January/February 2003
Feature Articles
Holistic Health Q & A
by Dr. Ruth E. Bradley
Of quantum physics, vibrational energy
and the power of our thoughts.
The Treasures of the Amazon Rainforest
by Lenny Rader
The story of the pioneers who uncovered
the real treasures of the Amazon: healing, life-enhancing plants.
What is... Human Growth Hormone?
by Marjorie Williams
Research proves natural growth hormone
to be powerful anti-aging weapon that helps reduce body fat, increase energy
and much more.
UnCommon Sense!
by David Findlay
The War on Terrorism.
Articles on the theme "Talents & Abilities"
A Misuse of Talents & Abilities
by Lela Lilyquist and John R. Lee MD
How the Medical Establishment has been
corrupted, becoming a pawn of the drug companies.
Every Child Can Sing
by Barbara Bedingfield
An education that brings out the innate
abilities in every child.
Developing Musical Ability
by Bob & Claire Franki
Regardless of natural talent, it is
training that enables musical ability in children to shine.
Your Genius
by Linda Gaylord
Ways to discover and develop your unique
talents and gifts.
From Russia with Passion
by Oksana Kolesnikova
A talented young pianist and composer's
personal story.
Nature versus Nurture
by Charles Larsen
We all have talents and abilities,
but some are less obvious than others.
A Misuse of Talents & Abilities
by Lela Lilyquist and John R. Lee MD
There's lots of talent and ability in the medical establishment. But, talent and ability are not necessarily good without mercy and a sense of responsibility. We see this problem now in the medical establishment. As a young woman entering my profession in surgical technology, I idolized the physicians with whom I worked. The majority of physicians were to be admired. And why not? With, on average, twenty years of academics and medical training, most were ready to practice medicine and they deserved respect. But, something has gone wrong within the medical establishment, not because of a lack of talent and ability, but because of a loss of mercy and responsibility.
I recall that time being fresh out of school and anxious to learn and experience the workings of modern medicine. Thinking back on it, I remember a book written in 1984, entitled The Medical Industrial Complex, by Stanley Wohl, MD, of Stanford Medical School. Dr. Wohl, observing the rising power of the pharmaceutical industry and the decline of physician authority, predicted the changes we see today. As Robert Reich, MD, then director of Psychiatry Human Resources Administration, New York, described Dr. Wohl's predictions as, "The first logical explanation for the frightening rise of health care costs to appear in a book intended for the general public... A powerful account of the passing of medical authority from physicians to robber-barons - to the peril of us all." The talent and ability that had made America the leader of medical care-giving became corrupted by the power of its success, leading to the almost unparalleled greed that is bankrupting America today. Just ask the folks who must choose to spend their meager savings on food or on prescriptions.
In my years at Tampa General Hospital as a Certified Surgical Technologist, I actively served to educate my co-workers on cost analysis. I asked them to learn how much the patient is charged, what the hospital pays for services, and to remember that we all pay taxes and medical insurance premiums, and are medical consumers, too. As a county hospital Employee Advisory Committee member, I saw greed first hand with an astronomical salary of a new Chief Executive Officer compared to cost-cutting employee layoffs at the same time. I came to conclude that questioning authority is not a frivolous liberty, it is a necessary right that we must exercise to prevent greed and waste of our resources.
For example, I questioned the surgeons and the role of the pharmaceutical companies that were funding a study of abdominal surgery in which a patented pharmaceutical substance (that was substantially just common bleach) was used to irrigate the abdominal cavity prior to sewing up the surgical incision. How did our surgeons justify going along with this study's protocol? What happened to the moral high ground "to do no harm"? Did the university buckle into the pharmaceutical company's desire to use an obviously unsafe surgical technique just because of the grant money? Had they forgotten that bleach, while it may kill germs, can also kill or seriously damage the patient? Money is power, and power leads to greed and the loss of mercy and responsibility.
This stupid tragedy propelled me into writing a theory statement about using aloe vera as an abdominal rinse since it promotes healing without scarring. Initially, the idea was laughed at, but the concept is being practiced by surgeons and by doctors treating severe burn victims. Good can arise from the ashes of tragedy.
My years of frustration with expensive medicines led me to go back to school and study homeopathy (a much safer and more gentle medicine), and eventually to purchase a Health Food Store and to seek out like-minded physicians who prefer to promote health without doing harm. In the May/June 2001 issue of the New Times Naturally! (see the online edition at: www.altnewtimes.com under Previous Issues) I wrote an article entitled "Glamorizing Prescription Drugs." In that article, I talked about the TV ads for prescription drugs and the huge increase in sales they pull in. Using their talent and ability, pharmaceutical companies glamorize and sell drugs at exorbitant prices, raising the cost of drugs and destroying America's ability to afford health care. And I talked about cause and effect. If you watch the nightly news, you will see the effect: General Motors, for instance, is now unable to supply health coverage to their retirees due largely to the cost of drugs.
Look what pharmaceutical companies did to menopause, a natural change in women's lives. First, they convinced doctors that menopause was a disease, a disease due to estrogen deficiency. Then, marketed excessive doses of estrogen and synthetic progestins to be taken by all women from menopause to death. What a market for their talented and able core of advertisers! And, they managed to do this for over 30 years, making $billions per year, without ever having to prove that the treatment (called Hormone Replacement Therapy, HRT) was beneficial or safe. In the January/February 2002 New Times Naturally! (also available online), I wrote Hormonal Freedom, about the harmful effect of synthetic hormonal therapy and the growing awareness of more natural approaches. This July, the truth has finally come out about the lack of benefit and the excess harm caused by conventional HRT. The Women's Health Initiative Study of HRT using Prem-Pro was stopped in mid-stride, because of excessive harm from the use of this drug combination. One should ask: Why was this drug combination allowed to be given to women for 30 years without the drug company having to prove first that it was safe?
This is but one example of the power now wielded by the pharmaceutical companies. Doctors, these days, are mere pawns in the greedy hands of pharmaceutical robber-barons, as predicted by Dr. Wohl.
Dr. Lee, in the following paragraphs, provides some more examples from his experience:
"When I was in medical school at the University of Minnesota in the early 1950s, our medical school funding came mostly from three sources: Student tuition fees provided about 30%, another 30% came from profit in treating patients at the medical school clinics and hospital, and 35% came as a subsidy from state coffers. Recently, my Minnesota Medical School Bulletin revealed that the state now provides less than 8% of the school funding. The largest funding for the medical school now comes from pharmaceutical companies in the form of grants for research desired by the drug firms. People should know that research findings that do not favor the drug firms are usually not published. Thus, medical information is censored by drug companies. Even more important, however, is the fact that medical teaching is controlled by drug companies since they could easily bankrupt the medical school by moving its research grants to other schools. This is why, for instance, that you will not find much progesterone research from medical schools since the drug firms prefer doctors to prescribe patented synthetic hormones instead of real (natural) progesterone, since the real hormone can not be patented.
"The doctor's education is not only controlled by drug companies through his medical school years, but afterward as well. It is law that physicians must attend at least 50 hours of accredited Continuing Medical Education (CME) every three years. This would appear to be a good thing, since medical knowledge keeps expanding yearly. However, you probably didn't know that CME counts only for accredited seminars. Guess who controls the accrediting process: the American Medical Association. And, who at the AMA decides on which seminars to accredit? They have a panel for that, and the majority of members are from pharmaceutical companies. Thus, CME accredited seminars are actually pharmaceutical propaganda for new drugs.
"When you add the controlled education in medical schools, the controlled CME seminars, the heavy hand of drug companies in the publication of medical journals (the ads pay the cost of the journals), the frequent visits and gifts to doctors from drug representatives, and the $billions spent in providing free drug samples to doctors (that probably doubles the cost of the drugs), you find a massive network for controlling physicians, who are now known not as doctors, but as medical providers.
"Yes, Lela is correct: there is a Medical Establishment that has become a menace. They have the talent and ability galore, but they need to be paired with mercy and good sense of responsibility to the people they serve. This will come when the people get the truth and seek out doctors and health options that are not mere pawns of the drug companies. Thanks to folks like Lela, we have a chance to bring this about."
Lela Lilyquist is the owner of Nature's Health Foods in Brandon, FL. (813) 681-2444. www.natureshealthfoods.com and www.menopausemonologue.com. Dr. John R. Lee (see ad) is author of What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause, What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Premenopause and his latest book What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Breast Cancer - www.johnleemd.com.
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