Physicians lament that bribery is so endemic in the healthcare system that if a doctor refuses a bribe, patients typically become anxious and distraught, believing this to be a sign that their illness is incurable and death is imminent. Doctors then take the bribe to try to allay their anxiety.

"The Bridge On The Drina" is a masterpiece of literature. Bosnian Ivo Andrić received the Nobel Prize for Literature for this "novel" in 1961. He leads you through the thunderstorms that have been circling over the Balkans for centuries. --(novala)