Recently our government went into a shutdown when a portion of the Republican Party fought to block funding for the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare. Many people I spoke to said that the government did have the authority to enact Obamacare and that affordable medical insurance is a right that all people have. My point in writing this article is not to argue the legality of Congress having enacted Obamacare, but rather to discuss health and the medical and pharmaceutical industry in general.
The human body is an amazing creation. First of all if you consider that upwards of half our body is comprised of water, it is simply amazing that it can perform all the functions that it does. But then we have different systems within our bodies, all designed to perform specific functions.
We all know, or at least have heard about, DNA, that genetic blueprint which identifies each of us individually. Well our body is comprised of millions, if not billions, of cells and each of them is identified by its own characteristics to perform certain functions within the body.
Some may not hold the view that we were created by God, but I do, and I also believe that God would not have put us here if He did not also provide us with all we needed to maintain a healthy lifestyle. All the intake we need, the fruits, the vegetables, and the meat we need to stay healthy are here, and if we would only eat properly much of the diseases we now suffer from could be avoided.
For awhile in my life I was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, otherwise known as the Mormons. In their Doctrine and Covenants there is a section, claimed to be a revelation from God, which states; “10: And again, verily I say unto you, all wholesome herbs God hath ordained for the constitution, nature, and use of man― 11: Every herb in the season thereof, and every fruit in the season thereof; all these to be used with prudence and thanksgiving. 12: Yea, flesh also of beasts and of the fowls of the air, I, the Lord, have ordained for the use of man with thanksgiving; nevertheless they are to be used sparingly; “
The revelation goes on to say, “And all saints who remember to keep and do these sayings, walking in obedience to the commandments shall received health in their navel and marrow to their bones.” Now I am not preaching that people should go out and join the Church of Latter Day Saints, but, whether or not D & C 89 is a revelation from God, I do believe that there is wisdom in those words.
As one who has recently watched his wife suffer the consequences of having surgery due to breast cancer I have done a lot of studying on the causes of cancer, the treatments for it, and the overall health of our lifestyle. What I have found has only supported some previously held opinions, and gave me new insight into the cause of cancer.
To understand cancer you have to realize that it is not a disease like the flu which is caused by a virus that comes from outside the body and causes you to be ill. Instead it is a cellular disease in which certain cells of your body act in a manner that they should not, and therefore become abnormal, or cancerous.
Since they started keeping records the incidence of people getting cancer has continued to rise. Why is this? Estimates show that nearly $1 billion per year is donated to cancer research facilities, yet it seems they are not one step closer to finding out what causes it. Sure there have been new methods of detecting it and fighting it once a patient has been diagnosed with cancer, but they are still far from discovering what causes it.
I believe the old saying that you are what you eat has some clues as to why cancer continues to be on the rise in America. As I mentioned there was a period when I was a member of the Mormon Church. I recall vividly one time when I attended one of their functions and a speaker came to discuss Doctrine & Covenants 89, The Word of Wisdom.
This elderly man, I can’t recall his name, talked about how numerous times he was diagnosed with cancers and other life threatening illnesses and was told he had mere months to live. He took matters into his own hands and researched the Word of Wisdom and found natural, alternative, methods, i.e. diet changes, and beat these diseases. He spoke of how doctors were dumbfounded when he showed up back in their offices way past the time when they predicted he would be dead.
Again, I’m not preaching to people to become Mormons to prevent cancer, but I do believe that our lifestyle plays a big role in our getting the disease. In the early stages of our nation’s development the people who lived here ate food that was locally grown and sold and therefore fresh off the vine so to speak. As we grew as a nation methods were developed for keeping produce fresher longer so that they could be transported and sold on the shelves of stores far from where they were grown. Also farmers began using chemical fertilizers and pesticides to assist them in their crop yields. Along with that scientists have been genetically modifying seeds to produce larger, supposedly more healthy foods. Then take into consideration all the processing that goes into much of the food we eat. What has all this done to the food supply we now consume?
It is my honest belief that cancer is on the rise in this country because of the fact that we no longer eat fresh healthy foods. We now take in food that is more junk that it is nutrition and our bodies are reacting because they are not getting the nutrients they need to function at optimum level. Add to that the toxins we are exposed to in the air and the water we drink and it is a wonder our bodies can function at all.
But what has all this got to do with the Affordable Care Act? Well if you think about it, who profits when you get sick? You certainly don’t. But the doctors and the drug companies whose medicines are prescribed to treat you damn sure do. After all, if people wouldn’t get sick there would be no need for doctors, except to set a few broken bones, and the drug companies would go out of business because people would no longer need their products.
But think about it, when you go to your doctor, you are placing your trust, your very life, in that physicians hands. Upon becoming a physician all doctors take something called the Hippocratic Oath, which in part states, “I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures [that] are required, avoiding those twin traps of overtreatment and therapeutic nihilism.”
It seems that nowadays you go in to see a doctor because you are sick and they tell you what you have, prescribe a pill, or a specific treatment, and then send you home. Very little time is spent discussing the reasons why you got sick in the first place.
When my wife was first diagnosed with cancer we asked him what caused her to get it. He said the predictable things like age, hormone levels, and a wide variety of other things could act to cause cancer to grow within her body, but basically it sounded like a runaround for “We don’t know.”
Yet these doctors will prescribe medication and treatment for a patient when they are merely treating the symptoms of a disease and not the underlying reason as to why a person came down with it in the first place. It seems to me, that with few exceptions, that doctors have simply become prostitutes for those companies who profit from the ‘treatment’ of disease. So let’s talk for awhile about these companies whose sole reason for existence is the ‘treatment’ of disease.
Doctors in general are governed by the AMA, the American Medical Association, while the companies that produce drugs for the treatment of disease have to have their products approved by the FDA, the Food and Drug Administration.
The American Medical Association was created in 1847 to promote scientific advancement, improve public health, and invest in the doctor patient relationship. The Food and Drug Administration was created in 1906 with the passage of the Wiley Act, signed into law by Theodore Roosevelt.
From 1924 to 1949 the AMA was headed by a man named Morris Fishbein. During his time as head of the AMA, those who paid large advertising fees to the AMA so that their ads could run in the AMA Journal got the ‘seal of approval’ from the AMA. Those that didn’t were labeled as worthless and quackery. Mr. Fishbein was a staunch supporter of drugs as treatment for disease, but also was staunchly opposed to any natural, or alternative methods for treating disease.
In the early 50’s Senator Charles Tobey initiated an investigation into the cancer industry. A special investigator from the Justice Department was hired to run the investigation. This investigator, Attorney Ben Fitzgerald, submitted a report found in the Congressional Record which, in part, states, “Accordingly, we should determine whether existing agencies, both public and private, are engaged in and have pursued a policy of harassment, ridicule, slander and libelous attacks on others sincerely engaged in stamping out this curse of mankind. Have medical associations, through their officers, agents, servants and employees engaged in this practice? My investigation to date should convince this Committee that a conspiracy does exist to stop the free flow and use of drugs in interstate commerce which allegedly (have) solid therapeutic value. Public and private funds have been thrown around like confetti at a country fair to close up and destroy clinics, hospitals, and scientific research laboratories which do not conform to the viewpoint of medical associations.”
Years later, on February of 1973, two former chairmen and a vied chairman of the AMS’s Council on Drugs testified to Congress. They said the AMA was “…a captive of and beholden to the pharmaceutical industry.”
This is not just a problem at the federal level, this corruption and influence is found at the state levels as well with my own state of California being affected as well. According to an article in the San Diego Union, published in 1987, the CMA, or the California Medical Association, was the largest cash contributor to the various state legislators for the previous five years. During that time not one bill out of 155 that the CMA opposed was ever passed into law.
These agencies do not act for the benefit of the patients as they have proven to act to silence any and all alternative methods of treating disease. I don’t necessarily blame the doctors because they are simply not taught that there are alternative methods to treating disease in medical school. But I do blame them for having a closed mind when presented with proof that alternative methods do exist. Unfortunately these medical associations wield great power and can, and will, revoke a doctors license if he strays from the commonly accepted mode of treatment for disease, i.e. FDA approved drugs.
But what is a drug? According to Section the U.S. Code, 21U.S.C. 321 Section 201, a drug is defined as, “The term “drug” means (A) articles recognized in the official United States Pharmacopoeia, official Homoeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the United States, or official National Formulary, or any supplement to any of them; and (B) articles intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease in man or other animals.”
However, the very same section goes on to say, “A food or dietary supplement for which a claim, subject to sections 403(r)(1)(B) and 403(r)(3) or sections 403(r)(1)(B) and 403(r)(5)(D), is made in accordance with the requirements of section 403(r) is not a drug solely because the label or the labeling contains such a claim. A food, dietary ingredient, or dietary supplement for which a truthful and not misleading statement is made in accordance with section 403(r)(6) is not a drug under clause (C) solely because the label or the labeling contains such a statement.”
Yet the Food and Drug Administration has repeatedly stated that ONLY drugs can cure disease and that anyone who makes a claim that their products, however naturally they are produced, can provide health benefits will find themselves under attack for making such statements.
In 2012 the FDA went after Diamond Foods because of their claim that the omega-3 fatty acids found in walnuts had been shown to have certain health benefits, including reduced risk of heart disease and certain types of cancer. In their letter to Diamond Foods, the FDA clearly stated, “that your product bears health claims that are not authorized by the FDA.”
It did not matter to the FDA that the US National Library of Medicine’s database has no less than 35 peer-reviewed articles supporting the very same claims made by Diamond Foods.
Yet how many foods do we see that are pure garbage for our system which are labeled ‘heart healthy’ or some other such nonsense? Why doesn’t the FDA go after them as well? I’ll tell you why, because the FDA does not care if the manufacturer of a product makes false claims, they only care about those who make claims that are truthful in nature because if the truth came out that we could cure disease by eating properly, then the drug companies would go out of business, and the drug companies are major contributors to both elected officials and to the FDA.
It is absolutely mind boggling to see how much money the pharmaceutical industry spends on lobbying for their products approval. In 2012 it was close to $250 million! For instance Pfizer paid $6.8 million for lobbying purposes, Merck & Co, spent $5.2 million, Johnson & Johnson spent $4.5 million and Bayer spent nearly $4.1 million.
That’s a lot of cash to spend on lobbying, so what does it get them? Well last year Pfizer reported profits exceeding $67 million, Merck made $48 million, Johnson & Johnson made $65 million, so yeah, they got their money’s worth.
The treatment of disease is highly lucrative so it would bode ill for the pharmaceutical industry if the American people were to find that they could regain their health by eating properly. And nowhere is this more evident than in the ‘normal’ course of treatment for cancer patients. I don’t know if this is typical, but the cost for my wife’s mastectomy, and this is just the oncologist’s portion, was $60,000. Then there was the cost of the hospital stay, the anesthesiologist, the various lab tests she had to undergo. And then there is the treatment AFTERWARDS. I’ve heard that chemotherapy costs upwards of $8,000 per session, with numerous sessions required for the doctors to be able to claim that you are ‘cancer free’. That’s a lot of money the entire medical and pharmaceutical industry could lose if the people suddenly started eating their way to good health.
Yet how many people suffer the agony of these chemicals or radiation treatments because of their trust in their doctors when the truth is that they are simply treating a symptom, and not the underlying cause of the disease?
Yet are these treatments even effective of ‘curing’ cancer? Dr. Alan Levin, in an article found on Natural News stated, “Most cancer patients in this country die of chemotherapy… Chemotherapy does not eliminate breast, colon or lung cancers. This fact has been documented for over a decade. Yet doctors still use chemotherapy for these tumors… Women with breast cancer are likely to die faster with chemo than without it.”
In Australia, the Department of Radiation Oncology reported that the overall contribution of curative and adjuvant cyotoxic chemotherapy to 5-year survival rates in adults was estimated to be 2.3% in Australia, and 2.1% in America. That is 2 out of 100 people cured of cancer by chemotherapy, but this is STILL the best they have to offer?
If that isn’t enough to piss you off, then try this, ” In 1990, the highly respected German epidemiologist, Dr. Ulrich Abel from the Tumor Clinic of the University of Heidelberg, conducted the most comprehensive investigation of every major clinical study on chemotherapy drugs ever done. Abel contacted 350 medical centers and asked them to send him anything they had ever published on chemotherapy. He also reviewed and analyzed thousands of scientific articles published in the most prestigious medical journals. It took Abel several years to collect and evaluate the data. Abel’s epidemiological study, which was published on August 10, 1991 in The Lancet, should have alerted every doctor and cancer patient about the risks of one of the most common treatments used for cancer and other diseases. In his paper, Abel came to the conclusion that the overall success rate of chemotherapy was “appalling.” According to this report, there was no scientific evidence available in any existing study to show that chemotherapy can “extend in any appreciable way the lives of patients suffering from the most common organic cancers.”
Yet to halt the use of chemotherapy as treatment would cause fortunes to be lost by doctors and drug companies alike. According to the American Medical Associations own journal, the average earnings for an oncologist were $253,000, with nearly 75% of that coming from chemotherapy treatments.
But that’s not all. It seems that not only are doctors and scientists not curing cancer, it may be that some of the tests they recommend may actually be CAUSING cancer. When a woman goes in for a mammogram she is submitted to ionizing radiation. Dr. John Gofman, an expert on the health effects of this particular form of radiation has stated that 75% of breast cancer could be prevented by eliminating, or reducing your exposure to this form of radiation.
Since the advent of mammography as a tool in detecting cancer the incidence of breast cancer has gone up 328%. Sure some of that can be attributed to the fact that more women are being detected, but it is highly unlikely that the numbers would go up that much just by early detection.
Not only that, according to Dr. Gofman’s report, “In addition to harmful radiation, mammography may also help spread existing cancer cells due to the considerable pressure placed on the woman’s breast during the procedure. According to some health practitioners, this compression could cause existing cancer cells to metastasize from the breast tissue.”
The sad truth is stated succinctly by Dr. Vernon Coleman, “Too many modern doctors neither cure nor care…The savage truth is that most medical research is organized, paid for, commissioned, or subsidized by the drug industry (and the food, tobacco, and alcohol industries). This type of research is designed; quite simply, to find evidence showing a new product is of commercial value. The companies that commission this research are not terribly bothered about evidence; what they are looking for are conclusions that will enable them to sell their product. Drug company sponsored research has done more to get good reviews that to find out the truth.”
What I’m trying to get at is that people need to take control of their own health. Stop trusting doctors implicitly when it comes to YOUR health and well being. You can take control by eating the proper foods and by keeping your body in shape by exercising. I’m not saying you won’t get sick if you do these things, but I am saying that you can avoid becoming sick to a certain extent if you eat properly.
Two quotes to leave you with before I finish. The noted French philosopher Voltaire once said that “The art of medicine consists of amusing the patient while nature cures the disease.” And Ben Franklin stated it more simply by saying, “God heals and the doctor takes the fee.”
As I said, I don’t believe God would have put us here on this Earth without providing us the means to live a long healthy life. The further we get from eating naturally the more chances we take of finding ourselves sick from some disease that, in all likelihood, could have been prevented.
But then again this is just one more thing that people do not want to accept responsibility for. They would rather eat what they please, regardless of whether it is good for them or not, and then let the doctors attempt to fix the damage that we have done to our bodies.
So as long as we continue to abuse our bodies with these unhealthy diets we eat then the drug companies will be more than willing to reap fortunes from us and causing untold other side effects from their toxic concoctions.
Your call people…
November 24, 2013
Neal Ross: Student of history, politics, patriot and staunch supporter of the 2nd Amendment. Send all comments to: [email protected]. Check out Neal’s books at: http://thebookshelf.us
If you liked Neal’s latest column, maybe you’ll like his latest booklet: The Civil War: (The Truth You Have Not Been Told) AND don’t forget to pick up your copy of ROSS: Unmasked