The Struggle for Freedom of Medical Choice Is the Political Issue of the Decade
The New England Journal of Medicine Reports—
War on Cancer Is a Failure
Most readers of the New England Journal of Medicine were either stunned or outraged to read in that magazine's own pages of the "qualified failure" of conventional medicine's 27-year war on cancer.
Despite $30 billion spent on research and treatments since 1970, cancer remains "undefeated," with a death rate not lower but 6% higher in 1997 than 1970, stated John C. Bailar III, M.D., Ph.D., and Heather L. Gornik, M.H.S., both of the Department of Health Studies at the University of Chicago in Illinois. "The war against cancer is far from over," stated Dr. Bailar. "The effect of new treatments for cancer on mortality has been largely disappointing.
Dr. Bailar expanded his criticism of conventional cancer treatments in a speech before the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Denver, Colorado. "I can't say that [the money spent on new treatments is] definitely wasted, but it certainly hasn't paid off. At this point, I can't see whether it will ever pay off. We have to give very serious thoughts to alternatives." In his Journal comments, Dr. Bailar concluded that the most promising approach to treating cancer would be an emphasis on prevention and a shift in the focus of research and its funding.
In the Digest's view, Dr. Bailar's analysis is correct and his prevention emphasis is prudent, but the policy changes need to be taken much further.
First, given the documented failure of conventional cancer treatments, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and state medical boards have no justification in harassing, marginalizing, deriding, outlawing, or jailing qualified health-care professionals who provide alternative cancer treatment.
Second, the National Cancer Institute, Office of Alternative Medicine, FDA, American Medical Association, and other medical groups must fulfill their ethical responsibility to safeguard public health by actually studying the now copious data in support of the efficacy of alternative cancer treatments. Professional myopia in support of market dominance by an ineffectual medical modality will no longer be tolerated by informed cancer patients. The days of the therapeutically corrupt triumvirate of chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery are over, and need now to be publicly repudiated.
Who Is the Typical Whole Foods & Supplements Customer?
A new survey by the trade journal Whole Foods shows that the typical customer for natural products and supplements is a woman (84%), 47 years old equally likely to be single or married but, in 80% of cases, without any young children living at home; 60% have a cat or dog.
These women tend to be highly educated, with 37% having completed some college and 31% having graduated; 39% are professionals and only 22% are listed as "homemakers", while 38% have a gross family income exceeding $41,000. Regarding dietary preferences, 45% eat a "healthy standard American diet," 23.8% are vegetarian, 14.3% observe an "all natural" diet, 1% are macrobiotic, and 15.9% have no specified eating program.
Among supplements or natural products purchased in one year by the typical shopper: 63% of shoppers bought Echinacea; multiple vitamin/mineral, 58%; vitamin E and ginseng, 50%; vitamin C, 52%; garlic, 49% vitamin B complex and Ginkgo biloba, both 5%; calcium and goldenseal, both 44%; aromatherapy products, 43%; zinc, 41%; acidophilus, 39%.
In a separate survey, Whole Foods announced that 60% of dietary supplement retailers said their 1996 sales were higher than the previous year by an average of 17.7%.
Dietary supplements represented 46.3% of their sales for both were up by 18% in 1996 over 1995. Among the hot new supplements are glucosamine sulfate, while among new product groups, the fastest growing are arthritis and hormonal supplements, antioxidants, and minerals.
SOURCES—John C. Bailar III, M.D., Ph.D., and Heather L. Gornik, M.H.S., "Cancer Undefeated," the New England Journal of Medicine 336:22 (May 29, 1997), 1569-1574. Steve Sternberg, "Billion-Dollar 'War on Cancer' a Bust? USA Today (May 29, 1997.
Quackbusters' Conspiracy Unmasked—and Countered
Two of the leading groups dedicated to quashing
alternative medicine and citizens' medical rights in the U.S.—the American
Medical Association and the Federation of State Medical Boards—staged a
conference in Dallas, Texas, on June 26-27, 1997. The meeting was closed to the
public but program schedules were somehow leaked to outsiders.
The reactionary intentions of the hosts to ruin alternative medicine was veiled by the conference's bogus title, "Preventing Healthcare Fraud: Building Partnerships." The true goal was to design new ways ("partnerships") to make alternative medicine an outlawed, illicit modality and thus leave Americans with only one choice in medical treatment. These partnerships include members of the Federal Trade Commission, the National Association of Attorneys General, the National Institutes of Health, and the U.S. Postal Service.
Many of the primary participants had their travel costs to the conference paid by public monies. This means U.S. taxpayers at the state and federal level are involuntary co-financiers (along with the drug industry) of an organized attempt to deny them all medical rights, to undo lawfully elected legislation, and to drive alternative medicine out of the marketplace.
According to Candace Campbell, director of the American Preventive Medical Association in Great Falls, Virginia, the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) has proposed that conventional doctors query their patients about their use of alternative medicine, including getting the patient to name names. The doctors will then enter the alternative practitioner's name on a special list, presumably for later reprisals.
Campbell says that the National Council Against Health Fraud (one of the foremost of the front groups whose actual goal is to destroy alternative medicine) "places such physicians on its 'Ding-Dong List' and often initiates a campaign of harassment via insurance companies, state boards, hospital and HMO boards, and other agencies."
The conference targeted the eight states that currently have special laws allowing the practice of alternative medicine. Speakers included the usual roster of drug-industry sponsored attack dogs and so-called "quackbusters" whose "expertise" consists of passing themselves off as experts while studiously ignoring all the relevant medical data.
The FSMB has been strategizing against alternative medicine for at least the last several years. In April 1995, it formed the Special Committee on Health Care Fraud about which FSMB president Robert E. Porter, M.D., commented: "The need for this committee arose from the proliferation of unconventional and unproven medical practices and promotions in the United States, some of which may be questionable." Dr. Porter also used the words "unsafe," "worthless," and "deceptive" in describing the field of alternative therapies.
Dr. Porter further stated, according to a Citizens for Health news report, that FSMB planned to act contrary to various state legislation (and the will of the people) in seeking to undo existing State Medical Freedom Bills and to oppose initiatives for new ones currently in state legislatures. Their rationale was that these bills "could result in restricting state medical boards' ability to provide appropriate regulation of such practices."
The key word here is "appropriate" which should be read as a code word for using political office to drive all economic competition to conventional medicine out of the market. The real health fraud, as the discerning will appreciate, is the way quackbuster organizations and their political allies veil their true intention, not to protect public health, but to deny the public free choice in medical care.
"The FMSB has declared war on every physician in America who is using, or even contemplating using, alternative therapies in the treatment of patients," says Michael S. Evers, activist with Project Cure and the Confederation of State Health Freedom Campaigns, both in Dallas, Texas.
Fortunately, the FSMB and co-conspirators failed in their attempt to keep their meeting a secret. Members of the Confederation of State Health Freedom Campaigns staged a counter-conference and rally on behalf of medical rights and alternative therapies at the same Dallas hotel as a way of focusing public attention on the quackbusters' plotting and as an intellectual antidote to their barren, negative thinking.
In a surprising move, members of both conferences met in a joint reception to share information in a reportedly "cordial" atmosphere. But don't be fooled by this display of openness. The quackbusters' conspiracy may be partially unmasked, but they still have the political allegiance of a large portion of the U.S. government.
Americans who want medical freedom and the right to choose alternative medicine will need to triple their vigilance and voice their outrage in preparation for the next round of opposition. As Michael Evers said recently, the Dallas FSMB meeting, along with its now public intentions, is "the best thing that could have happened for us right now because it will wake up those who have been saying that everything will work its way out if we just try to work within the system. I, for one, am not buying that line any more."
Health Freedom Progress in Colorado
The Colorado legislature set an important precedent for
the rest of the nation on March 9, 1997, when it approved a bill that allows
Colorado residents unrestricted access to mercury-free dentistry. The law also
supports consumers' rights to choose safe, effective alternatives to dangerous
conventional dental procedures such as mercury amalgams for cavities.
Previously, Colorado dentists—and dentists in many other states—have
been harassed and fined, and sometimes had their licenses revoked, merely for
advising patients of the health hazards of mercury amalgams.
The citizens of Colorado were also given a large measure of choice in health care with the passage of another bill on April 16, 1997. This law prevents the Colorado medical board from discriminating against or disciplining a health-care practitioner for recommending or using safe alternative methods. The bill also grants health-care consumers greater access to "nontraditional" therapies.
The Colorado bills are similar in nature to the Access to Medical Treatment acts now under consideration in the U.S. Senate (S-578) and House of Representatives (HR-746). Colorado joined the eight other states—Georgia became the ninth on April 22, 1997—that have passed similar provisions to ensure that citizens have a relative degree of freedom in choosing their health care.
Social Facts About Canadians Who Use Alternative
Medicine
Researchers now have a clear profile of the
typical Canadian user of alternative medicine, based on a 1995 survey of 300
patients in Toronto, Ontario, by Merrijoy Kelner, Ph.D., and Beverly Wellman,
M.Sc., of the University of Toronto. They polled the patients, all age 18 and
older, for their preferences in using family general practitioners (G.P.s),
chiropractors, acupuncturists, naturopaths, and practitioners of Reiki (an
energy therapy).
The study revealed that education level was a prime factor in determining a patient's choice of conventional versus alternative therapies. Of those consulting a G.P., 48% were high school graduates and an additional 40% had a college degree, while 58% of those seeing a chiropractor were college educated, 47% of those using acupuncture, 55% for naturopathy, and 65% for Reiki.
Another distinction exists in the area of employment. While only 27% of G.P. patients were working full-time and 33% were retired, the numbers ranged from 53% to 72% fully employed for the alternative therapies with only 5% to 10% in retirement. Yet another difference occurred in the area of spiritual belief. While 8% of G.P. patients professed that spirituality is important, for users of the alternative modalities the number ranged from 17% to 48%.
Income differences were also relevant as 26% of G.P. patients had incomes exceeding $65,000 (Canadian), but for those using alternative therapies the percentage ranged from 29% to 51%. Across the board, women, age 40 to 56, outnumbered men as patients. Among G.P. patients, 68% were women, age 56; for chiropractic, 58%, age 40; acupuncture, 70%, age 46; naturopathy, 85%, age 46; and Reiki, 85%, age 44.
Many of the users of alternative therapies consulted a G.P. and drew liberally upon an array of multiple alternative therapies. Patients in the acupuncture, naturopathy, and Reiki groups also consulted massage therapists, herbalists, homeopaths, yoga instructors, physiotherapists, meditation therapists, reflexologists, and psychologists. Reiki patients were the most "adventurous" and liberal in their choice of additional modalities.
Summarizing their results, Kelner and Wellman state: "People who use alternative care are more likely to be female, to have higher household incomes and education, and to consider spirituality an important factor in their lives. They are less likely to be in blue-collar occupations and to be religiously affiliated." Kelner and Wellman add that their findings are consistent with other studies showing that people using alternative medicine "earn higher incomes and are better educated" than patients who use conventional medicine.
SOURCE—Merrijoy Kelner, Ph.D., and Beverly Wellman, M.Sc., "Who Seeks Alternative Health Care? A Profile of the Users of Five Modes of Treatment," Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine 3:2 (1997), 127-140.
In England, 75% of Patients Use Alternative Medicine
According to a new report published in The Daily
Telegraph, based in London, an estimated 75% of people in Britain use
alternative medicine as a remedy for numerous ailments, including colds, back
pain, migraines, headaches, PMS, coughs, and insomnia.
The Telegraph also announced that the British market for herbs, homeopathy, and aromatherapy has doubled since 1992, with herbal medicines accounting for about 50% of the growth, homeopathic remedies for 28%, and aromatherapy oils for 19%, although this last category has grown by 470% since 1991. Over this same period, interest in homeopathy grew by 20%, herbal remedies by 13%.
The typical user of alternative medicine is a woman from a higher income family; women are less skeptical of alternative medicine's effectiveness (11%) compared to men (20%). The Telegraph further stated that 30% of adults said they had used or would use alternative medicines for back pain, 27% for migraines, and 26% for colds and flu.
SOURCE—Celia Hall, "Alternative Medicines on Increase," The Daily Telegraph (U.K.), March 6, 1997.
HMOs Are Warming to Alternative Medicine
Chiropractic, acupuncture, and massage therapy were rated
as the top alternative care therapies HMOs plan to introduce to consumers in the
next two years, according to a survey commissioned by Landmark Healthcare of
Sacramento, California.
The study polled medical directors of 156 health maintenance organizations (HMOs) in 13 states on the West Coast, in the Southwest, and on the northern East Coast. These states were selected because HMOs represent at least 10% of their insurance coverage and health care delivery.
The results indicate that the prospects for some modalities of alternative medicine being widely covered in U.S. HMOs is high. The results showed that 70% of respondents said there had been an increase in requests for coverage of alternative therapies, 38% said they thought offering prospective members alternative modalities would increase their enrollment, and 58% said they have plans in motion to offer alternative therapies in the next one to two years.
Among the modalities requested by members, 56% favored acupuncture, 45% wanted chiropractic, 25% massage therapy, and 22% acupressure and biofeedback. However, patient education about alternative medicine is needed, as 71% of the HMO respondents said their members are only "somewhat knowledgeable" and 24% are "not knowledgeable at all" regarding alternative therapies.
The writing is clearly on the wall that an increasing number of Americans want alternative medicine. "Integrating these therapies into benefit plans may be essential to HMOs that want to remain competitive, as indicated by the large number of respondents who said they plan to offer alternative therapies in the next few years," concluded the researchers for Landmark Healthcare.
SOURCE—"Health Maintenance Organizations and Alternative Medicine: A Closer Look" (1997). Summary available from Landmark Healthcare, 1750 Howe Avenue, Suite 400, Sacramento, CA 95825; tel: 800-638-4557 or 916-646-3477; fax: 916-929-8350.
50% of Portland Residents Use Alternative Medicine
A new survey of 113 patients of family practice physicians
in Portland, Oregon, shows that 50% use some form of alternative medicine.
Specifically, 21% use chiropractic, 16% massage, 15% herbs, 11% meditation, and
10% use homeopathy, 10% naturopathy, and 10% acupuncture. Of the 113 patients,
barely one half (53%) told their conventional doctors about their use of
alternative therapies, according to study director Nancy C. Elder of the
Department of Family Medicine at Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland.
SOURCE—Nancy C. Elder et al., "Use of Alternative Health Care by Family Practice Patients," Archives of Family Medicine 6:2 (March/April 1997), 181-184.