP) is involved. Different countries have evolved a variety of systems of government; for example, the United States is a democracy. The United States Government is divided into three branches, the executive, the judicial, and the legislative branches. These three are embodied as the President with his cabinet officers, the Supreme Court, and the Congress. This is the power structure of the Federal Government of the United States. In Washington, the politicians or officials may feel glorified by the beauty of the city, which is embellished with parks, greens, circles, trees, bodies of water, majestic memorials, and bold and beautiful governmental buildings in which they live and work. The construction regulations restrict buildings taller than the Capitol Building; therefore the effect is a city of low relief, resembling an old European city, causing the governmental buildings to stand out. The most prominent body of water is the Potomac River, which flows along the border of Washington, D.C. The Potomac River is named after an American Indian tribe. The power that politicians wield, plus the city, gives rise to what is termed “Potomac Fever”. Potomac Fever is a psychological situation, which is contracted by the development of self-importance in a powerful, beautiful city. Upon this background information I will share information about the treatment of very important people.