The remedy is worse than the illness

Maxims and arrows Go Premium A hearty collection of the JC’s pithiest adages. Index: Click ᐅ to expand: Maxim Comments? Questions? Suggestions? Requests? Insults? We’d love to 📧 hear from you. Sign up for our newsletter.

Aegrescit medendo
/aɪˈɡrɛskɪt mɛnˈɛndəʊ/ (max.)
The remedy worsens the illness.

A handy maxim dating back as far as that old duffer Virgil (“aegrescit medendo”) this is one well worth contemplating — yet rarely contemplated — before off-shoring, outsourcing, right-sizing, implementing regtech or otherwise wandering in a dogmatic stupor around the house with a hammer, looking for things that will pass for nails.

See also

• Scale paradox