Many an integrative health practitioner has been harassed by state medical boards with the power to revoke licenses with a charge such as: “The use of vitamin C is outside the standard of care.” What is the standard of care, and who sets this standard?
Webster’s New World Medical Dictionary defines “standard of care” as:
“1. A diagnostic and treatment process that a clinician should follow for a certain type of patient, illness, or clinical circumstance 2. In legal terms, the level at which the average, prudent provider in a given community would practice.”
In his eye-opening article “Bypass Nation,” published in the March 1999 issue of Talk magazine, Abraham Verghese, M.D., noted that coronary artery bypass grafting surgery was the standard of care in Houston simply because that is what market forces (i.e., Dr. Denton Cooley and Dr. William DeBakey) deemed it to be. But that “standard of care” is not always what’s best for the patient.
Recent headlines make the point:
- “Scans may be misleading for hockey players: MRIs shouldn’t take the place of a good clinical exam, study finds” (70 percent of healthy professional and college hockey players had abnormal hip and pelvis MRIs).
- “Mammograms fail to detect 66 per cent of breast cancers” , but of course do produce many false positives and do significantly increase the exposure to radiation, which itself can lead to cancer.
- “Growing doubts over standard prostate cancer test” (this from Dr. Richard Ablin, of the University of Arizona, who discovered the PSA test.
- “Panel: Women need chance to avoid repeat C-section” (a government panel urges doctors to rethink the principle of “once a C-section, always a C-section”).
- “Study suggests too many invasive heart tests given”.
- “Popular osteoporosis drugs linked to hip breaks”. They might have added: also linked to jaw death. But the number of deadly drug side effects is too great to begin to cover here.
The truth is that most of medicine is not truly science-based. In most cases, evidence for efficacy and safety is limited. Therefore the conventional “standard of care” is not adequately science-based, yet practitioners can lose their licenses for not following it.
Why is this? Why do we have monopoly medicine run by the American Medical Association (AMA), the drug companies, and medical equipment manufacturers? The short answer is that this monopoly is government supported. Government, which starts out by trying to help, all too easily falls into the hands of special interests.
Does this have to happen? No. Coal companies do not control the Environmental Protection Agency. And it is high time for the American public to insist that there be a top to bottom house cleaning of the government agencies charged with regulating medicine, all the more so after the passage of the recent healthcare legislation and the imposition of national government standards on health insurance.
I am a chemical sensitive for whom many standard medications are so dangerous that they are “overpriced” at ANY price…and I meet far too many people who are AFRAID to discuss ANY alternatives because of the “laws” that you speak of.
Please google “MCS Support jGroups.”
You will find out that there are literally millions like me.
Please help us to free the information that we need.
And that YOU may need.
Or someone you know.
Thanks!!!
Yours very truly,
Louise Esther Rothstein.
The healthcare bill just passed will bankrupt our country even furture, and is a guaranteed death sentence to seniors.
Lies! Wow, these fears that were never based in any kind of fact have since been addressed fully. Turns out the actual facts are totally the opposite of what you just wrote. Are you listening or just spouting crap you hear from fear mongers in our media? Do your research instead of listening to FOX news! You just sound incredibly ignorant……and biased.
It will bankrupt our country because it does not address the problem and enforces toxic allopathic medicine to the exclusion of real medicine.
Yes the only way to health in our country is to reject chronic drugs and get back to eating NON processed food and living well.
We as a country have been sold a bill of goods. We can poison our bodies with TOXIC food and cure the resulting disastrous health conditions with TOXIC drugs.
Do you mean the thousands of PhDs at HHS, NIH, CDC and other lackey “medical” organizations does not understand this simple truth?
Any one of them who EARNED his PhD understands. Our problem is their political “leadership” understands ALSO.
I thought “standard of care” was used as a reliable defense in case some doctor got sued. If he had used the “standard of care” treatment, he would probably be protected from suce a suit. So, actually, it seems that “standard of care” treatment is in a doctor’s best interest even if it may not be in the patient’s best interest.
No “standard of care” is the straight jacket the moneyed interests in medecine use to keep brave doctors from putting their patients before the almighty dollar.
I’ve been wondering for a long time where doctors get some of their loony, and sometimes contradictory ideas.
I went to the doctor and got a prescription for hormone replacement therapy to keep up the strength of my bones. When I first had it prescribed, I was told that it increased my risk of heart attack or stroke by a tiny, tiny, tiny bit.
When the prescription was nearly gone, I went back to get another one, and suddenly every doctor in the US is convinced that it promotes the risk of heart attack, stroke, blood clots and cancer by a WIDE MARGIN and they’re all refusing to prescribe it! They are, by the way still advertising these drugs and promoting them for birth control. All they’ll prescribe is something that will kill me, so I’m suddenly and without warning, out of luck, and my bones can just turn to jelly for all they care!
It’s confusing and disturbing to patients when this happens, and sometimes the standard of care is ALL WRONG! It’s set up to benefit the drug companies, not the patients. For instance, millions of people in the US have hypothyroidism and don’t know it because the tests are rigged to NOT discover it. The reason is that hypothyroidism generates a host of problems that the drug companies can make a fortune on drugs to control all the symptoms of the disease they refuse to recognize! All the people with unrecognized hypothyroidism are SUFFERING to make money for the drug companies!
What can be done to change this state of affairs?
“What can be done to change this state of affairs?”
Well in your case you can learn that
“Resveratrol is a phytoestrogen with demonstrated proapoptogenic effects that shows promise as an HRT alternative and chemoprotective agent for breast cancer.” Life Extension, Note well ladies how about some resveratrol, grape seed extract and curcumin?
“Researchers gave 25 menopausal women HRT or flaxseed (1.4 ounces per day, mixed into food). After six months, flaxseed relieved hot flashes as effectively as HRT.” Laval University Quebec
Flax is excellent for Post-Menopausal women as effective as HRT with NO CVD side effects
“It’s true that Americans have a high rate of osteoporosis, not just women. But this has nothing to do with estrogen. Do horses get osteoporosis? Never. What do they eat? Grass. How about cows? Are they taking Cal-Mag? Do they take Premarin? Calcium is in all foods. Do menopausal horses get osteoporosis? Negative. Do post menopausal third world women get osteoporosis? Negative. So if HRT is not going to reverse osteoporosis, what will? Reducing pasteurized dairy intake, and other artificial foods, like white sugar and soft drinks.” The Doctor Within
“Taking synthetic estrogen cannot rebuild bones. It can temporarily slow the rate of bone loss, but when the HRT is stopped, osteoporosis soon catches up like the woman never took HRT at all. Is that temporary benefit worth a 9-14 times greater risk of cancer? Dr. Lee thinks not. (Lee, p152) In addition, many common drugs cause osteoporosis. Millions have been duped into the thyroid scam – told they were overweight because they were ‘hypothyroid.’ Synthroid to the rescue. What the doctor never tells you is that Synthroid stimulates osteoclasts to resorb bone. (Physicians Desk Reference) Remember how bone is built by living tissue? Well, that happens with the simultaneous action of two complementary types of blood cells: osteoclasts for tearing down old bone, and osteoblasts for building new bone. Obviously an imbalance in either one of these will cause a problem.” The Doctor Within
“The problem with HRT is that it’s neither replacement nor therapy. What I mean is this: The pharmaceutical products billed as HRT aren’t hormones at all. And by taking them, you are not actually replacing anything. Real hormones are available. They’re called bio-identical hormones. They are safe when used appropriately. And they are very inexpensive. But being inexpensive is a problem. Big drug companies don’t produce bio-identical hormones. There’s no money in it. But that hasn’t stopped them from claiming they have “replacement hormones.” Doctor Al Sears MD
I just can’t believe that this goes on. Where do you even start. Hello NO such thing as a standard of care. You treat everyone the best and different according to the persons individual situation. we have to totaly clean house from biased medical practices, agenicies, government and FDA included. How dare this go on with so much ability out there to be healthy. The way it is going now has to stop it is obvious that it is not working Healing does not come in a one size fits all answer all individuals are different with different sensitivities and must be analized and treated on an one on one basis. In closely The goal should be to cure the individual of the ailment or disease NOT to treat the symptoms. Our healthcare system currently is treating the symptoms.
Here is our “standard of care”.
“Fosamax can dramatically increase your chances of getting atrial fibrillation. Atrial fibrillation is a worrisome irregular heart beat. And the increase in risk isn’t small. The drug increases your risk of atrial fibrillation by 86% in just three years. Since Fosamax is a long-term drug, it’s quite likely anyone who takes the drug will eventually have heart problems. To protect you from atrial fibrillation, your doctor likely will have you take Coumadin (rat poison). Coumadin thins your blood and prevents blood clots. But it also promotes osteoporosis. You’re obviously not going to get healthy with this type of system.” Doctor Robert J. Rowen MD
http://healthyprotocols.com/2_osteop.htm
Government has nothing to do with corruption. of any kind. Government is “form,” it has no “content.,” except that content which it is given by the people, who are then governed by it.. The only reason we face what we call government corruption, is simply because people can be deceived. IIf “monoply” medicine, the AMA, drug companies and med. equipment manufacturers have enormous influence in our society, it’s not because it’s “govenrment supported,” but because these monopolists have usurped and taken the place of democratic government. They are not government supported, they “are” the government. if people are led to believe that their government is designed to be “of the people, for the people and by the people,” when, in reality, it’s of, by and for the rich and powerful, or, that it’s designed for “all the people,” when, in reality it’s desinged for people with certain cultural values, and forced on everyone else, you have dictatorship hiding behind democracy. When you have government that is administered by tyrants cloaked as “men of good will,” it’s not just government that will be corrupted,, but media, education, commerce, medicine, science, etc., will follow suit.
Right on the money, John. People mistakenly believe we live in a democratic state. One cannot have a democratic state when a small portion of the population owns all the wealth and the rest peanuts. In order to have a true democracy all men and women must be equal and to be equal entails having equal economic status. Otherwise those who have money will buy the government through influence. It takes millions of dollars to run for office, which means politicans are funded through corporate sponsorship and are beholden to their investers. In business when large corporations heavily invest, they expect returns. It is no different in politics, when large corporation invest heavily in politicians it is because they expect heavy returns in exchange. Whether it is Bush or Obama, it makes no difference. One is playing bad cop while the other is playing good cop. The reason is they are as Frank Zappa said, “Politicians are best public relation figures large corporations can buy.”
We have unprecedented poverty today. Everywhere people are losing their jobs and even their unemployment benefits, too. People are having their homes foreclosed everyday as we speak and people are dying from lack of “good quality” healthcare. Although wnd and solar energy can provide all of our energy needs, large corporations are still burning coal because of larger profits; which, if we don’t stop soon, will be the death of us all within the next 30 years. While this is going on, the banks have received trillions in taxpayer bailouts. Goldman Saks just gave its executives $46 billion in bonuses. Americans need to open their eyes and see this government is an oligarchy for the wealthy and not a democracy. We need to demand the creation of a new government system that is truly democratic and cares for humanity and not the wealthy elite. Check out Worker’s World Party on the net. They are one of the few organizations devoted to creating a new democratic system.
We can all be rich in health by rejecting allopathic toxic drug laden medical treatment and LEARN what is KILLING us and how to prevent it.
It takes a little work but is not your LIFE worth it?
IMO we long ago passed into tyranny.
When JFK was murdered with the blessing of “government”, government sold it’s soul. Things have gone straight downhill from there.
gwb lost the 2004 election and Kerry did not contest the obvious fraud. Kerry was informed by dozens of lieutenants monitoring elections in 18 states. This is where we stand today.
I just wish to comment by suggesting that everyone should support a national unified health registry,which will finally reveal the state of affairs of healthcare in this country, where the more drugs one takes, the more ill one becomes; where one goes to a physician for a back pain and ends up with internal bleeding and in need of a kidney transpant, if they are not dead already of heart failure. As things are now, accurate statistics are in the hands of physicians and hospitals. Only 6 percent of physician visits for adverse effects from drugs are currently reported – and these are those most obvious adverse effects, the acute conditions, not chronic heart, brain, and kidney damage.
The only bad thing with your proposed registry is that then the medical community knows who is sick and what you have and they’ll have more of an incentive NOT to help you get better, but rather, they’ll pump as much money out of you via drugs as they can and then refuse to help you when you get really, really sick. Why? Because then it would take a lot of money to “cure” you and they aren’t going to want to spend that much money on someone who’s chronically ill. Your best bet is to take care of yourself in the first place–or work on getting healthy and off pharmaceutical drugs–and staying away from allopathic medicine in its entirety and only doctor with alternative care medicine.
Bingo!!!
Is not quite the irony that this article was posted the ‘very day’ just the opposite of a ‘cleaning out’ happened?
Get use to bad gone wild.
I guess health practioners in this country don’t know what the Hyppocratic oath (…do no harm) is anymore. Instead they take the “hypocritic oath” to BIG PHARMA, the AMA, and the FDA.
The practioners who don’t want to practice health care this way need to band together and lobby congress with our support (as in massive) and let our legislators know we are fed up with this broken paradigm of drugs and medical procedures.
“But that “standard of care” is not always what’s best for the patient.”
Ah the crux of the problem; does the doctor and patient serve the “medical profession” or does this supposed intimate duo serve the patient?
I submit today it clearly serves the money interests in BOTH medicine and government.
No better example exist than the barbaric “Standard of Care” for Cancer. The cure rate for cancer is 2.1% about where it has stood for fifty years. Now folks this is FAILURE in everyone’s eyes but professional money driven medicine. Doctor Simoncini is achieving cure rates 20 – 40 times higher with BAKING SODA. Yet organized medicine continuously tries to take away his license o practice medicine.
Clearly organized money driven medicine and its lackey government does not care for the patient or his doctor.
I enjoyed the post. Thank you 🙂 I recommend doing acupuncture