Interesting article-health politics in America

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Interesting article about American health politics. FYI

Jan PatenaudeWHY DO AMERICANS HAVE SUCH POOR HEALTH?By Dr. Howenstine, MD.December 16, 2003 NewsWithViews.com In order to understand the current status of medical care in the U.S.,Canada and Europe it is vital to understand that health care in these 3regions is nearly completely under the control of the pharmaceuticalindustry. All major pharmaceutical firms have interlocking boards ofdirectors so there is no real competition among these companies. In theUnited States the primary function of the Federal Drug Administration is toensure the profitability of pharmaceutical firms, chemical firms and largeagricultural conglomerates.A competent scientist, Dr. Harvey W. Wiley, was the architect of the firstPure Food and Drug Law in the United States. His intention in 1906 was toprotect the purity of food from additives and refined white flour. Thepressures from the food and pharmaceutical industries caused him toresign[1] in disgust from the FDA in 1912. (We still have nutritionallyworthless white bread 90 years later). It is foolish to think that the FDAis concerned about the health care of the citizen when their primaryallegiance is to the pharmaceutical industry and allied monopolisticbusinesses. All appointments to the FDA are carefully screened to be certain that theappointee will be controlled by the drug companies. An FDA memo[2] admittedthat they would never permit an independent researcher to come up with acure for cancer that it would have to come through a drug company. Manycancer cures have come and gone since 1906. None has received any publicityin the national media. Curing cancer is far removed from the plans of thedrug companies as the sale of chemotherapy drugs is so lucrative.An example of the stranglehold that the FDA has over medicine is provided byour attempt to sell red yeast. Red yeast is used to prepare Peking duck.This yeast contains many statins that lower cholesterol. The pharmaceuticalcompanies have taken advantage of this by isolating single statins from theyeast that they are able to patent (Mevacor, Lipitor, Xocor etc.). Red yeastis safer and much cheaper than the statin drugs. When I called to order redyeast from Nature's Distributors in Fountain Hills, Arizona the sales personadvised me that they could not sell red yeast to us because the FDA hadcalled them and told them to stop selling red yeast. The FDA gave them noreason for this action but it is obvious that red yeast was hurting thestatin sales of large drug companies.A group of concerned physicians has filed a petition with the FDA to requirepharmaceutical companies to place a package insert advising the buyer thatstatin drugs cause depletion of the critical nutrient CoQ 10 from the body.CoQ 10 deficiency appears to cause a rare patient on statins to experiencemuscle breakdown, lactic acidosis, kidney failure and death. The lack of CoQ10 in heart muscle also probably is responsible for the rising incidence ofheart failure in the U.S. The package insert would recommend that personstaking statins should take 100 to 200 mg. of CoQ 10 daily to prevent theseproblems. Obviously the drug companies oppose this package insert because itimplies that statin drugs are not entirely safe which is, of course, thetruth. A major battle over the direction that medicine would travel was fought inthe early 1900s in the United States between the pharmaceutical industry andhomeopathy. This fight ended in complete victory for the pharmaceuticalindustry aided by the financial clout of Rockefeller interests. Since thattime drug companies have influenced the curriculums taught in medicalschools, controlled the content of most medical meetings, and have majorinput into what topics are not permitted in medical journals (articles aboutsuccessful use of natural therapies that could replace drugs usually willnot get published). Programs that will develop large profits for drug andagricultural firms are approved without serious study and the public suffers(GMO foods, irradiation of foods, vaccines released without safety testing,placing fluoride in water supplies, using growth hormone to increase cowmilk production, injecting cattle with hormones, continuing use of mercuryamalgams, recycling nuclear wastes, metals and toxic substances as"fertilizer"[3] etc.)What Is the Status Of U.S. Medicine?American physicians are convinced that our medical services are the finestin the world. I know I was. We do not read the world literature so it comesas a surprise to learn that German physicians have been administeringnatural products for more than 100 years.The truth is shocking! The United States is 17th of 32 developed nationswith a life expectancy of 75 years. Japan is the highest with a lifeexpectancy of of 79.1 years. One of the major factors contributing toslightly improved longevity figures in the U.S. is the improving survival ofthe 40 % of U.S. citizens who are using supplements to keep themselveshealthy and out of hospitals. If these 40 % of U.S. citizens who are usingnatural products to keep themselves well were factored out of the statisticsthe U.S. might rank near the bottom among all developed nations.The Unites States spends twice as much money per capita on health care asthe average of the developed nations. We have advanced technology todiagnose and perform very expensive coronary bypass surgery. Many years agothe eminent Harvard cardiologist, Dr. Eugene Braunwald, expressed graveconcern that coronary bypass surgery was becoming an established procedurewithout any solid evidence that it was effective. This very costly andsomewhat dangerous procedure (coronary bypass surgery) is no more effectivethan good medical care which attacks the causes of arteriosclerosis.The "war" on cancer has been lost as chemotherapy and radiation are no moresuccessful now than they were 25 years ago. Fortunately a few people haveheard about natural approaches to malignancies and are recovering withoutthe terrible side effects of conventional cancer therapy. When the generalpublic learns that most oncologists would refuse to undergo chemotherapy inthe event they developed cancer more persons will look for far safer naturaltreatments of malignancy which provide better results.Immense amounts of money are expended on pharmaceutical drugs that areheavily publicized but have no ability to cure a disease. A good example ofthis is the use of expensive toxic anti-retroviral drugs for HIV when thesimple repletion[4] of selenium, niacin, tryptophane and glutamine appearsto be very successful in stopping this nutrient consuming illness fromprogressing. Conventional medicine has no good therapy for the common lungdisease emphysema. The effective alternative therapies for emphysema ofintravenous glutathione, intravenous hydrogen peroxide, and cetylmyristolate remain unknown to most practitioners.Pharmaceutical firms are spending large sums of money to develop new drugsthat will correct the blood sugar in type 2 diabetes when an electronicengineer, , has pointed the way to eliminating[5] this problemby dietary measures.Multiple sclerosis is being stabilized or improved by hyperbaric oxygen inmost English patients whereas the United States does not authorize thistherapy. The true status of U.S. medicine is dismal. Does this reflect arrogance andchauvinism? My suspicion is that it is all about money. We are spendinglarge amounts of money and getting poor health. Patients that get treatedwith drugs and do not get cured are enormously profitable for pharmaceuticalfirms, physicians, hospitals, pharmacists and medical laboratories.Why Is The Medical Profession Resisting Natural Therapies?In 1902 Sir Osler stated "The greater the ignorance the greater thedogmatism". At this time approximately 40% of U.S. citizens have taken theresponsibility for their health care into their own hands and are takingvitamins and supplements that they feel will preserve their health and helpthem avoid illness. The significant fall in death rates from heart disease(585 to 268 per 100,000) and strokes (181 to 62) almost certainly reflectsthe benefits of these supplements. There are no pharmaceutical drugs thatreverse the causes for this disease (arteriosclerosis) [free radical damage,atrocious diets, and exposure to a multitude of very toxic substancesmercury, xenoestrogens, fluoride, chlorine, pesticides, herbicides,aluminum, etc.] There are many good reasons why physicians have not started to use naturaltherapies: Physicians receive no education in medical school about the merits ofnatural treatments. Medical meetings and medical journals are heavilysubsidized by the pharmaceutical industry so no information about thevirtues of natural treatments will be brought forth in these arenas. Reviewarticles about diseases will either omit information about natural therapiesor the material about natural treatments will be presented in such abiased[6] or negative way that no physician would want to use it.Most physicians believe that the only valid therapies are pharmaceutical andeverything else is a scam. I was in this camp for more than 30 years.Powerful governmental agencies exist to protect the earnings of thepharmaceutical industry and are not very interested in the health status ofthe general populace. Money wins out so dangerous therapies are released onthe public without any attempt to prove safety (genetically modified foods,irradiation of food, fluoridation of water, vaccines etc.).Supposed tax free foundations concerned about public health set up researchstudies to disprove the value of natural therapies which is easy to do byusing impotent products, stopping the study before sufficient time haselapsed, and using statistics to skew the results. Unfortunately someresearch scientists are just like accountants and lawyers and their servicescan be bought. When these unfavorable results come forth they are widelydisseminated on television and other media by skilled public relationsexperts to convince the public there is no value in the substances they areusing. The key to unraveling the truth about these sordid pieces of researchlies in discovering whose funds set up the foundation (aluminum, tobacco,agribusiness etc.).Physicians who decide to try natural substances are forced to learn newskills which is not easy.Inertia can be a strong influence. When things are going well for physicianswhy would they want to rock the boat. Human nature tends to oppose change somedical advances often take 50 or more years until they are implemented.Several alternative medical practitioners have been badly harassed bygovernmental authorities (Dr.Stanislaw Burzynski, Dr. Max Gerson, Dr. CarlReich, Dr. Royal Rife etc.) forcing them to leave the country or defendthemselves in expensive lawsuits to avoid losing their licenses. A leader innatural health, Dr. , had his office ransacked byGestapo-like federal agents who seized all his patient records.There is a legal concept that is widely appreciated by physicians as a wayto avoid lawsuits. This concept is you are at risk if you are usingtreatments that your colleagues are not using. Naturally this impedeschange! In the light of all the negative influences mentioned above it is notsurprising that so few M.D.s and other practitioners have embraced naturaltherapies. However, truth always dispels darkness and lies. When the generalpublic learns that most oncologists would refuse to take chemotherapy ifthey developed cancer fewer persons will consent to this dangerous therapy.My guess is that fewer than one infectious disease specialist in a hundredhas ever heard of Sulfoxime and Dioxychlor. These two remarkableantimicrobial substances are very effective in eliminating systemic fungalinfections, mycoplasma, yeast and anerobic infections without side effectsand at minimal cost. Their developer, Dr. W. Bradford, will probablynever be invited to speak at an infectious disease seminar as disseminationof news about Sulfoxime and Dioxychlor would have an adverse effect onantibiotic sales. There may not be a single chest physician in the United States who knowsthat umckaloabo is a highly effective safe herbal therapy for advancedtuberculosis. Veternarians in the United States have learned that treating animals priorto conception with vitamins, minerals and nutrients nearly completelyeliminates congenital anomalies. This biologic concept would almostcertainly work in humans but may never be introduced because it wouldeliminate too many profitable diseases.The future for natural products appears to lie with the continuing educationof the general public about the virtue of natural approaches to healthproblems. Word of mouth about successful results can be a powerful factorpromoting change. As this proceeds the revenue of drug companies will fall.Many pharmaceutical firms are already positioning themselves for thesechanges by buying natural health product companies. Unfortunately thiscertain progress in medicine will, of necessity, come without benefit of themedical profession and medical schools who will probably be unable to shedtheir strong bondage to the pharmceutical industry. The pharmaceuticalapproach to medicine, with the exception of antibiotics, does not prevent orcure diseases. What Is The Status Of U.S. Medical Research?The status of research in the U.S. is just as grim as the health status ofthe U.S. population. Enormous amounts of money are expended on researchprojects by the U.S. Government and large corporations. Projects that lookfor evidence in support of new ideas do not get funded. Projects that fundedefforts to find new information could endanger the earlier research bymembers of the committees deciding who gets the grants. In this manner thesystem perpetuates itself with mediocrity. Most research ends up being aimedat getting an income rather than seriously trying to uncover new knowledge.Considerable time is wasted trying to find grant money. The creativeinnovative thinker could be a risk to established researchers and does notget funded. Dr. Goodwin, chairman of psychiatry at the University ofKansas remarked " If it's trivial you can probably study it. If it'simportant, you probably can't."This huge influx of grant money has led to incorrect thinking that the bestteacher was the best researcher and the one who got the largest researchgrants was the best teacher which is obviously silly. The end result of thisprocess was the conversion of medical schools into a kennel of researcherswho secondarily teach medical students. To survive in this academic millieuone must "publish or perish." Naturally the quality of most of thesepublications are mediocre or worse and much fraudulent research is yet to beuncovered. Many researchers are receiving money from pharmaceutical firms. This, ofcourse, colors their results. Even the highly respected New England JournalOf Medicine has become contaminated. They have established a policy thatthey will only accept papers from authors who are receiving less than$10,000 annually from a pharmaceutical firm. Naturally, a researcher gettingonly $9,999 would not be tempted to alter his research to please the drugfirm. Incidentally, I am as guilty of taking money from drug companies asanyone having attended wonderful meals, golf tournaments, received medicalbags etc. at the expense of pharmaceutical companies.What Public Health Measures Need To Be Instituted?Serious efforts to improve public health must begin with stopping the saleof disease-causing margarine and transfats, removing fluoride and chlorinefrom drinking water, ending the use of mercury for dental amalgams,encouraging grazing of cattle instead of feedlots, banning irradiated andgenetically modified foods, ending hormone injections into cows and cattle,and massive education campaigns to warn the public about the danger of sugarexcesses, aluminum, and processed foods. All these steps will be vigorouslyresisted by powerful entrenched special interest groups. Physicians whooffer the public alternative health therapies need to be protected fromharassment by governmental agencies.Footnotes: 1 Casper Modern Foods: The Sabotage of Earth's Food Supply CenterPoint Press, 12463 Rancho Bernardo Road, San Diego, Cal 921282 Spotlight October 30, 2000 pg. 113 Duff Fateful Harvest: The Story of a Small Town, A Global Industry,and a Toxic Secret Harper ISBN 00601936974 Harold D. What Really Causes AIDS? Trafford Publishing, 2333Government St., , B.C. V8T 4P4, Canada Toll-free 1-(Canada & U.S.) 5 Insulin: Our Silent Killer P.O. Box 7685, Loveland, Co 80537, 6 Gaby Alan R. The New England Journal Of Drugs (Editorial) August-SeptemberTownsend Letter for Doctors & Patients pg.152© 2003 Dr. Howenstine - All Rights Reserved-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dr. A. Howenstine is a board certified specialist in internal medicinewho spent 34 years caring for office and hospital patients. Curiositysparked a 4 year study of natural health products when 5 of his patientswith severe rheumatoid arthritis were able to discontinue the use ofmethotrexate (chemotherapy agent) after trying an extract of New Zealandmussels for the therapy of severe rheumatoid arthritis.Dr. Howenstine is convinced that natural products are safer, more effectiveand less expensive than pharmaceutical drugs. This research led to thepublication of his book 'A Physicians Guide To Natural Health Products ThatWork'. This book and the recommended health products are available fromwww.naturalhealthteam.com and by calling 1- U.S.A.E-Mail: jimhow@...____________________________________________________________________________.............Paracelsus - Clinical Practice in the Healing Arts..................... sponsored by Integrative Medical Arts - IBISmedical.com ........ http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/paracelsus* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * visit the HealthWWWeb and Integrative Medical Arts websites.. http://www.HealthWWWeb.com .. http://www.integrativemedicalarts.com ........ ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ..learn more about IBIS - The Integrative BodyMind Information System Interactions: IBIS Guide to Drug-Herb and Drug-Nutrients Interactions and other IBISmedical.com Products......... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ........Integrative Medicine, Natural Health and Alternative Therapies........