HONEST MEDICINE: My Dream for the Future

International Low Dose Naltrexone Awareness Week: October 19-25th, 2009

an old drug
a controversial treatment
successful across a range of diseases linked
by immune system dysfunction
BUT
 YOU won't hear of it, and YOU won't be offered it

 

On October 19th, patients, physicians and researchers alike will convene at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD, for the Fifth Annual Conference on Low Dose Naltrexone.

  October 19th will also kick off the First International LDN Awareness Week – a concerted push to get the word out through the media, about thousands of patients with autoimmune diseases who are benefitting from the off-label use of one inexpensive generic drug protocol, low dose naltrexone (commonly referred to as LDN).
 
  It is estimated that thousands of patients worldwide are now enjoying improved health due to LDN. Most learn about it through a combination of word of mouth, success stories, internet research, online forums, and an ever-growing number of doctors who are prescribing it for their patients with autoimmune diseases.

The LDN protocol employs approximately 1/10 the dose of naltrexone, a drug that was approved in 1984 by the FDA to treat alcoholism and drug addiction. Today, thanks to the work of patient advocates, dedicated physicians and researchers, thousands of patients are taking LDN to successfully halt the progression of diseases that are compromised by an impaired immune system, such as Multiple Sclerosis, HIV, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Crohn’s Disease, Lupus and Fibromyalgia.
 
Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) is literally changing their lives.

“Before I started taking LDN in 2003, I was an invalid,” says Linda Elsegood, one of the founders of the LDN Research Trust, a non-profit charity in England, which was formed in 2004 to raise both awareness of and research for LDN. “I had just about every symptom of Multiple Sclerosis that a person

The Crestor Study: A Humorous Addendum

While most of the news stories following the release of the JUPITER study were serious –- some for and others against –- a few people found considerable humor in the study’s conclusion that many more people might benefit from taking statins, and in particular, Crestor. (See “Statins (Crestor) for Everyone? Or Could Diet and Nutritional Supplements Do the Job Better?")

Some of the people who added to the discussion with HUMOR:

1)    “Cheating Death" --  Stephen Colbert

A very funny video covering several medical stories –- including the JUPITER/Crestor study -– with great wit. Colbert calls the study “a great breakthrough in the battle to find things prescribe to people who don’t need them.” His response to a doctor, critical of the study, who advises “a cautious approach” to prescribing statins preventatively: “Someone hasn’t gotten enough free Crestor pens!” And Colbert says that the cost of prescribing Crestor ($100 a month) is a “small price to pay to not have the heart attack that there’s no way of knowing if you would have had.” A delightful spoof.

2) The Happy Hospitalist gives a solution, as well -- part of which is:

I have a solution:

•    All Americans will now get Crestor to reduce their CRP to reduce their chances of developing heart disease.
•    All Americans Will now get lisinopril to prevent the proteinuria they will get from their diabetes they get from Crestor
•    All Americans will now take metformin to treat the diabetes they developed while taking Crestor

Statins (Crestor) for Everyone? Or Could Diet and Nutritional Supplements Do the Job Better?

The results of a recent study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, may well pave the way for almost all Americans to be taking pharmaceuticals.

In the words of one news report, The JUPITER study (“Justification for the Use of Statins in Primary Prevention: an Intervention Trial Evaluating Rosuvastatin”) concluded that there is “powerful evidence that seemingly healthy people having what are considered safe cholesterol levels and no apparent risk for heart disease could lower their chances of having a heart attack or stroke or dying from any cause by taking a widely prescribed cholesterol medication—Crestor.”

(Emphasis is mine.)

The JUPITER study was conducted by Paul Ridker, MD, of Harvard and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. Dr. Ridker has been a longtime pioneer of the theory that elevated levels of C-Reactive Protein, a substance in the blood that signals inflammation, is an important predictor of heart disease.

Of the results of this study, Dr. Ridker noted: “The potential public health benefits are huge. It really changes the way we have to think about prevention of heart attack and stroke.” I agree. But I don’t agree with Dr. Ridker that putting more people on statins would necessarily be a good thing.

The JUPITER study, I might add, was sponsored by AstraZeneca, the manufacturer of Crestor.

SiCKO “Hitman” Shares Insurance Industry Secrets With Honest Medicine

Everyone who’s seen SiCKO will surely remember insurance company “hitman,” Lee Einer. Lee is the person whose job it was to keep the insurance company from paying any large bill -- no matter what he had to do. In his “hitman” role, Lee was directed to find ANY loophole -- one slip-up on an application, or a pre-existing condition, anything -- so that the insurance company could cancel the policy or jack the rates so high that the average person wouldn't be able to pay them. Lee’s most memorable (and most-quoted) line in SiCKO: “You’re not slipping through the cracks. Somebody made that crack and swept you towards it. And the intent is to maximize profits.”

Lee worked in the healthcare industry from 1984 to 2004. The time he spent there still stays with him.

In my HonestMedicine review of SiCKO, I quoted Lee. Imagine my surprise when I received an email with the subject line, “I’m with you.” Lee had found my review and liked it!

So began a back-and-forth correspondence that resulted in a wonderful new friendship, and this enlightening, information-filled audio interview.

Below, you will also find "show notes," where I give a sense of the content of this interview.

DOWNLOAD LEE'S AUDIO INTERVIEW HERE.

INTERVIEW SHOW NOTES:

0:00 to 2:00 – Introduction. Lee’s background, from his days working in the insurance and healthcare industry, up to the present. He is now Features Editor of his local newspaper in Las Vegas, New Mexico, as well as the creator of some really beautiful jewelry.

2:00 to 7:00 – Lee describes our healthcare as a “labyrinthine,” for-profit system, where the patient is the biggest loser -- “like a piece of meat in the middle of a sandwich, with the insurance company and the healthcare provider squeezing him.” Lee talks about how, when an insurance company denies a claim, the healthcare provider invariably opts to go after the patient for the money, rather than battling the far-richer insurance company! Lee also worked for healthcare providers, and in that capacity, challenged insurance company denials, and got lots of insurance companies to pay. So he knows it can be done – if the providers would only try. (HINT: It’s a much less complicated process to go after the patient for the money!)

7:00 to 7:30 – Lee talks about the common practice healthcare providers (especially hospitals) use of putting liens on patients’ houses.

7:30 to 8:30 – Examples from SiCKO of several people with insurance, who were either denied treatment, or who got treatment, but still ended up owing huge bills, leading (in some cases) to bankruptcy. Examples: 18-month old Mychelle Williams, who was denied care and died, because the hospital the ambulance took her to was an out-of-network, non-Kaiser hospital. Also, the “fully insured,” middle-aged couple, Larry and Donna Smith, who were forced into bankruptcy because of large co-pays and deductibles. According to Lee, the main point here is that for-profit insurance companies will do everything they can to get out of paying large bills.

8:30 to 11:00 – Lee discusses the practice by which some CEOs and their top officers often get far better care and better insurance coverage from ostensibly the same plans as their employees. Also, how employer-funded (self-funded) plans are not true insurance plans; and how, with these self-funded plans, it’s not uncommon for there to be a separate set of secret (unwritten) instructions for the CEO and certain top management executives. Lee knows about these plans because he administered some of them. He was told that, if it’s for an employee, you pay by the book. But if it’s the company owner, or a certain officer, everything is to be paid.

11:00 to 13:00 – What shocked Lee the most was the degree to which denial of services is an organized affair, and the degree of effort that is expended to sink certain claims. He tells of one instance, when he was working as a medical investigator, when he was presented with a file of a patient who had just been in an auto accident. Told that the bill would most probably top $300,000, Lee was ordered to find any reason for the insurance company to DENY the claims. He was even authorized to HIRE A PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR, if he needed to. Instead, Lee resigned and never worked for an insurance company again.

13:00 to 16:00 – Pre-Existing Conditions and Other Misconceptions. Includes a discussion of a child with a pre-existing sinus condition, whose family was denied coverage for EVERY complication that resulted from the (uncovered) sinus surgery that failed.

16:00 to 17:30 – The Differences Between a Socialized Payer System and Socialized Medicine. Also, how confusing the multi-payer American healthcare system has become as a result of the many different kinds of policies and coverage patients have. In most cases, each healthcare provider has to hire an entire staff to handle all the details of the many insurance plans patients have, as well as to track receivables, and follow up on unpaid claims, etc. Lee says: “The paperwork burden is preposterous!”

17:30 to 20:00 – Lee discusses possible reasons why the AMA is so against a single payer system. He points out that SiCKO showed that many of our other services are government-run, including the fire and police departments and the military. So why not healthcare?

20:00 to 21:00 – The Veterans Administration vs. Medicare. While both are government-sponsored programs, Lee points out that there are many problems with the VA, most especially the fact that it is severely under-funded. The Medicare system is better: You can go to the doctor you want to go to, and they get reimbursed by Medicare.

21:00 to 22:00 – A discussion of why healthcare providers would find a Medicare-like system easier to deal with than what we have now: 1 set of rules, 1 phone number to call, 1 appeals process. Healthcare providers wouldn't need a whole staff (like they do now) to deal with this complicated mess.

22:00 to 27:00 – Insurance Scams and Rip-Offs – An in-depth discussion about the self-employed person’s so-called “insurance policy.” According to Lee, individual policies are the “bottom of the barrel” in the insurance industry, because they can’t really be true insurance. Why not? The concept of health insurance relies on SHARED RISK. Lee clearly explains this concept and why it works – if there is a large enough pool of people in the insurance plan. It’s totally different with self-employed policies, where there is NO shared risk, so the likelihood of these policies actually coming through for you if you become sick is slim. If fact, in order for these policies to be profitable for the insurance company, they almost HAVE to be a gyp, because you don’t have a pool for sharing the risk. If the insurance company is going to make money from you, the premiums you pay in MUST outstrip the amount they pay out for you.

27:00 to 28:00 – Lee discusses how this problem of coverage for the self-employed person is one of the major factors discouraging entrepreneurship in America, because people are afraid of leaving jobs they hate because they’ll lose insurance coverage.

28:00 to 32:00 – Fraud that healthcare providers perpetrate. Examples of some of the more common types of healthcare fraud: (1) upcoding, which occurs most often with equipment providers and doctors’ offices, and (2) unbundling, which occurs very commonly with surgeries and medical supply kits. One example of a possible surgery that is “unbundled” is given.

32:00 to 37:00 – Lee Becomes a Whistle Blower. Lee describes the situations where this happened, and why he felt compelled to report these companies he was working for. He tells about the Qui Tam provision of the Small Claims Statute, the statute under which Lee sued these companies on behalf of the Federal Treasury. Also, exactly how this provision works.

37:00 to 38:00 – How Lee still feels terrible about having worked in the insurance industry. In his opinion, if you're working for an insurance company, you're generally assisting the company in denying payment for things you know people need. He believes that, unfortunately, far too many people who work in the insurance industry do NOT feel at all badly about their behavior.

38:00 to 39:00 – Are Americans really more “me”-oriented than most? Also, a discussion of people who are willing to go public -- like Lee, Dr. Linda Peeno, and Becky Melke (in SiCKO) -- and expose the terrible things they did while in the employ of insurance companies. Lee feels that only 1 in 100 (or even 1 in 1000) people working for insurance companies feel enough concern to go public.

39:00 to 43:00 – Healthcare Waste, which Lee thinks results, in large part, from a for-profit mentality on the part of providers that emphasizes providing services for which you know you’ll get paid, rather than services a patient needs. Lee gives examples of healthcare products being provided to patients who don’t need them, because the provider knows it will get paid. Also, hospital waste, and how he successfully fought this practice when he worked for an insurance company.

43:00 to 46:30: Why we have to act like cops -- because these fraudulent practices are so rampant within our for-profit healthcare system. He thinks the government would do a better job of patrolling this healthcare fraud than is being done now. I ask Lee if it is possible that many healthcare providers don’t want a single payer system because they know that their fraud will be caught more readily.

46:30 to 49:00 – Ways the public can work to help get universal healthcare passed.

IMPORTANT POSTSCRIPT #1:

After this interview with Lee was recorded, I received two emails from people who work with Michael Moore's production company: Amy Cooke and Anna McHugh. Amy asked if I knew of any stories about people who are organizing "SiCKO Events" in their own communities, and Anna wrote to tell me about the "SiCKO Health Care Card," which Michael wants people to carry with them just in case their insurance company denies them coverage -- at which point they can whip out their SiCKO card and say that it guarantees them "coverage" by Michael!

Both of these women are working with Michael Moore to do what they can to help transform the movie into a movement -- so that universal healthcare will become a reality.

So, please feel free to download the "SiCKO Health Care Card," and to share your stories of SiCKO Events you are holding in your community, in the comments section below.

For some ideas from Michael Moore, check out this link. Thanks very much.

IMPORTANT POSTSCRIPT #2:

At the end of my interview with Lee Einer, I mentioned a book by Jamie Court about the insurance industry, but had forgotten the title. I promised to post a link to it in these show notes. The book is "Making a Killing: HMOs and the Threat to Your Health." It is printed -- I believe, in its entirety -- online. It's a great read! Author/activist Jamie Court is President of The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, www.consumerwatchdog.org, and author of another book, “Corporateering: How Corporate Power Steals Your Personal Freedom – and What You Can Do About It,” for which Michael Moore wrote the introduction.

 

 

 
 

Zyprexa Sales Rep -- YouTube Video

I first became aware of this fascinating youtube video, "Zyprexa Sales Rep," thanks to an email from the indefatigable Vera Sharav, whose organization, Alliance for Human Research Protection, has both a website and a blog, dedicated to making sure that human research subjects are treated ethically, and that the risks they are subjected to are minimized. About this Zyprexa video, Ms. Sharav wrote: “On December 18, 2006, when the second front page news report about Eli Lilly's concealed documents ran in The New York Times, "Zyprexa Sales Rep" was posted on YouTube by a group of physicians, PharmedOut.

PharmedOut, the group that posted the video, is dedicated to making the public aware of how pharmaceutical companies influence which medications doctors prescribe. Since so much of what physicians learn about medications comes from the pharmaceutical companies themselves, both through their “educational programs” and their company sales reps, PharmedOut aims to “increase access to unbiased information about drugs, and to encourage physicians to choose pharma-free CME [Continuing Medical Education.]” It is an organization worth learning about.

This youtube video is fascinating. In it, former Eli Lilly drug rep, Shahram Ahari, who worked for the company until 2000, tells how he and the other drug reps were instructed by their employer to downplay the side effects of the antipsychotic drug, Zyprexa. The side effects -- which include quick weight gain, leading to obesity and associated diabetes -- were serious and many psychiatrists and patients were worried. When these psychiatrists shared their concerns with Ahari and the other reps, they were told to downplay the side effects of the drug, while focusing on its efficacy. One recommendation was to tell patients to drink a glass of water before and during each meal so that their stomachs would expand and they wouldn't be as hungry! The idea was to stress to doctors that keeping their patients' symptoms (of psychosis) under control was more important than staying thin.

The reps were also taught how to manipulate statistics in a way that was favorable to their drug. One of my favorite quotes in this video comes from Ahari’s statistics professor: “Statistics are like prisoners. Torture them long enough and they’ll tell you whatever you want to hear.” Ahari believes that Eli Lilly did a cost benefit analysis, and decided to hold off admitting the truth about Zyprexa, so that they could earn lots of money in the meantime, before the repercussions finally surfaced.

Dr. James Belanger: The Naturopathic Treatment of Cancer

In this extremely exciting and informative interview, Julia Schopick talks with Naturopathic Physician, Dr. James Belanger, co-founder of the Lexington Natural Health Center in Lexington, MA about his innovative work with cancer patients. Dr. Belanger performs comprehensive blood tests, which give him vital information about the state of his patients’ immune systems and cancer growth factors. Based on the results of these tests, he treats them with natural medicines. His results have been stunning, and Dr. Belanger’s work is known throughout the country.

To listen to this interview, please click on the link directly below:

Click here to download:

SHOW NOTES: The numbers on the left refer to minutes. So “0:00 to 3:22” means that this segment occurs for 3.22 minutes, from the beginning of the mp3.

0:00 to 3:22 – introduction of Dr. Belanger.

3:22 to 7:53 – Dr. Belanger defines naturopathic medicine, and how it differs from, and can work in conjunction with, conventional medicine. He also talks about the training that is necessary to become a naturopathic physician, his own naturopathic education, including the courses he took. He answers the question: “When you should consider going to a naturopathic physician?”

7:53 to 13:00 – Dr. Belanger tells about his own experience when he was diagnosed with cancer as a college student, and how this influenced his already serious interest in becoming a doctor to (among others) cancer patients.

13:20 to 20:00 --  A very clear explanation of Dr. Belanger’s scientific approach to treating cancer by testing a patient’s blood to check the status of the immune system and cancer growth factors; then giving natural products based on the research; followed by more testing to make sure the products are working. Also discussed: the difference between the various blood cells that affect immunity and how labs check the status of these cells.

20:00 to 21:50 – the office trial Dr. Belanger conducted to find out how natural killer cell activity was affected by 4 supplements that are often used by natural doctors. He found that three out of the four supplements -- all advertised as natural killer cell activators -- did not activate the killer cells at all. Only one of the supplements, AHCC, did its job as advertised. But even that one supplement doesn't always work, so patients shouldn't take supplements based on their advertisements.

21:50 to 25:50 – Dr. Belanger’s research/testing approach and how it has worked to help patients keep their cancers from coming back. More on the immune system, and how the different kinds of cells -- T helper cells, killer cells (killer T cells and natural killer cells) -- play their own unique roles in the functioning of the immune system. Each kind of cell can be scientifically checked to see which are – and are not – working the way they should.

25:50 to 27:00 – The importance of treatment during remission, and why this may be the most important time to concentrate on keeping the immune system working. (Unfortunately, it is usually the time that most doctors adopt a “wait and see” attitude.)

27:00 to 29:00 – why oncologists believe that immune therapy doesn't work, and why Dr. Belanger feels that they’re wrong. He points out that most of the drugs that are being used for immune therapy just target one component of the immune system. For instance, interleukin 2 just affects killer cells. But suppose the problem is lymphocytes? Unfortunately, these doctors are giving Interleukin 2, hoping it will work on all aspects of the immune system and it just won’t. That’s why conventional immune therapies often don’t work.

29:00 to 33:00 – How chemotherapies affect the immune system. The interaction between herbs and chemo, and the fact that oncologists are most often wrong when they tell their patients not to take herbs during chemo. The truth is that many – but not all -- herbs actually help the chemo do its job better, and some herbs can actually make a minimally effective chemo become maximally effective! But, if you are going to take herbs when you are undergoing chemo, you MUST do it under the guidance of a practitioner who really KNOWS what he or she is doing. Unfortunately, as a rule, oncologists simply do not know about herbs.

33:00 to 35:40 – chemos work only on cells that are dividing, but the majority of cancer cells are dormant much of the time. A study done in England in the late 1990s showed that the natural substance, arginine, can help cancer cells to go into a dividing state so that the chemo will work better. Dr. Belanger uses arginine very effectively with some patients.

35:40 to 36:00 – Dr. Belanger does not use the word “cure” to describe his treatments. The idea is to help cancer patients to live longer until real cures come along.

36:00 to 38:00 – How his patients’ oncologists react to Dr. Belanger’s work. Although he communicates with them – sends them letters and all the studies – most of these oncologists don’t seem very interested in these natural treatments. Those oncologists who are interested just tell their patients: “You’re doing great! Stay on those things!” But they hardly ever ask what “those things” actually are!

38:00 to 42:00 – Cancer growth factors, such as VEGF, IGF, etc. and angiogenesis. How these growth factors can also be measured by lab tests and then lowered through the use of natural supplements. IP6 is one natural substance that has been found to work in an animal study – but there was no study on how, or if, it works in people. Dr. Belanger has been using it and has found that it often works dramatically to lower VEGF.

Different natural remedies work on different aspects of the immune system. For instance, he gives the herb, convolvulus, if lymphocytes are low; AHCC, to activate natural killer cells; IP6 and certain enzymes to lower cancer growth factors.

42:20 to 43:00 – keeping the costs of treatment down. Dr. Belanger tries very hard to get these laboratory tests to be covered by insurance for his patients. But, very important, if you do these tests, the patient will not be taking EVERY supplement that is SUPPOSED to work. He or she will be taking only supplements that are really working, so they are actually saving money.

43:00 to 44:25 – All of Dr. Belanger’s research has been done totally without funding. He would like to someday be able to set up a fund so that people will be able to use this approach, if they want to – even if they don’t have the money. Otherwise, all some people have available to them is conventional treatment and clinical trials, which are often very toxic, with lots of side effects.

44:25 to 48:00 – Oncologists usually warn people against using natural medicine, saying that there are dangerous side effects. This is mainly true when the natural medicines are mixed with chemo or seizure meds.

48:00 +  Providing the scientific data in natural medicine is the only way conventional doctors will be convinced of its efficacy. This is what Dr. Belanger is trying to do, even though it is very difficult to put natural medicine in a scientific format. The research model needs to be a holistic approach, which is not the case now.

Eight Important Online Audios and Videos

One of the real (unsung) gifts that computers and the Internet give us is the opportunity to watch and listen to important shows and presentations we might otherwise not be able to see and hear.

Following are just a few examples of some of my favorite online audio and video presentations that provide us with important information about the health care and pharmaceutical industries. Except for the two NPR “On Point” radio programs, it is highly doubtful that these audios and videos would have ever been aired by mainstream media. Thank goodness for the Internet!

(1) David Healy, MD’s Video Presentation: “How Pharmaceutical Companies Mold Our Perceptions of Mental Illness." An excellent, thought-provoking video of psychiatrist David Healy, MD, author of the controversial book, “Let Them Eat Prozac,” speaking about “How Pharmaceutical Companies Mold our Perceptions of Mental Illness."  In this presentation, held at UCLA before a group of psychiatric professionals, Dr. Healy discusses how the pharmaceutical industry has influenced the prescribing habits of doctors, through their advertising and highly successful promotional efforts. This video shows Healy’s wit as its best: For instance, he talks about how, as a result of the industry's promotional efforts, “people see the problems that they have in terms that are ‘Upjohn friendly.’” A must-see.

(2) "On Point," the Boston PBS Show's segment, "The Price is Right?" A radio interview on university/industry financial ties. "On Point," the wonderful Boston public radio show, is fast becoming one of my favorites-- via the internet, of course. In this episode, from June 2003, host Tom Ashbrook includes among his guests former Harvard President Derek Bok, whose book, “Universities in the Marketplace: The Commercialization of Higher Education,” warned that financial ties between universities and industry undermine core academic values. This excellent program provides an in-depth look at this continuing problem, and certainly foreshadows the recent controversies of a similar nature.

(3) “Drug Industry Under the Microscope” -- NPR's “On Point” interview with Marcia Angell, MD. First aired in September, 2004, this excellent interview with Marcia Angell, MD (former editor of the “New England Journal of Medicine”) blows the cover of the pharmaceutical industry. Interviewer Tom Ashbrook, of Boston's PBS station, WBUR, asks incisive questions, and Dr. Angell's answers dispel several myths, including the oft-quoted myth that the pharmaceutical industry must charge high prices for its drugs in order to make up for the cost of doing research. Another topic: the way the pharmaceutical companies distort medical research by burying the negative trial results. Pharmaceutical representatives -- both pro and con -- are also interviewed on this show. A fascinating interview. (Dr. Angell's interview starts approximately 5 minutes into the show.)

(4) Autism One 2006 Conference on audio. Go to this site and scroll down to listen to the audios of many of the talks given at this Autism One Conference, featuring a variety of alternative treatments for AUTISM. Speakers include: Dr. Mayer Eisenstein -- “the Absence of Autism”;  Dr. Phillip DeMio -- “The Use of Transdermal DMSA Chelation for the Spectrum”;  Andrew Wakefield, MB, BS, FRCS, FRCPath –-"Intestinal Insights and Etiologic Challenges in Autism: Replication and Confirmation”; Dr. Dan Rossignol -–“Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy and Autism”; and others. (NOTE: Dr. Eisenstein's talk is "awesome"!)

(5) Harvard University’s Dr. John Abramson Talks to City Center. In this video, Dr. Abramson, author of the best-selling book, “Overdosed America,” delivers a stunning indictment of the pharmaceutical industry, and of the American Health System.

(6) A special “extra” to the film, “Big Bucks, Big Pharma,” this short video exposes the fact that pharmaceutical marketing campaigns are designed to “frighten the public and divert us from realizing that high drug prices are more about feeding multi-billion dollar industry profits, and supporting massive advertising and lobbying efforts, than they are about securing the invention of effective new drugs.” Among those on this short film: Marcia Angell, MD, former editor of the "New England Journal of Medicine"; Gene Carbona, former Merck sales representative; and Katharine Greider, journalist and author of “The Big Fix.”

(7) Cancer Conquest – DVD/video by Burton Goldberg - This short video promo describes a 2-hour information-dense documentary was produced by Burton Goldberg, well-known speaker and author of 18 books on alternative medicine. The video itself highlights the newest medical techniques being used in both the US and Germany (but mostly in Germany), that provide real hope for cancer patients -- even those in late stages of the disease. Among the innovative treatments profiled: (1) a blood test only done in Germany that will tell you which chemo or natural substance will work on your tumor (chemo only works 20% of the time); (2) a hospital in Germany that uses iron oxide put directly into the tumor to burn out only the cancer; and (3) a surgeon in Frankfort who places a catheter into the cancerous organ, in order to put chemo right into the organ. Much more. Fascinating.

(8) Former pharmaceutical sales representative Gwen Olsen speaks out about pharmaceutical marketing, and why she felt compelled to leave the field and turn to exposing its evils. After Ms. Olsen had a terrible reaction to taking Zoloft, her doctor insisted that it was impossible that she was having the reaction she WAS having because that reaction “was not in the package insert.” She was shocked. Then, he told her to double the dose! That made matters worse, but instead of helping her to get the drug out of her system, he immediately put her on Prozac, to which she had horrible reactions, as well. Her situation went from very bad to even worse until, in 2000, Olsen went into the natural healing industry, which she says led to her own personal healing. Now she is committed to exposing Big Pharma and what she feels is their mission to label as many people as possible as needing drugs. Her book: “Confessions of an RX Drug Pusher.”

July, 2007: HONEST MEDICINE'S 11 Featured Articles, Interviews, Audios and Videos

This month, HONEST MEDICINE is proud to feature eleven of its most read articles and most popular audio interviews:

1) Michael Moore's SiCKO: An Impassioned Review -- My take on Moore's brilliant new film. I hope SiCKO will mark the beginning of some really serious discussion on this important topic.

2) Obituary: Richard Neubauer, MD, Father of Hyperbaric Oxygen for the Brain, Dies at Age 83 --The death of Dr. Neubauer, a brilliant and compassionate medical pioneer, will be a huge loss for all who knew him, and many who didn't. Dr. Neubauer's obituary makes extremely interesting reading, which should come as no surprise, since his life was filled with love and good works.

3) Dr. Ronald Hoffman's wonderful WOR-AM Radio interviews are online -- You'll definitely want to listen to these online radio interviews conducted by HonestMedicine's next audio interviewee.

4) Trisha Torrey, Patient Advocate Extraordinaire -- You'll want to meet Trisha Torrey. A font of great information for every person who will ever have to deal with the healthcare system.

5) Important Articles That Expose Some of Big Pharma's Highly Questionable Practices -- Just a few of the practices these articles expose: oncologists being allowed to profit from the sale of chemotherapy drugs; pharmaceutical companies failing to reveal the results of studies when those results don't prove what the company set out to prove; not providing researchers with the raw data; and many more.

6) AUDIO INTERVIEW: Dr. James Belanger: The Naturopathic Treatment of Cancer -- In this audio interview, Dr. Belanger talks about his innovative work with cancer patients. He uses a combination of comprehensive blood tests (which give him vital information about the state of his patients’ immune systems and cancer growth factors) and natural medicines, which he prescribes, based on his findings from the blood tests. Dr. Belanger's results have been stunning and, because of this, his work is known throughout the country.

7) 11 Important Cancer Resources: Articles, Experts, Books, Audios. If you have cancer, or know someone who does, these are some often little-known, but very important resources.

8) The JAMA Controversy: An HONEST MEDICINE 3-Part Series -- These three articles discuss the fact that the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) published articles reporting on studies whose physician/authors did NOT report significant financial ties to pharmaceutical companies. Also included: lots of little known information about how JAMA publicizes many of its articles and studies.

9) 8 Important Online Audios and Videos -- I have collected these eight audios and videos from a variety of online sources -- most notably youtube, Google Video and National Public Radio (NPR). As I point out in my introduction to these audios and videos, because of their hard-hitting nature, it is highly doubtful that we would be able to listen to and watch them, WITHOUT THE INTERNET.

10) HONEST MEDICINE's First AUDIO INTERVIEW: Nutritionist Elizabeth Lipski, PhD -- Dr. Lipski talks about about how eating unhealthy foods has caused so many of our society's health problems, and how we can turn this around with simple, sensible food choices. Contains a fascinating discussion of the dangers of hospital food, and the latest information about the organic food industry.

11) Medicine in the "Good Old Days" -- This article features Dr. Lou Schopick, who practiced medicine from the 1940s to the 1970s. You'll be surprised to learn that he foresaw many of the problems that exist in our medical system today.

9 Important Articles That Expose Some of Big Pharma's Highly Questionable Practices

HONEST MEDICINE is constantly on the lookout for interesting articles about the Medical and Pharmaceutical Systems. This is the first in what promises to be an ongoing "Best of" Series. For LINKS to many other -- sometimes controversial -- articles, as well as to fascinating websites, book and magazine recommendations, and online audio and video programs, please see the LINKS on the left side of this website.

And if you find an article, website, book, audio or video you think I should know about, please contact me.

#1: Groups Question Doctors' Ties to Drug Firms: Federal cholesterol guidelines promoted by physicians paid by private companies prompt conflict concerns. Here, in this 2004 article, the Associated Press exposes the fact that several of the "famous doctors [who] advised the government recently on new cholesterol guidelines for the public" didn't reveal their financial ties to pharmaceutical companies: "Eight of the nine were making money from the very companies whose cholesterol-lowering drugs they were urging upon millions more Americans. Two own stock in them." And -- unfortunately -- there's much more. A fascinating article.

#2: Spin Doctored: How Drug Companies Keep Tabs on Physicians. Published by Slate.com, this article describes the pharmaceutical industry's "semi-secret weapon": Prescriber Reports, which are weekly lists of every prescription written by each of the 600,000 doctors in the United States. This article will tell you HOW the drug companies use these reports to their advantage (and in many cases, to our disadvantage).

#3: The FDA and Drug Safety: A Proposal for Sweeping Changes. This 2006 article was published in The Archives of Internal Medicine. Because the Archives is a by-subscription-only professional publication, whose articles are not open to the public, I am linking to it as it appeared on Vera Sharav's wonderful site, The Alliance for Human Research Protection.

#4: What Can We Learn from Medical Whistleblowers?: Their Experiences Paint a Troubling Picture of American Medicine's Ties With the Pharmaceutical Industry. This very important and disturbing article details "top secret" pharmaceutical company information that was revealed in a 2005 meeting in Washington, DC, where five pharmaceutical company "whistleblowers" were brought together to tell their stories and suggest ways to restore objectivity to medicine and medical research. Published by PLOS (Public Library of Science) Medicine, an outstanding peer-reviewed, open-access journal, which is definitely worth knowing about.

#5: Cancer Docs Profit From Chemotherapy Drugs. Situation Begs the Ethical Question: Are They Overprescribing? This September, 2006 MSNBC article exposes one of the Cancer Industry's "dirty little secrets": Cancer doctors are allowed to profit from the sale of chemotherapy drugs. One oncologist is quoted here as saying, "So the pressure is frankly on to make money by selling medications."

#6: Despite Vow, Drug Makers Still Withhold Data. This 2005 New York Times article points out that "when the drug industry came under fire last summer for failing to disclose poor results from studies of antidepressants, many major drug makers promised to provide more information about their research on new medicines. But nearly a year later, crucial facts about many clinical trials remain hidden, scientists independent of the company say." Alas.

#7: Rent-a-Researcher: Did a British University Sell Out to Procter & Gamble? This Slate.com article tells a shocking true story of scientific misconduct. Sheffield (England) University medical/pharmaceutical research scientist, Dr. Aubrey Blumsohn, was commissioned by Procter and Gamble to test their osteoporosis drug, Actonel. However, he says he was denied access to key data, and that P & G then proceeded to ghostwrite "his" analysis of it. When he complained, the company tried to silence him. He wouldn't be silenced, so he lost his job. Dr. Blumsohn has a very fine blog/website, The Scientific Misconduct Blog. It is one of my favorites.

#8: Is Academic Medicine for Sale? In this article, published in 2000 in the New England Journal of Medicine, Marcia Angell, MD, former editor of the publication, writes about the conflicts of interest that abound between the author/physicians who conduct pharmaceutical studies and the companies themselves. An excellent article. Four years later, Dr. Angell wrote the controversial book, The Truth About Drug Companies: How They Deceive Us and What to Do About It.

#9: Editorial: Missing Drug Data. This disturbing Washington Post editorial asks the questions: "Should pharmaceutical companies have to reveal the results of clinical trials they conduct on their drugs, even when the results show the drugs to be ineffective? That's the issue behind a discussion that has begun among the editors of the nation's medical journals. Concerned that drug companies may be sending them only partial results from their clinical trials, they now want to set up a national registry of clinical trials." This would be a wonderful first step.

Honest Medicine's Interview with Digestion Expert and Author, Nutritionist Elizabeth Lipski, PhD

In this very informative interview, Julia Schopick interviews well-known nutritionist and author, Dr. Elizabeth Lipski, about how eating unhealthy foods has caused so many of our society's health problems, and how we can turn this around with simple, sensible food choices.

To listen to this interview, please click on the link directly below:

Click here to download this episode

SHOW NOTES: The numbers on the left refer to minutes. So "0-2:00" means that this segment occurs for 2 minutes, from the beginning of the mp3.

0 – 2:00 – Introduction. Includes reference to Dr. Lipski’s podcasts, as well as her websites, Innovative Healing, and Access to Health Experts.

2:00 – 6:00 – a history of how our food has gradually lost its nutrients, and how this may be the cause of the upswing in several of our health problems. Includes a brief discussion of several of the so-called “advancements” in food production that have led, one by one, to much of our food being almost useless to us. Such “advancements” include hydrogenated fats (1920s); heavily processed food, such as Twinkies, TV Dinners, Wonder Bread (1950s); microwave oven (1970s); irradiated food (1980s); and genetically modified foods (1990s). Add to this the fact that the average person consumes 14-15 pounds of food additives per year, and takes in a huge amount of chemicals in cleaning products, bad air, etc, and we’ve got REAL TROUBLE. (IMPORTANT NOTE: Many of these additives and chemicals have been tested one by one, but never together.)

6:00 – 11:00 -- Autism in children

In this part of the interview Dr. Lipski discusses the many possible causes of the epidemic in autism in children -- including vaccinations, an inability of the body to detoxify, etc.

         LINKS:

• Dr. Lipski’s new book, “Digestive Wellness for Children: How to Strengthen the Immune System & Prevent Disease Through Healthy Digestion”
• Defeat Autism Now / Autism Research Institute
• Safe Minds
• New York Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney's recent proposed legislation aimed at solving the controversy about mercury and vaccines

11:00 – 13:50 – Digestion – how improving digestion leads to improved health.

13:50 – 15:25 -- "the system" -- why doctors don’t know more about nutrition; insurance doesn't cover nutritional consulting even though so many diseases are nutritional in origin; we don’t really have a “health care” system – it’s a “disease treatment” system.

15:25 – 28:00 -- Hospital Food -- Why is hospital food so unhealthy? Includes a discussion of “supplemental nutrition” protein drinks that conventional doctors recommend, including Boost, Ensure and Pediasure. A discussion of why these drinks, which are inferior to better-quality drinks that can be found in health food stores, are so routinely recommended by doctors and served to patients in hospitals. Includes a nutrient-by-nutrient comparison of 2 drinks: Boost, which doctors routinely prescribe, and Bananabolic, which primarily holistic doctors know about. Dr. Lipski analyzes and compares the ingredients, and the quality of the ingredients in the two drinks, one by one. Truly interesting.

28:00 – 29:00 – nutrigenomics, messages given to our bodies by real foods vs. “fake foods.”

30:00 – 33 – The good news: Some hospitals are starting to serve ORGANIC foods! (ARTICLE: Hospitals Finally Move Toward Organic Food)

33:00 – 41:00 – Organic Standards -- An excellent discussion of how the standards for organic foods are being lowered, as Organic Food becomes big business, and why some of the smaller farms -- which really do grow crops and raise animals in a healthy way -- often can’t afford to pay the money necessary for the “organic” label. Also discussed: why Dr. Lipski recommends supporting local farms, even if they do not have the label of “organic.” Includes a discussion of a letter Dr. Lipski wrote to the CEO of WalMart, explaining why it may not be feasible to sell truly organic food, while only increasing the cost to the public by 10%.

41:00 – 42:00 – sign off – websites, information about Dr. Lipski’s websites and phone number.

42:00 – 43:00 – Julia Schopick tells about Dr. Lipski’s September 20th teleseminar through her website, Access to Health Experts, an interview with Ralph Moss, PhD, entitled “Natural Approaches to Fighting Cancer.”

          LINK:

• Dr. Ralph Moss's website