On the Need to Heal Division
By: Madolin Wells
Tags: Conspiracy Theories, Rabbit Hole, Conflicts Of Interest, Pandemic, Holistic Health

On the Need to Heal Division

Scientific evidence is fact-based. It will continue accumulating more evidence that tends either to reinforce or question what is so far known, as well as adding new sophistication to what was previously accepted as truth or fact. This process is how the scientific method works. It’s not as precise as logic and abstract math, but among reputable scientists and research, there is usually fairly broad consensus. Never could this understanding of how science works be more important than now, during a devastating worldwide pandemic. In a perfect world, the value of rigorous science (as well as technology, humanities, education, and the arts) would be acknowledged and supported by taxes on the richest Americans and especially on corporations. This is not the case. What that means is there is always a potential conflict of interest between applied technology and research and the private institutions that support it, much of which resides in the domain of pharmacology. Failure to recognize this reality on the part of any professional in the science and medical fields is a recipe for adding further to the dangerous polarization that afflicts us as a society.

Where the potential for related abuse is worst, in my view, is in the medical profession itself. Western medicine as practiced within the dictates of the American Medical Association does not allow an oncologist to apply his own best clinical, compassionate, humane judgment; for example, to reveal to a terminally ill patient that the chemo or radiation he is prescribing is not something he would choose for his own loved one with a similar prognosis. Instead he must prescribe and support whatever the standard treatment is for that specific diagnosis code. Otherwise, he could lose his partnership in a clinical practice, his visiting rights to treat at a hospital, potentially even his license to practice.

American medicine developed in the late 19th century amid a struggle over whether medical doctors or osteopathic doctors would become the recognized standard-bearers for practice in America. MDs focused on treating presenting symptoms; DOs focused on discovering and healing the root cause of the presenting symptom. It was a highly political battle, and fiercely waged. In the end, the AMA won out and worked to crush any serious competition from osteopathic doctors (who like MDs can diagnose, prescribe medications, and do surgery, but are more holistically oriented). As a result, osteopathy and any other form of holistic or alternative treatment became vilified and disparaged, and even MDs who knew a better prescription for a particular patient might simply be rest, exercise, and meditation, were prevented from suggesting it. Thankfully, this has changed in the last 20 years.

It has only been in the last 30 years that doctors have received any nutrition education at all in medical school, and even then it is typically a few hours or a weekend seminar. Yet when seeking a nutritional program that best suits a patient’s temperament, constitution, lifestyle, and genetic factors, health consumers are routinely advised to seek their doctor’s advice, although he or she may know very little about nutrition. Every supplement, vitamin, herbal extract, or health program must legally state this in all their packaging and branding materials, and any company found to be wanting can be fined or put out of business. Even though what the company is offering might be better than the doctor’s advice. It’s an air-tight monopoly over what consumers may be allowed to utilize or even know about.

Since the mid-20th century, pill-pushing has become the primary activity of a huge percentage of MDs. There is great pressure and mighty inducement from drug companies and the AMA itself to do so. Since it’s a for-profit industry, sales are what matters, not bedside manner or the willingness to spend time with a patient, rather than the usual 10 minutes rushed appointment slot. Clinical judgment based on years of experience has become seriously undervalued.

Psychiatrists are similarly trained to medicate rather than utilize psychotherapy. What little training they have in “the talking cure” is usually provided by PsyD and PhD psychologists or clinical social workers. Many patients see their psychiatrist to check in and tweak meds every two or three months, while they see a lower-paid psychotherapist on a weekly basis to actually do the slow, patient, and often very difficult work of facilitating the patient’s emotional healing.

“For half a century, the American Medical Association waged war against chiropractic, an intervention that relies on spinal adjustments to treat health problems. Chiropractors were regarded as the modern-day equivalent of snake-oil salesmen.” But the AMA was found by the Supreme Court in the 1990 Wilks case to be engaged in an unlawful conspiracy against the chiropractic profession. The Rand Corp research arm conducted a ground-breaking study in 1992 demonstrating that spinal manipulation could indeed be effective in treating low back pain, whereas the AMA knew that medical treatments (surgery or drugs) caused harm and were usually ineffective. Many patients became more disabled after surgery than prior, and those continuously relying on pain medications became addicted and suffered other harmful side effects. This case was important because it reaffirmed the responsibility of MDs to refer to a more appropriate practitioner with expertise in the treatment needed. This includes licensed acupuncturists and practitioners of Traditional Chinese Medicine, who in some states are recognized as primary care physicians.

https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB4539.html

The need is great for patients to seek remedy for their distress in the most elegant way — i.e., being the most efficient, doing the least harm and preferably no harm at all, having the most hope of an effective cure for the condition rather than a lifetime of chronic disease needing to be managed but not overcome, the treatment being the most balancing and thus supportive to the health of the entire organism [the patient] and thus potentially healing other issues as well. And being cost-effective in comparison to medical treatment, which is by far the most expensive, and which also includes expensive diagnostic tools like MRI and CT scans.

Any doctor choosing to move to a holistic model to better help patients escape the stranglehold of the pharmacological paradigm can count on being harassed and discredited. Such doctors do not switch to alternative practice to make more money, knowing that insurance is unlikely to cover some of their treatments, and that they will be in an uphill battle for credibility.

They are often criticized for selling supplements in their online newsletters as a conflict of interest, when the same conflict of interest exists among doctors being rewarded with expensive vacations and other gifts for their own “pill-pushing.” At least it can be said for holistic docs selling supplements that something is actually being provided to the patient, not personal perks like vacations, or tax write-offs for meetings held in exotic luxury locales. The primary difficulty and potential ethical hazard for doctors selling online supplements is that such recommendations are one-size-fits-all rather than seeing a patient in person, diagnosing, and bringing clinical judgment to bear on what to prescribe.

But that too, is little different from MDs prescribing what they must according to the diagnosis and corresponding treatment codes of their professional organization. In addition, the perspective of holistic treatment is that supplemental herbs are food — dried roots or berries, for example, known through research to be valuable in supporting cardiac or respiratory health. Not something that will cause harm to anyone. And cost far less than drugs — usually in the range of $10, $25, $50, or up to $100. Comparatively speaking, that’s very inexpensive. We just don’t realize when picking up a prescription that the hidden cost — which is bankrupting the US — can be $1000 a week, $400 a day, or sometimes even more exorbitant.

It’s not that people are simply stupid or ignorant and must be called out for it. There’s ample reason for skepticism. Being harassed by the US government, the AMA, or debunkers like self-styled Quackbuster Stephen Barrett (whose aim is to ban all holistic, alternative, and complementary practice), has everything to do with how someone like Joe Mercola could become paranoid and buy into conspiracy theories. That isn’t just a shame, because too many have fallen down the rabbit hole. It also endangers Americans including our neighbors right here in River City who feel forced to choose between what seems to make sense (or they want it to), and medical or scientific professionals who, no matter how brilliant, can sometimes be heavy-handed in their manner of parsing reality and facts. Above all, how crucial their expertise that needs to be recognized and embraced in the face of a rapidly mutating virus against which 21st-century humans have no acquired immunity.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(19)30171-8/fulltext

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2729245

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2729245

https://nutritionfacts.org/2017/06/08/how-much-nutrition-education-do-doctors-get/