Desperate for help for my mom

[Guest guest]

Evening Veronica,

 

 

>Someone on the hypertension support list directed me to this group.

>I am trying to help my 67 year old mother, who has been suffering

>terribly for over two years now.

 

This sounds like a classic example of iatrogenesis.

 

-------------

A new illness has steadily risen its head in conjunction with the rise

of modern medicine, it is called iatrogenesis - doctor induced illness.

 

Ivan Ilyich author of the book " Medical Nemesis, the Expropriation of

Health " calls iatrogenesis a plague. He defines three commonly encountered

types of iatrogenesis; Clinical Iatrogenesis, which is a doctor-made

illness; Social Iatrogenesis, which is deliberately crated by the

machinations of the medical-industrial complex; and Cultural Iatrogenesis,

which saps the peoples will to survive.

 

-----------

 

It is so common, and they do it so much, a new word was coined to

identify " doctor induced illness " .

 

Wayne

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

> This sounds like a classic example of iatrogenesis. > It is so common,

and they do it so much, a new word was coined to identify " doctor induced

illness " .

> -------------

> A new illness has steadily risen its head in conjunction with the rise

> of modern medicine, it is called iatrogenesis - doctor induced illness.

> -----------

 

A BRIEF HISTORY OF MEDICINE IN THE 19TH + 20TH CENTURY

 

19th century America had several competing medical approaches. No single

school of thought was dominant. It was so easy to become a doctor that

there was a glut on the market, leaving most poor.

 

The 19th and early 20th century saw the " regulars " fight for monopoly. The

" regulars " were allopaths, who treated the middle classes. Their

middle-class constituency gave them an advantage over the rest.

 

At the beginning of the 19th century, the " regulars " used their influence to

have laws passed in state legislatures. The " regulars " argued, " the public

must be protected from quacks. Only the regulars should be authorized! " ,

even though the public wanted choice in health care practitioners.

 

By the middle of the century the laws had been repealed by the rising tide

of populism - grassroots, feminist, anti-slavery. This was called The

Popular Health Movement.

 

An important contributor to the movement was a poor farmer, Samuel Thompson.

Thompson observed that members of his family were suffering at the hands of

" gentlemen doctors " and felt that healing should soothe, not injure. He

remembered herbal cures he learned as a boy from an old woman. In 1822, he

recorded the knowledge in a book. Thompson felt that, " by learning to heal

ourselves, we can break our chains of dependence on experts. "

 

By 1839, 100,000 copies of his New Guide to Health had been sold. At its

peak, Thomsonianism embraced nearly a quarter of all Americans. It was

democratic in giving people power and knowledge to heal themselves. It was

political in pushing women's and working class issues.

 

But in 1838 Alva Curtis split from the annual Thomsonian convention and

established the Independent Thomsonian Botanical Society with the view of

monopolizing the techniques by a new elite. The popular movement petered

out.

 

In 1847 a group of doctors followed the British example and formed

themselves into the American Medical Association.

 

" Any occupation wanting professional status creates a systematic body of

theory. It claims the exclusive authority of its practitioners and adopts a

code of ethics. It tries to build solidarity amongst its practitioners

around formal values, norms, and symbols. And it cloaks itself with the

medallions of professions to supports its claims. If there is no body of

theory, it is created for the purpose of being able to say there is. "

Eliot Friedson quoted in 'Rockefeller Medicine Man'

 

But at the beginning of the 20th century " regulars " faced competition from

all sides. Apart from the numerous alternative healers, there was an excess

of " regulars " themselves. They were being churned out by the many

proprietary schools, the only entry requirement often being ability to pay.

 

In 1901, the American Medical Association (AMA) responded, " the growth of

the profession must be stemmed if individual members are to find the

practice of medicine a lucrative profession. " Journal of the American

Medical Association, 1901

 

So the AMA adopted The Ideological Solution. At the time, the public was

replacing religion with science as the legitimate source of truth. The ADA

would cloak itself in science and award itself special status in its pursuit

of " truth " . In 1893, John Hopkins University put labs in its medical

school, and staffed them with men committed to scientific research. But

labs were expensive. If they were made a requirement for medical schools,

most would go bust, neatly reducing the number of doctors produced.

 

Medical research was funded by corporate capitalists, including John D.

Rockefeller (1839-1937) and Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919). Having accumulated

 

colossal fortunes they set up philanthropies to distribute their surplus

cash.

 

The new capitalists brought a new industrial ideology. It fitted into their

mechanistic world-view. The engineers they employed rationalized the

production process by dividing tasks into mental and manual labour along

scientific lines. They thought a similar approach to medicine would be just

as effective.

 

The AMA had " science " as an excuse to monopolize medicine. But it needed a

hit-man to waste the opposition. In 1907, the AMA found it's hit-man and

commissioned Abraham Flexner, head of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical

Research to survey all medical schools.

 

The Flexner Report concluded:

1. fewer doctors can be produced by making education inaccessible

2. to support #1, medical training should be longer and harder

3. Negroes should only practice on Negroes. 5 out of 7 Negro medical schools

should be closed

4. there was no demand for women doctors. All of the 3 women's medical

schools should be closed (in 1973, only 17% of medical students were women)

5. with Negroes and women out of the system, Flexner turned to ridding poor

people from medical practice. To do this, they closed schools without the

" proper " labs and increased medical training time, making fees more

expensive and driving out the poor

(in 1973, only 12% of medical students came from the poorer half of the

population)

 

The Flexner Report put medical power in the hands of a small clique of

white, middle class men.

 

By emphasizing laboratory medicine, it turned health-care into an expensive

commodity. An expansive commodity that had a dynamic of its own. The

voracious appetite of the process required even more research and

investment. Between 1962 and 1975, the proportion of the U.S. gross

national product going on health-care rose from 4.5% to 8.4% [i understand

that its about 14% today]. In 1975, $95 Trillion was spent. In spite of

this boom in the health sector, male life expectancy recently began to fall.

 

Amongst its critics, Ivan Illich coined the term " iatrogenesis " - illness

caused by the medical profession itself. He saw 3 finds of iatrogenesis:

1. clinical iatrogenesis is organic doctor-made illness

2. social iatrogenesis refers to the medical-industrial complexes role in

maintaining a sickening society

3, cultural iatrogenesis saps people's will to suffer their reality (ex.

overprescription of antidepressants)

 

Illich concludes that the medical establishment does more harm than good and

should be abolished.

 

Rob B.

[Guest guest]

Rob,

This is really a classic. I've put in my archives for periodic reading.

Ron

 

Rob wrote :

A BRIEF HISTORY OF MEDICINE IN THE 19TH + 20TH CENTURY

 

19th century America had several competing medical approaches. No single

school of thought was dominant. It was so easy to become a doctor that

there was a glut on the market, leaving most poor.

 

The 19th and early 20th century saw the " regulars " fight for monopoly.

The

" regulars " were allopaths, who treated the middle classes. Their

middle-class constituency gave them an advantage over the rest.

 

At the beginning of the 19th century, the " regulars " used their

influence to

have laws passed in state legislatures. The " regulars " argued, " the

public

must be protected from quacks. Only the regulars should be authorized! " ,

even though the public wanted choice in health care practitioners.

 

By the middle of the century the laws had been repealed by the rising

tide

of populism - grassroots, feminist, anti-slavery. This was called The

Popular Health Movement.

 

An important contributor to the movement was a poor farmer, Samuel

Thompson.

Thompson observed that members of his family were suffering at the hands

of

" gentlemen doctors " and felt that healing should soothe, not injure. He

remembered herbal cures he learned as a boy from an old woman. In 1822,

he

recorded the knowledge in a book. Thompson felt that, " by learning to

heal

ourselves, we can break our chains of dependence on experts. "

 

By 1839, 100,000 copies of his New Guide to Health had been sold. At its

peak, Thomsonianism embraced nearly a quarter of all Americans. It was

democratic in giving people power and knowledge to heal themselves. It

was

political in pushing women's and working class issues.

 

But in 1838 Alva Curtis split from the annual Thomsonian convention and

established the Independent Thomsonian Botanical Society with the view

of

monopolizing the techniques by a new elite. The popular movement petered

out.

 

In 1847 a group of doctors followed the British example and formed

themselves into the American Medical Association.

 

" Any occupation wanting professional status creates a systematic body of

theory. It claims the exclusive authority of its practitioners and

adopts a

code of ethics. It tries to build solidarity amongst its practitioners

around formal values, norms, and symbols. And it cloaks itself with the

medallions of professions to supports its claims. If there is no body of

theory, it is created for the purpose of being able to say there is. "

Eliot Friedson quoted in 'Rockefeller Medicine Man'

 

But at the beginning of the 20th century " regulars " faced competition

from

all sides. Apart from the numerous alternative healers, there was an

excess

of " regulars " themselves. They were being churned out by the many

proprietary schools, the only entry requirement often being ability to

pay.

 

In 1901, the American Medical Association (AMA) responded, " the growth

of

the profession must be stemmed if individual members are to find the

practice of medicine a lucrative profession. " Journal of the American

Medical Association, 1901

 

So the AMA adopted The Ideological Solution. At the time, the public was

replacing religion with science as the legitimate source of truth. The

ADA

would cloak itself in science and award itself special status in its

pursuit

of " truth " . In 1893, John Hopkins University put labs in its medical

school, and staffed them with men committed to scientific research. But

labs were expensive. If they were made a requirement for medical

schools,

most would go bust, neatly reducing the number of doctors produced.

 

Medical research was funded by corporate capitalists, including John D.

Rockefeller (1839-1937) and Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919). Having

accumulated

 

colossal fortunes they set up philanthropies to distribute their surplus

cash.

 

The new capitalists brought a new industrial ideology. It fitted into

their

mechanistic world-view. The engineers they employed rationalized the

production process by dividing tasks into mental and manual labour along

scientific lines. They thought a similar approach to medicine would be

just

as effective.

 

The AMA had " science " as an excuse to monopolize medicine. But it needed

a

hit-man to waste the opposition. In 1907, the AMA found it's hit-man and

commissioned Abraham Flexner, head of the Rockefeller Institute for

Medical

Research to survey all medical schools.

 

The Flexner Report concluded:

1. fewer doctors can be produced by making education inaccessible

2. to support #1, medical training should be longer and harder

3. Negroes should only practice on Negroes. 5 out of 7 Negro medical

schools

should be closed

4. there was no demand for women doctors. All of the 3 women's medical

schools should be closed (in 1973, only 17% of medical students were

women)

5. with Negroes and women out of the system, Flexner turned to ridding

poor

people from medical practice. To do this, they closed schools without

the

" proper " labs and increased medical training time, making fees more

expensive and driving out the poor

(in 1973, only 12% of medical students came from the poorer half of the

population)

 

The Flexner Report put medical power in the hands of a small clique of

white, middle class men.

 

By emphasizing laboratory medicine, it turned health-care into an

expensive

commodity. An expansive commodity that had a dynamic of its own. The

voracious appetite of the process required even more research and

investment. Between 1962 and 1975, the proportion of the U.S. gross

national product going on health-care rose from 4.5% to 8.4% [i

understand

that its about 14% today]. In 1975, $95 Trillion was spent. In spite of

this boom in the health sector, male life expectancy recently began to

fall.

 

Amongst its critics, Ivan Illich coined the term " iatrogenesis " -

illness

caused by the medical profession itself. He saw 3 finds of iatrogenesis:

1. clinical iatrogenesis is organic doctor-made illness

2. social iatrogenesis refers to the medical-industrial complexes role

in

maintaining a sickening society

3, cultural iatrogenesis saps people's will to suffer their reality (ex.

overprescription of antidepressants)

 

Illich concludes that the medical establishment does more harm than good

and

should be abolished.

 

Rob B.

_____________

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