A Russian joke on the failure of medicine

Two doctors are discussing their patients. One recalls a patient from ten years ago. "I told him to prepare to die that very year," he said. "He had a number of terminal illnesses."

"When did he die?" his colleague asked.

"Oh, he's quite alive, and doing better than ever," the first doctor answered. "He married, had children, started a business, and has become wealthy."

The second doctor shook his head in sympathy. "If they are determined to survive," he observed, "then there is nothing that medicine can do for them."