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By Bill Sardi
Two years ago this writer authored an e-book entitled The Collapse of
Conventional Medicine in the wake of reports which indicated estrogen
replacement therapy, arthroscopic knee surgery, prostate cancer surgery, bone
marrow transplantation and radical mastectomy for breast cancer were worthless
and possibly problematic treatments.
We are now witnessing another round of news reports centered on the failure of
prescription drugs. Anti-inflammatory drugs (Vioxx, Bextra, Celebrex) have
come into question with the realization they increase the risk of dying from
heart disease. To make matters worse, arthritic patients who experience pain
are likely to switch back to ibuprofen and aspirin, medicines that increase
the risk of gastrointestinal hemorrhage that kills an estimated 16,000 people
annually. Alternatives such as fish oil, curcumin from turmeric, oral
hyaluronic acid, SAMe, bromelain from pineapple, should be utilized as safer
alternatives, but are rarely prescribed by doctors.
Recent drug recalls and withdrawals are just
the tip of the iceberg. Another 181 drugs
need to be recalled says Public Citizen.
The unsafe drugs you are hearing about in news reports are just the tip of the
iceberg. Ralph Nader’s Public Citizen organization is calling for 181 drugs to
be removed from the marketplace because of a lack of safety or
ineffectiveness. The safety system for new drugs is flawed. An estimated
30,000-40,000 lives were lost before the FDA begrudgingly took action to
recall Vioxx. Britain recalled Rezulin, an anti-diabetic drug, in 1997 but it
took three years for it to be removed from the marketplace in the US. You and
your loved ones are at avoidable mortal risk when taking FDA approved drugs.
Amidst the chaos, a drug company airs a television ad saying “the FDA has
confidence in Crestor,” a cholesterol-lowering statin drug, but the FDA says
the ad is “false and misleading.” Public Citizen is calling for this drug to
be recalled because of an increased risk for kidney failure. In reality, all
statin drugs should be removed from the marketplace because they potentially
increase the risk for liver and kidney disease, mental depression, cancer and
heart failure.
To make matters worse, a front-page report in the Los Angeles Times reveals
that Crestor was approved upon the recommendation of researchers at the
National Institutes of Health (NIH), most who were paid consultants to the
drug company. One NIH doctor was interviewed on television wearing a white
coat with the emblem of the NIH without revealing he was a paid consultant to
the company that makes Crestor. The NIH has invoked a partial ban on outside
income. Astonishingly, 200 NIH scientists have submitted a letter of appeal,
saying a permanent ban on outside income will make them “second-class citizens
in the scientific community.” The referees see nothing wrong with being bought
off! [Los Angeles Times Dec. 22, 2004]
If doctors do not express their outrage over being misled about the safety of
drugs, they will be considered as conspiring partners with the FDA, the NIH
and the drug companies. A crisis looms in physician credibility.
How will doctors respond when they find that, since 1992, they have been
misled about vitamin C? Doctors were told by NIH researchers that high-dose
vitamin C (beyond 200 milligrams per day) is excreted and produces “expensive
urine.” A newly published report reveals earlier studies were flawed if not
intentionally designed to fail, and oral-dose vitamin C can achieve blood
concentrations three times greater than previously thought possible. [Annals
Internal Medicine 140:533-7, 2004]
More and more Americans are searching for alternatives. If 100 million
Americans who have low vitamin C consumption would take vitamin C pills,
mortality rates would drop suddenly in the US. A confirming report, a review
of nine different studies, indicates adults who regularly take vitamin C pills
providing greater than 700 milligrams per day will experience a 25% drop in
their risk for coronary heart disease, the nation’s number one killer.
[American Journal Clinical Nutrition 80: 1508-20, 2004] Compare that to statin
cholesterol drugs which only reduce mortality rates by 0.4%! [Journal American
Medical Assn 288: 2998-307, 2002] The best diet, 5 servings of fruits and
vegetables a day, will only provide 200 milligrams of vitamin C and has not
been shown to reduce mortality rates from cancer or heart disease.
America is on the precipice of a great change. With prescription medicines in
question, if the truth about natural medicines gets into public view, and the
public begins to experience health benefits, there will be no turning back.
Medicare ran an $87 billion deficit in 2004 and had to draw money out of the
general fund. This entire deficit could be eradicated if the public took just
one 1000-milligram vitamin C pill on a daily basis.
Copyright 2004 Bill Sardi, Knowledge of Health, Inc.
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