I have almost died a few times. Each time it was due to doctors and their insistence of my need for "preventative medicine".
The worst case though was when I was five.
In the 80's it was routine for all kids to receive a live HiB vaccine against bacterial meningitis, among other things. Because at the time, of the 100 million children in the nation .01% were dying of said infection. It was pandemic I am sure. It effects children under 5, we still give the vaccine to our children, except it is not longer a live vaccine.
Anyhoo, long about 5 years old my doctor insisted that I required the vaccine to start school, and as I had never had it before and my mother wanted to see to it I was able to attend that fall and I got the shot. I was too old for starters, and this vaccine was under a voluntary recall by physicians for another. The results were not good.
I got bacterial meningitis, and suffered with the full on symptoms for over a week- each call to the doctor my mom was assured it was nothing and under no circumstances should she take me to another doctor, but to bring me in in a few days for a routine follow up. Thankfully my aunt and uncle came over to visit and recognized that my body was failing and insisted on taking me to Children's Hospital, where I went on to languish and nearly die for 10 more days.
There is no medical reason I should be alive. The infection was not responding to antibiotics, my hip joint was completely eaten away and septic, the resulting sepsis was dangerously close to permeating my blood stream.... The doctors eventually told my parents they didnt know what to do. But, some family prayed for me and a few hours later without any reason my white blood cell count raised, the infection ceased to spread, and within a couple days I was without any infection, sepsis, or lingering effects on my organs or heart, or even on my rotten hip which was scheduled to be replaced if I did happen to survive. I was left however, for the next three years, with repeated cases of strep throat which each time was borderline rhumatic fever, because the intense use of antibiotics to save my life left me with no functional immune response, and each infection I got was able to set in so deep that every other week I was nearly ruined by fever.
Needless to say I am NOT a fan of medicine. Thats only one story of many. Doctors are pretty much useless most of the time in my book.