There is collusion between the old medical business model and the new wave to reform the health care system as if desperate patients are looking for an alternative medical model. Desperation seems to be the best word to describe the state of medical care in the United States. There is a desperation for a new medical model but it’s not for what this “collusion” proposes in President Obama’s Universal Health Care.
President Obama’s health care is still based on the same old medical business model with an old twist of politically correct socialized medicine. It does not challenge the shortfall of the current paradigm of pharmacology-dominant medical care and the super-specialization of medicine.
There is a strong undercurrent of fear and distrust of current medical care by the public except for trauma related emergency care. There is a new tsunami of health care reform arriving not by politically oriented health care reform but by the grassroots movement toward more natural, holistic, integrated medical care. You may call it, Desperate Medicine for Desperate Patients.
As of 2005, cancer became the leading cause of death in this country, surpassing heart disease, for the under 85 year old group (American Cancer Society Report). Cancer and heart disease used to be a rare occurrence one hundred years ago. What happened? Medical care itself, that is, hospital errors and drugs prescribed “properly”, is the third leading cause of death (JAMA 284, July 2000).
People are afraid to take medications prescribed by their medical doctors to treat their individual symptoms. They’re afraid of going to the hospital unless it is for emergency medical care. People want to know why they are feeling sick. They want to know how they can prevent getting sick and stay healthy.
The American Journal of Medicine published a commentary article on Alternative Medicine and Homeopathy in November 2009 (Volume 122) by Professor Michael Baum, MD from London, United Kingdom. In his opinion, homeopathy is among the worst examples of faith-based medicine. He contends that it gathers shrill support from celebrities and other powerful lobbies in place of a genuine and humble desire to explore the limits of our knowledge using the scientific method.
In his opinion, if homeopathy is correct, much of physics, chemistry, and pharmacology must be incorrect. As Professor Baum says, “A belief in homeopathy exceeds the tolerance of an open mind… it is considered unethical for modern medical practitioners to sink to this kind of deception that denies the patient his or her autonomy… in the parallel universe of homeopathy, life, as we know it, would be inconceivable… by opening the door to irrational medicine alongside evidence-based medicine, we are poisoning the minds of the public.”
Coincidentally, at the same time Professor Baum’s article was published, in Baden-Baden, Germany there occurred one of the largest alternative/complementary medical conferences in the world, called “Medicine Week.” Homeopathy, developed by Samuel Hahnemann of Germany, has been widely accepted by not only Germans but throughout the world.
Medical practitioners from around the world attend Medicine Week to learn and share the latest knowledge in, as Professor Baum describes, “the un-scientific, faith-based, parallel universe of homeopathy.” They also learn about many other “irrational” alternative medicine concepts of healing. Is it really un-scientific, faith based and irrational to practice alternative medicine? Should any rational medical professional truly disregard its long, and worldwide, history of real results of healing?
I was invited to give a lecture at Medicine Week on, “Think Parasites When the Latest Medical Therapy Failed: Paradise Lost in the Parallel Universe.” Attendees came from Israel, Turkey, Australia, the Philippines, Canada, USA and Europe and many other countries.
One of the difficult questions posed to me was: “How can you treat for parasites when the lab test is not reliable?” They asked if there is there an alternative way to measure for parasite activities. For a partial answer I suggest you read my short articles, “Curing the Incurable by Measuring the Immeasurable,” “Accidental Cure,” and the numerous articles on parasites on my website.
To digress for a moment, on September 1, 2009, an audience of experts took part in a blind test of five violins. One of the violins was a two million dollar Stradivarius, made in 1711 by the greatest violinmaker of all time. Another was a modern violin made of wood that had been specially treated by Professor Francis Schwarze of the Swiss Federal Laboratory for Materials Testing Research. Schwarze used two fungi to alter Norwegian spruce and sycamore to closely resemble the woods Stradivarius used. He then commissioned a violi maker to build an instrument with them. The listeners were asked to identify the Stradivarius and 113 picked Schwarze’s violin. The actual Stradivarius got only 39 votes. (Time, November 23, 2009)
Evidence-based medicine based on science touted by Professor Baum and contemporary medical academia is in crisis. Professor Baum’s attitude only perpetuates the shortcomings of traditional medicine by attacking homeopathy and other alternative medicine. By the way, many scientists and physicists take homeopathic remedies themselves because it is based on science, physics and subtle energy. Professor Baum’s statement is based on his personal biased opinion and not based on science.
It might be heresy to say this: conventional modern medical care is like the Stradivarius violin. It’s the most expensive but it doesn’t deliver the best medical care. We are living in a desperate time with desperate patients looking for desperate medicine. The time to create real change for health care reform, that actually produces real results of healing, is now.