Medicalisation: Disease Mongering

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Thu, 27 Apr 2006 08:18:48 -0400

[sSRI-Research] Medicalisation: " Disease Mongering "

 

 

 

 

Medicalisation: " Disease Mongering "

 

By Dr. Ben Lerner

http://www.mercola.com/2005/dec/17/medicalisation_

 

The pharmaceutical industry is raking in unheard of profits -- more than

three times the average of other Fortune 500 industries -- even after

including all research and development costs. Much of this is done

under the

guise that it's for the greater good. However, the facts bear out the

system

has become replete with research bias and conflicts of interest.

 

In an article titled Selling Sickness: The Pharmaceutical Industry and

Disease Mongering, the British Medical Journal traveled to the depths

of the

health care system crisis created by what they called the

medicalisation of

society.

 

Medicalisation is the medical industry's practice of turning commonly

found

symptoms into a " disease " so its members can prescribe a medication

for it.

In addition, the medical industry works to increase the awareness of its

drugs and treatment to get more customers, i.e. lots of TV

commercials, ads,

bowl sponsorships and the like.

 

The Unholy Alliance

 

There is what's been described as an " unholy alliance " between

pharmaceutical manufacturers and doctors who are informing the population

that they are, in fact, ill. Medical doctors are intelligent, good people.

 

They go through an extended educational process to learn how to help.

Nonetheless, due to the speed at which information is coming across a

doctor's desk and given how busy doctors are with their medical practices,

they can't possibly keep up.

 

As a result, for prescribing advice, they're forced to rely on the very

skewed opinions of drug reps and the biased research paid for by their

companies. I've heard it said, so much new information on medical

treatment

comes out each year, within four years, a medical doctor's training is

obsolete.

 

(If you've ever seen a dozen police try to prevent a stadium full of

college

kids from rushing the football field after their school just won the big

game, you'll get a slight idea of what medical doctors are being asked to

handle during the course of their careers.)

 

So they've been taught, since the time they were medical school

students, to

rely on the pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers and their reps

for reinforcements (help, support, education and advice on practicing

medicine).

 

In a 2003 publication, the British Medical Journal said, " Twisted together

like the snake and the staff, doctors and drug companies have become

entangled in a web of interactions as controversial as they are ubiquitous

(everywhere). "

 

Four years ago, all of the biggies -- the New England Journal of Medicine,

Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), Annals of Internal

Medicine and The Lancet -- put out an all-points bulletin throwing up

a red

flag warning that clinical research had really become little more than

commercial activity (a way of making money).

 

John Abramson, M.D. points out in his book, Overdosed America, a 2002

article in the JAMA showed " 59 percent of the experts who write the

clinical

guidelines that define good medical care (the standards to which

doctors are

often held in malpractice) have direct financial ties to the companies

whose

products are being evaluated. "

 

If doctors choose to ignore guidelines, they risk their reputations and

standing in the medical community, as well as being charged with

malpractice.

 

" The exaggeration and distortion of the 2001 cholesterol guidelines

that are

responsible for the millions of Americans being treated with cholesterol

lowering statin drugs (Lipitor, Zocor, Prevachol, Lescol, Mevacor,

Crestor)

despite of lack of scientific evidence of benefit of such widespread

use is

presented as a case in point. "

Dr. Abramson further explains, if these new guidelines are followed, the

number of people taking statin drugs will go from 13 million to 36 million

with the only likely upside being drug company stockholder profits, not

healthier people.

 

Creating Fear

 

A key strategy of the alliances is to target the news media with stories

designed to create fears about the condition or disease and draw attention

to the latest treatment. This has led to problems on several key levels:

 

People with benign, normal symptoms taking dangerous drugs. As we are

convinced that natural signs of aging and common conditions are

diseases or

treatable symptoms, we take drugs for such things as balding, anxiety,

mild

bone loss and indigestion, which put us at risk for issues that were not

true illnesses or risks.

 

People being tested regularly and undergoing unnecessary treatments with

drugs and invasive surgery. Very few people after middle age can pass

tests

without being told that they have some sort of " risk. " This risk is turned

into a pseudo-disease leading to such things as dangerous breast and colon

surgery and " preventative " medications. (For example, a male patient over

age 40 goes to the doctor for a sore throat and finds the doctor's

finger up

his rectum. The doctor informs him he has a prostate issue and removes it,

causing the man to be impotent for the rest of his now-miserable life.)

 

Fear and a loss of clarity in the important practice of medicine. As a

result of " disease mongering, " the more the medical industry influences a

nation, the sicker that nation " considers itself to be. " It eats away

at our

self-confidence and teaches us that we're weak and incapable of staying

well, and that all signs and symptoms are potentially dangerous conditions

and diseases. Truly, this sort of marketing has blurred the lines of what

drugs and surgery we really need or don't.

 

Worst of all, rather than focusing more time and attention on their health

as they age or as they see degeneration setting in, people settle for a

diagnosis and the latest medications. The only winners are the ones who

profit.

 

Suggestions from the British Medical Journal for eliminating disease

mongering:

 

Move away from using corporate-funded information on medical

conditions and

disease.

 

Widen notions of informed consent to include information about controversy

surrounding the definitions of conditions and disease.

Lead people to participate in their health and not just in their disease

(inside out versus outside in).

 

What stands in the way of change: Powerful pharmaceutical and medical

technology companies, along with other powerful corporations with

incredibly

large vested interests in the medical business. This kind of money and

influence can tip the scales of opinion from professional caution to

uncritical acceptance.

 

A Personal Note

 

If you look at the people who make up governmental, hospital and medical

health advisory boards and their financial ties to pharmaceutical

companies,

you clearly see conflicts of interest. Sadly, the public is mostly unaware

of these interlocking interests and continue to believe in the sanctity of

medicine, an industry that's forgotten its sole purpose was to serve the

people and not itself.

 

I really believe in what was originally the true principles of medicine.

Many friends, patients and family members of mine have been saved by the

power of emergency medical intervention.

 

Unfortunately for all, what was once designed to save us from disaster or

death in the case of extreme circumstances, has now crept into our

every day

lifestyle. Symptoms of all kinds have been labeled " disease " or " deadly "

causing us to now fear every sniffle, cough, ache, or pain.

 

What's worse, we now seek passive medical retribution for both our

physical

and mental wellbeing rather than actively participating in it. When

symptoms

arrive as a result of how poorly we've neglected our bodies and minds,

rather than taking personal responsibility for our own wellness (restoring

wholeness) and trusting in the God-given recuperative powers of our

body, we

seek those who are now only too willing take on this role for us.

 

As a result of handing over the full authority of our lives over to the

industry of medicine, the pharmaceutical and medical establishments have

become so bloated, profitable and powerful, we're now witnessing it

getting

completely out of control.

 

While, on one hand, I personally owe much to the practice of medicine,

experts are finding the harm the present health care delivery system is

causing now outweighs the good. It's time that balance were restored --

taking the good of medicine and replacing the bad with new ways of

thinking

and more appropriate ways of taking care of our bodies.

 

I'm not angry at the system. It is what it is. But, be aware of it, choose

your doctors and advice very carefully, for God's sake, look out for those

drugs, and recognize all the greatness in you.

 

Take back authority over your life!

 

Dr. Ben Lerner, along with Dr. Greg Loman, owns Teach The World About

Chiropractic, a Chiropractic training company. They have helped build the

largest spinal correction clinics in the history of Chiropractic. For more

information on quick sets, read Dr. Lerner's book, Body by God: The

Owner's

Manual For Maximized Living.

 

 

Dr. Mercola's Comment:

 

I met Dr. Lerner last year and am convinced he is an authentic leader

in the

health field. He is incredibly fit and nearly made it into the

Olympics as a

wrestler. His passion is to improve other people's health. Through his

work

with thousands of patients he discovered a proven pathway to build health

instead of merely treating disease, which is a major part of my Web site.

 

His book, Body By God: The Owner's Manual for Maximized Living, is an

excellent resource for anyone looking to improve his or her health through

the following principles: