FUNDAY

6. MED DRUGGED

ICFDA: INTERNATIONAL COALITION FOR DRUG AWARENESS - See http://www.drugawareness.org
ICFDA Mission Statement
Every year approximately 200,000 die from prescription drug reactions.
Another 80,000 die from medical malpractice.
[Combined, that's over 6 times as many as who die in traffic accidents]
41,000 die in auto accidents.
What is wrong with our focus on the "drug war" when 200,000 die each year from prescription drugs, yet approximately only 20,000 die as a result of illegal drug use? Billions of dollars go into illegal drug issues in this country every year even though far more are dying from legal drugs. Everyone is asking, "Where is the FDA?" Busy approving another new drug? And how many more will die from that one?
A two-year Los Angeles Times investigation published in December, 2000 found that the seven drugs approved since 1993 have been withdrawn after reports of deaths and severe side[-effects]. In the article written by Times Staff Writer David Willam, it states, "The FDA approved each of those drugs while disregarding danger signs or blunt warnings from its own specialists. Then, after receiving reports of significant harm to patients, the agency was slow to seek withdrawals."
Morton Mintz, a former Washington Post reporter, and a Nieman Fellow who won the Raymond Clapper award for reporting the thalidomide tragedy, published a book in 1965 entitled, THE THERAPEUTIC NIGHTMARE. His warnings heeded then, and the warnings coming from many other men of great integrity since then, could have spared us the agony we have experienced from the drug tragedies since that time and those we are engulfed in today. He begins with, "Here we shall see that there have been instances when our excessive trust in certain Corporate Consciences has been rewarded with inadequately and even fraudulently tested drugs, with useless drugs and inferior versions of good drugs, with protraction of illness, and with waste of our money. In order that sales may begin and continue, regardless of whether we are healed and spared pain, evidence of serious and even lethal effects has been withheld from the responsible government agency and concealed from the medical profession and the public." (p.xiv)
We wish to honor him here (and those who have followed in his footsteps) in their unending efforts to warn us of these serious problems associated with the drugs we have come to learn to blindly trust. This site is to assist us in making sure that trust is no longer a "blind" trust. We must take the responsibility to educate ourselves about what we are putting into our bodies and brains.
Some of the most popular drugs on the market today are those that increase serotonin levels like the diet pills that were just pulled from the market. Originally Fen-Phen & Redux were thought to be so safe that 18 million people took the drugs. Now we know that they were so dangerous that those who took even one pill have been advised to have their hearts checked. If these drugs could be among the most popular on the market and touted as "the thing" for weight management for a two-year period, leaving a backlash of victims that attorney's offices cannot even begin to handle, what other mistakes will we wake up to tomorrow? What are you taking right now that could be just as dangerous or as damaging as these diet pills? What do you know about the medication you are currently taking? What do you know about the dangers of taking the drugs you are taking in combination with one another? Even more frightening to ask is "What does your doctor know or not know about the answers to these questions?"
Drugs like Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Luvox, Effexor, Serzone, Anafranil, etc. are some of the biggest money makers ever for the pharmaceutical companies. Yet are you aware that the use of Prozac among children from ages 6-12 went from 41,000 in 1995 to 203,000 in 1996. The number of new prescriptions written increased almost 400% in just one year?!! This is a very powerful mind-altering drug that has not been approved for use in children and yet our children are popping it like candy! Just Prozac's affect upon cortisol levels alone should frighten parents to death. One 30mg dose has been shown to clearly double the level of cortisol! (PROZAC PANACEA OR PANDORA?, p. 168) Increased cortisol impairs the development and regeneration of the liver, kidneys and muscles. It also retards linear growth. How many parents are given that information? How many doctors are aware of it themselves?
The study being used to gain FDA approval of this medication demonstrates that the rate of mania (a terrible form of insanity including symptoms of sexual compulsions, criminal behavior, alcohol cravings, rages leading to domestic violence, delusions of grandeur - often mistaken for increased self confidence, wild spending and varied types of criminal behavior) among children taking Prozac was three times higher than it is for adults. Three out of 100 had to drop out of the study due to this devastating complication which developed within a short eight week trial! The most logical question to ask is "Why do this to our children when there are many safer natural options that work as well without serious side effects?"
ICFDA Board
Dr. Ann Blake Tracy, a Ph.D. in Health Sciences with the emphasis on Psychology, is the director of the International Coalition for Drug Awareness. She has specialized for 14 years in treating adverse reactions to serotonergic medications (such as Prozac, Sarafem, Zoloft, Paxil, Luvox, Celexa, Lexapro, Effexor, Serzone, Anafranil, Fen-Phen, Redux and Meridia) and has testified before the FDA and congressional subcommittee members on Prozac. She has testified since 1992 as an expert witness in Prozac and other SSRI related court cases around the world. Her first book on the issue was published in 1991. During the last twelve and a half years she has participated in innumerable radio, television, newspaper and magazine interviews. We know of no one with such extensive experience and expertise on all of these issues surrounding the SSRI antidepressants as Dr. Ann Blake Tracy. You can learn a lot about these medications from her latest book on the Prozac family of antidepressants: PROZAC: PANACEA OR PANDORA? (2001). The book is the product of many, many years of intensive research, and the cases of approximately 1,000 patients on a long-term basis.
Dr. Tracy also has an hour and a half long audio tape/CD, "Help! I Can't Get Off My Antidepressant!," which explains the safest withdrawal methods from these antidepressants and how to rebuild the body and brain after the use of these drugs. She has spent the last thirteen years working with patients coming off of these antidepressants. That experience has helped her to know much about the serious and very dangerous withdrawal effects and how to avoid those in coming down off the drugs.
For more information on materials by Dr. Tracy call 800-280-0730.
Dr. Candace B. Pert, PhD, Research Professor, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, D.C., Former Chief of Brain Biochemistry at NIH for 13 years, she studied the inner workings of the body with an eye towards identifying and locating peptides and receptors. She became convinced these chemicals were the physical manifestation of emotion. She takes some time from her research and teaching schedule to lecture internationally on the issues of neuropeptides and mind-body communications. Links for ordering her latest book, MOLECULES OF EMOTION, can be found on our "Book" page.
Dr. Julian Whitaker, MD, founder of the Whitaker Wellness Institute, is one of the country's foremost advocates of healing through diet, exercise, lifestyle changes, and the principles of orthomolecular medicine. He preaches to an ever-growing audience through his clinic, newsletter, books, lectures and now his web site, drwhitaker.com. Today over half a million subscribers, disenchanted with the failures of conventional medicine, rely on his newsletter, Health & Healing, for news about safe and effective alternatives.
Dr. Kevin Millet, DC was able to overcome hyperactivity, depression, compulsive behavior and suicidal tendencies through nutrition, is currently the director of Total Wellness. Total Wellness is a wholistic center near Salt Lake City, Utah. He conducts seminars throughout the United States to health practitioners in applying nutrition and other wholistic methods to regenerate the entire body, including the brain and endocrine system.
Dr. Lorraine Day, MD, an internationally acclaimed orthopedic trauma surgeon and best-selling author was for 15 years on the faculty of the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine as Associate Professor and Vice Chairman of the Department of Orthopedics. She was also Chief of Orthopedic Surgery at San Francisco General Hospital and is recognized world-wide as an AIDS expert. She has been invited to lecture extensively throughout the U.S. and the world and has appeared on numerous radio and television shows including 60 Minutes, Nightline, CNN Crossfire, Oprah Winfrey, Larry King Live, The 700 Club, John Ankerberg Show, USA Radio Network, Art Bell Radio Show, Three Angels Broadcasting Network and Trinity Broadcasting Network.
Joyce Riley vonKleist, RN, BSN, Captain, USAF inactive Reserve, has presented at the National Institutes of Health, medical legal conferences such as the American Trial Lawyers Association, was host of her own radio talk show "Nurse-Talk Radio - The Truth in Health Care", and has guested on over 1500 radio and television shows, including Art Bell, Chuck Horter and Michael Reagan. She served as a Captain in the United States Air Force and flew on C-130 missions in support of Operation Desert Storm. She now serves as spokesperson for the American Gulf War Veterans Association whose purpose is to provide education and information for the Gulf War veterans and their families and to seek treatment for the illnesses that thousands of Gulf War veterans now suffer from, [caused by our own government].
Dr. Bradford S. Weeks, MD, is a medical doctor whose practice welcomes people of all ages suffering with all illnesses. He offers conventional, as well as complementary, medical and psychiatric care. Dr. Weeks' approach is biochemical in nature. That means he works to correct your underlying biochemical imbalances which create your illnesses and pain, rather than to simply offer you various synthetic drugs designed to suppress your symptoms.
Our International Directors are:
In Bulgaria, Natasha Chernyshova - NBC960@CJ.AUBG.BG;
In Singapore, Peter Sidwell - 65-5817055 (24 hours), or 65-5830595, 65-5839432 (fax), sidwell@cyberway.com.sg

FDA LINKS SSRIs TO SUICIDE IN KIDS
The hearings were wonderful!!!!!
As the FDA Advisory committee was reaching the conclusion of their statement yesterday, I had to leave the room several times to step out into the hallway to jump and shout for joy! BLACK BOX WARNINGS!!!! We got black box warnings on ALL antidepressant medications for children!!! I had begun to wonder if we would ever see this day.
But beyond that, they have also agreed to study the violence issue associated with antidepressants. And the Senate now wants to begin their own investigation into these drugs!!!!!
So now, we have not only Congress, but the Senate as well, looking into possible cover-up and criminal actions by all those whose responsibility it was to protect the public, and most especially our precious children who were to be our future.
What a bittersweet victory this has been in the warnings coming so many years too late!
Dr. Ann Blake Tracy, Ph.D

WARNING: Withdrawal can often be more dangerous than continuing on a medication [and cutting down gradually]. Please click here before discontinuing any prescription abruptly.
Stories most recently submitted are listed first. To submit your story to be posted on the ICFDA site.
The ICFDA appreciates the courage of those who wish to share their stories. While we encourage you to include your name and email address so that others may contact you directly, we understand and support the need for privacy. We would like to know who you are so we can contact you and verify your story, but we will always honor any request to withhold the publishing of names. We are acutely aware that the issues discussed here are extremely personal in nature. And, we ask that our readers assign no less importance to those stories shared anonymously than to those attributed.
ICFDA Survivor Stories [Hundreds of readers of the site have shared their stories of serious problems after using various prescription drugs for depression, PMS, etc.

DRUG COMPANIES PAY OFF GOVERNMENT TO SELL MORE ANTI-PSYCHOTIC DRUGS - See http://www.mercola.com
The drug industry knows how to market their drugs. For the big named drugs they spend billions of dollars on consumer advertising, but to sell medicines that treat schizophrenia the companies focus on a smaller group of customers, the state officials who oversee treatment for patients with mental illness. These patients make states among the largest buyers of antipsychotic drugs.
Past evidence has shown, since the mid-1990s a group of major drug companies had campaigned to convince state officials that a new generation of drugs--with names like Risperdal, Zyprexa and Seroquel--was superior to older and much cheaper antipsychotics. The campaign has led a dozen states, including Texas, to adopt guidelines for treating schizophrenia, which in turn made it almost impossible for doctors to prescribe anything but the new drugs, which resulted in transforming the new medicines into blockbusters.
To adopt the guidelines, major drug companies wined and dined different state officials and urged them to follow the lead of Texas, according to evidence found. Evidence written in a report also showed that in May 2001, as Pennsylvania was deciding whether to adopt the Texas guidelines, a pharmaceutical company paid $4,000 to fly two mental health officials to New Orleans, where they ate at an elegant restaurant with the company executives. These reports show a lot more money was given out to other mental health officials at different times.
With all this evidence floating around, it started to stir up some concerns about the drug companies new generation of the drugs, called atypical antipsychotics, used to treat a variety of mental illnesses. The concerns were coming from a joint panel made up of the American Diabetes Association, American Psychiatric Association, American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, and the North American Association for the Study of Obesity who said, mental patients who take these drugs may be increasing their risk for obesity, diabetes and high cholesterol--all which lead to heart disease.
The joint panel has issued a statement asking doctors to screen all patients on these medications for signs that could lead to any of these diseases, stating there is considerable evidence from studies conducted.
New York Times February 1, 2004
DR. MERCOLA'S COMMENT: These new antipsychotics are loaded with side effects. Four medical groups, including the American Psychiatric Association, have warned that the new drugs could increase a patient's risk of heart disease by increasing:
Obesity, Diabetes, High cholesterol: This NY Times article details how the drug companies have manipulated and influenced state governments to purchase even more of these expensive side-effect riddled drugs. Questions have multiplied about the many ways that the drug industry tries to influence the medical information that determines its products' success or failure.
This makes perfect sense to me. Drugs are in no way, shape or form the answer for mental illness. They may control symptoms, but they do so at quite a significant price, and one that many people are not willing to pay. Why exchange one set of horrible side effects for diabetes? This makes no sense to me, unless you are the drug company--and then it makes perfect sense.
Fortunately, we do have some natural options. Dr. Stoll is the director of the psychopharmacology research lab at Boston's McLean Hospital and assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He discusses the use of omega-3 extensively in his book The Omega-3 Connection. He reviews the new evidence supporting the use of omega-3 oils for mental illness.
The book is excellent, but Dr. Stoll is seriously misinformed about cod liver oil. This is especially true in terms of schizophrenia, which seems to respond particularly well to therapeutic doses of vitamin D.
A study I posted in 2002 strongly connected the dots from not enough sunshine and subsequent vitamin D to prevent schizophrenia. Optimal exposure to sunlight can provide enough vitamin D, but for most of us the winter provides a major lack of sun exposure and our levels fall in the dirt. Fortunately, cod liver oil can be used to replace this level to near ideal ranges. My favorite source of both omega-3 and vitamin D happens to be Carlson's cod liver oil. If you can't find this brand in your local health food store we carry the Carlson's brand in our Recommended Products section.
Related Articles:
Drug Industry Using Senior Group Fronts to Promote Own Agenda
Drug Companies Triple Money on Direct-to-Consumer Drug Ads
Increased Spending on Drugs is Linked to More Advertising
Medical Journals Aim to Curtail Drug Companies' Influence
Drug Industry Lies About New Drug Research and Development
Drug Industry Lobbyists Spending More to Influence Congress

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7. ALT DOCS

TOWARD RESPONSIBLE HEALTH CARE - Listen to Alternative Practitioners
Some Alternative Doctors are listed. Read their Warnings about problems with conventional medicine. Once you understand the nature of Co-dependence and Power Abuse in our society, it should not be hard to suspect that these doctors are right in their warnings. When we investigate other professions and institutions closely, we find the same dysfunctional patterns in almost all of them. Science and government are among the most important institutions that appear to be unfortunately as corrupt as is medicine. I'll provide evidence of this, and links to other such evidence, as well as information on intervention. My background was originally in nutrition. - LK
Here are some Alternative Doctors' Health Newsletters
- Dr. Bruce West's - HEALTH ALERT, 5 Harris Ct N6, Monterey, CA 93940-5753,
- Dr. David Williams' - ALTERNATIVES, Mountain Home Publishing, POB 61010, Rockville, MD 20859-1010,
- Dr. Jonathan Wright's - NUTRITION & HEALING, POB 925, Frederick, MD 21705-9913,
- Dr. Richard Schulze's - HOUSE CALLS & NATURAL HEALING NEWSLETTER - 877-TEACHME, 800-HERBDOC, www.naturalhealingpub.com,
- Dr. Julian Whitaker's - FEARLESS HEALTH, 7811 Montrose Rd, Potomac, MD 20854,
- Dr. Robert Rowen's - SECOND OPINION, POB 467939, Atlanta, GA 31146-7939,
- Dr. James Balch - PRESCRIPTIONS FOR HEALTHY LIVING, POB 467939, Atlanta, GA 31146-7939
- Dr. Al Sears' - HEALTH CONFIDENTIAL FOR MEN, 702 Cathedral St, Baltimore, MD 21201,
- Dr. Richard Foxx's - THE HEALING DOCTOR, 350 Fifth Ave #3304, NY, NY 10118-0069,
- Loren Biser's - AFTER EVERYTHING FAILS HEALTH REPORT, POB 1106, Dayton, VA 22821,
- Dr. Wm. C. Douglass' - REAL HEALTH, 819 Charles St, Baltimore, MD 21201
- Dr. Joseph Mercola - www.mercola.com [Schaumburg, IL]

ALTERNATIVE DOCTORS' WARNINGS - Here are titles of some recent articles, followed by 4 complete articles.
1. PRESCRIPTIONS FOR NATURAL HEALING, James F. Balch, M.D
How the Media Swallow Drug Company Lies
2. NUTRITION & HEALING, Dr. Jonathan Wright
a. Many Drugs Are Too Dangerous to Use
b. Hormone Replacement Therapy [HRT] Disaster
c. Cholesterol-Lowering Drugs Another Disaster
d. Drugs for One Ailment Cause Other Ailments
e. Government Corruption Represses Alternative Treatments
f. Gallbladder Surgery Warning
3. ALTERNATIVES, Dr. David Williams
a. Over Half of Conventional Health Advice Is Wrong
b. Cholesterol Theory Is Wrong
c. Status Quo Hampers New Discoveries
d. The Next Billion Dollar Health Scam [Re Prostate Tests]
e. The Blinding Truth About an Aspirin a Day!
f. Conventional Medical Malpractice
4. SECOND OPINION, Robert Rowen, M. D.
a. Dr. Rowen's Battle for Safe Alternative Medicine
5. FEARLESS HEALTH, Dr. Julian Whitaker
a. Conventional Medicine Is a Fear Factory
b. FDA Persecutes Alternative Doctors
6. NATURAL HEALING NEWSLETTER, Dr. Richard Schulze
a. Lost War on Cancer
b. AARP Bias
c. Soda Company Schemes Hurt Kids
d. Organ Transplant Schemes
7. REAL HEALTH, Dr. William Campbell Douglass
a. Junk Medicine
b. DDT Lies Cause Genocide
c. Breast Cancer Frauds
d. Medical Frauds That Hurt Men
e. How to Recognize Medical Myths
f. Carbs and Fats
g. Dangerous CPR, Antibiotics & Mammograms
8. THE HEALING DOCTOR, Dr. Richard Foxx
a. Expensive Useless Treatments
b. Dangerous Drug Side Effects
9. HEALTH CONFIDENTIAL FOR MEN, Al Sears, M. D.
a. Medical Establishment Flaws
b. Medical Ignorance Harms Men
10. E-Healthy News You Can Use, Joseph Mercola, D.O.

2. NUTRITION & HEALING, Dr. Jonathan Wright
Cholesterol-Lowering Drugs Another Disaster - Dr. Wright uncovers the surprising secret that makes dangerous cholesterol drugs look silly. Cholesterol drugs may poison your liver, but at least they prevent heart attack - right? Not so fast. In one of medicine's strangest ironies, it now appears that cholesterol-lowering "statin" drugs may weaken the human heart. In a recent series of clinical studies, top-selling statin drugs were found to: Raise blood pressure; Lower levels of lifesaving HDL [good] cholesterol; Increase an important measure of blood clotting, linked to heart attacks. Of course, all these things increase your risk of heart disease, but here's the kicker. As Dr. Wright warned his readers years ago, all statin drugs block your body's production of coenzyme Q10. And this nutrient is so critical to your cellular "energy engine," your heart can't beat without it!
Dr. Wright has found a common substance [that], when independent researchers tested it against costly statin drugs, it proved seven times better. ... [The substance is a non-carbohydrate] sugar cane extract. ... When scientists tested it for any ... bad side-effects, it proved even safer than the placebo! ... Yet this is just an instance of how his astonishingly simple new solutions are making synthetic drugs obsolete.
Drugs for One Ailment Cause Other Ailments - Could those costly new pain-killers be causing back pain? - Side effect documented by manufactures! It's really happening. You go to your doctor for back pain and he prescribes the widely hyped new drugs, Vioxx, or Celebrex. But despite all those merry commercials, singing Celebrate! Celebrate! your pain actually increases. Are you just imagining it? No! This nifty little side effect has been documented by the drug firms themselves. In a significant number of cases, both these new Cox-2 inhibitors are linked to back pain. ... Even the ultra-conservative Journal of the American Medical Association warns that new studies "raise a cautionary flag...." ... In plain English, Watch out for heart attacks. One of these studies involved 23,407 people. Heart attack rates for those taking Vioxx and Celebrex were so much higher, it couldn't be a coincidence. Finally, the FDA asked the maker of Vioxx to caution doctors. But who's telling the patients? Dr. Wright, that's who! ... He broke the shocking news that even when they don't kill, these new drugs work no better than the humblest, cheapest pain-killer in human history.
Government Corruption Represses Alternative Treatments - How one courageous doctor overcame ridicule, hostility and even armed gunmen to change the future of modern medicine. ... He even braved 24 gunmen to save his patients! With guns drawn, tow dozen heavily armed thugs kicked down the door of Dr. Wright's clinic. One of them stuck a revolver in his receptionist's face. And for 14 hours, they held Dr. Wright and his staff at gunpoint. They ransacked the clinic, destroyed medical equipment and pawed through confidential patient records. It was like some terrorist nightmare out of Afghanistan or Kosovo. But the truth was even scarier. The terrorists were wearing government badges. They were sent to harass Dr. Wright by the FDA. And what was his "offense?" Was he selling drugs illegally? Giving out phony prescriptions over the internet? Oh no. He was using preservative-free B vitamins. That's it - B vitamins. Of course, no charges were ever filed.

3. ALTERNATIVES, Dr. David Williams - Over Half of Conventional Health Advice Is Wrong. It's just a matter of time before doctors announce, "Sorry, we were wrong about cholesterol." ... Cholesterol doesn't cause heart disease. Your efforts (and money) are being wasted. You can expect doctors to announce an official reversal, but it may not come for quite a while.
Fact: Over 50% of today's health advice is wrong and obsolete! This bulletin alerts you to 7 current health notions that are so far off-track, they're dangerous. I'm giving you this early heads-up because the official news probably won't come for many years. Here's the story. Health knowledge is changing so fast that many of medicine's sacred cows and pet theories have already been slaughtered and laid to rest. Hormone therapy was good, now it's bad. Low-fat diets were "in," now they're "out." Eggs were a no-no, now they're okay. Mammograms and PSA screenings save lives, or do they? It's no fun discovering that something you've been doing for year to stay healthy is suddenly useless, wrong, or even dangerous. But, brace yourself. A barrage of new medical "about-faces" is on the way! In the pages ahead, you'll read about 7 medical theories that have been proven obsolete, yet doctors still haven't changed their treatments. For example, have you heard the latest about heart disease?
Cholesterol Theory Is Wrong - The cholesterol theory of heart disease has been dead for 20 years. It was shot full of holes when scientists showed that the majority of people who suffer heart attacks have normal cholesterol levels. This makes cholesterol-lowering drugs irrelevant and useless. ... 13 million people in this country remain on cholesterol drugs, and millions more are being urged to start taking them. It will be a long time before an official about-face comes. Tragically, hundreds of thousands of people will go to their deaths following this old-school advice in the false belief they're being protected. I've been waving a red flag about cholesterol-lowering drugs since August, 1991, when I first discovered they are not only ineffective, but potentially deadly. They can rob the heart of an important nutrient , CoQ10, that powers its beating.
Status Quo Hampers New Discoveries ... The history of medicine is full of setbacks and about-faces. About-faces like these are common in health and medicine, because ours is not an exact science, but one that is constantly evolving. That's how progress is usually made. But here's the problem: In a perfect world, you'd learn about these new discoveries right away so you could quickly benefit. Yet, this rarely happens. Instead, the news is delayed as doctors debate among themselves, greedy special interest groups fight any change to the status quo, and public health officials drag their feet through "official channels."
The Next Billion Dollar Health Scam [Re Prostate Tests] - Men, watch for a big new push by doctors to pressure you into having a PSA test for prostate cancer. Why? "Early diagnosis saves lives" is their response. But don't be buffaloed. The facts say that early diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer does little, if any, good. That's because prostate tumors grow so slowly that most men die with the cancer, not from it. A 10-year study found that untreated men with prostate cancer had the same survival rate as men who got treatment. Huh? If early diagnosis and surgery don't lengthen a patient's life - and often result in incontinence, or sexual dysfunction, or both - what's this all about? The answer is money. With 25 million American men now over the age of 50, there's a fortune to be made from prostate screenings.
The truth is, this new campaign is little more than another money-making scheme. Unless you know the facts, you could end up in adult diapers and longing for the days when you had a sex life. What would really make a difference is more funds for preventing prostate cancer and exploring alternative treatments. That would make this disease all but vanish. And we would save many of the 30,000 men who die from prostate cancer every year, whether they get tested and treated, or not. Brace yourselves, men, for the barrage of scare tactics. And arm yourselves with the facts. Look at the statistics and you'll see that, right now, natural therapies are saving lives. But the medical profession and the pharmaceutical industry don't appear interested. Obviously, there isn't enough money in it.
..The "Sex Pill" They Don't Want You to Know About - ... Millions of dollars in advertising have every red-blooded American male believing that "the little blue pill" is the gold standard for sexual performance. Don't you believe it. The secret those drug-makers don't want you to know is that there's a much cheaper - and safer - way to giver your love life a boost of amorous oomph. It's with L-argenine, an amino acid that works the same way their popular pill does, but for pennies, instead of their $10-a-pop price-tag. ... Even though L-argenine is absolutely harmless, the pharmaceutical industry isn't exactly rallying to support its use. It's easy to see why. If word ever got out, sales of the little blue pill would surely suffer.
Autumn 2003 - Dr. David Williams' Alternatives -
The Blinding Truth About an Aspirin a Day! - Doctors are urging millions of Americans to take an aspirin a day to prevent stroke and heart attack. But studies show this can actually increase the risk of these two conditions! Even worse, new research finds that an aspirin a day can slowly destroy your eyesight, resulting in blindness later in life. Expect doctors to announce an official reversal, but it may not come for quite a while. ... Other reversals are on the way too. ... How many of these Switcheroos caught you by surprise? "Butter is bad." I've spoken out against this misconception for over 15 years. Butter is actually a healthy food with lots of benefits. Eating it can even protect you from skin cancer. Margarine, the so-called "healthy alternative," on the other hand, is more dangerous than smoking cigarettes. The trans fatty acids in it are poison to your arteries, yet most people still believe margarine is good for them. "Stay away from eggs." "experts" claim the yolks will arise your blood cholesterol levels. Not true. Dietary cholesterol can't do that. Besides, egg yolks are loaded with lutein, a nutrient which can save your eyes from macular degeneration. I've called eggs a perfect food since 1985. Finally, the experts have changed their tune. "Nuts are fattening." That's crazy. Some nuts are an excellent weight-loss food because they digest slowly and satisfy hunger longer. What's more, two large studies show that eating nuts can reduce your heart attack risk by 65%. reason? Nut oil is especially beneficial for your arteries. I've maintained this since 1989. "Keep out of the sun." I felt like the Lone Ranger when I first stood up against this baloney back in 1991. Statistics clearly show that people with healthy tans have 50% less breast and colon cancers than lily-whites. That's because the sun is actually good for you - it's our main source of [producing in the skin] vitamin D, a proven cancer fighter. Sunscreen, on the other hand, may be causing skin cancer [due to toxic ingredients]. "Fat is unhealthy." This hooey is actually making people more overweight. That's because the human body needs fat for peak performance and appetite appeasement. But it's got to be the right kind - and we're just not getting enough of these good fats. ... One fat is even essential for losing weight.
Conventional Medical Malpractice - Advance Notice to the Healthcare Community - Malpractice! - The Foot Draggers Don't Like Us - ... The big U.S. [medical] journals are often vicious in their attacks on members of the wider global medical community, most of whom eagerly welcome: natural methods; natural substances; cures proven by hundreds ... of years of experience; carefully compiled statistical reports of real results by actual working physicians. Such things are typically despised and ridiculed by the establishment that controls most medical schools, pharmaceutical laboratories, journals, and the ... FDA. Yet, millions of doctors around the world are more realistic and open-minded about new methods and cures.

8. THE HEALING DOCTOR & THE M.D. WELLNESS HANDBOOK, Dr. Richard Foxx - Expensive Useless Treatments - "I Don't Worry About Cancer...." ... The Harvard School of Public Health calculated that [only] 2 to 3% of those with cancer benefited from chemotherapy. - Stroke(s) ... and ... Heart Attacks - ... Around 530,000 people a year perish from them. Sadly, the vast majority of heart attacks could have been avoided if you took certain simple steps. ... Get Rid of Backaches for Good without Relying on Expensive Drugs or Doctor Visits. ... We do original, unique reporting ... Warning You About Phony Tests & Therapies! Scams, needless tests, costly doctor visits for nothing. The medical maze can steal your money and leave you in pain. There are useless remedies out there - and I can spot them! ... Finally Getting Better - Without Costly Drugs!
Dangerous Drug Side Effects - Daring Doctor Speaks Out: More than 15,000 Americans die each year due to the side effects of common pain relievers! ... Prescription drugs are expensive and dangerous. ... Don't take dangerous and risky drugs before you try these safe and natural alternatives! When you take a prescription drug, you are putting chemicals and toxins in your body. You could suffer serious health problems years from now. These can include liver damage and heart problems. You see, dozens of prescription drugs approved by the FDA have later been banned. These drugs were supposed to be perfectly safe, but years later, they were found to cause serious health problems! ... Today, more than ever before, many people ... are throwing away their prescription drugs and choosing natural healing alternatives for better health! ... Being a medical doctor and knowing first hand how the medical industry is today, I want you to see there is a higher, more effective and natural way of healing.
Allegra - Allergy drug - side effects ... are headache, cold, back pain, flu, nausea, menstrual pain, drowsiness, hives, sinusitis, dizziness, coughing, accidental injury, insomnia.
Celebrex - Arthritis drug - ... side effects include discomfort, ... gastrointestinal bleeding, skin rash, ... weight gain or edema, anemia ... rare cases of severe hepatic reactions, including jaundice and fatal fulminant hepatitis, liver necrosis [liver tissue death] and hepatic failure; ... bleeding, ulceration and perforation of the stomach, small intestine, or large intestine can occur at any time; ... minor gastrointestinal problems, such as dyspepsia, are common and may also occur at any time.
Lipitor - Cholesterol-lowering drug - side effects include gas, stomach pain, indigestion, flatulence, dyspepsia, constipation, neck pain, ulcers, edema, chest pain, dry mouth, colitis, vomiting.
Prescription drugs are outrageously priced - even with good insurance, it can be hard financially. The good news is that ... ailments ... can be treated by alternative low-cost remedies that can replace thousands of dollars in side-effect-causing drugs [and] keep you healthier longer. ... Live a life with drastically reduced dependency on medication. These days, most doctors are quick to prescribe prescription drugs because that's all they know about. And, unfortunately, many people are finding out the hard way that certain drugs can have deadly effects! In fact, more than 100,000 people die every year from adverse drug reactions, according to the American Medical Association.

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8. MED DEATHS

DR. JOSEPH MERCOLA ON MEDICAL INDUSTRY ABUSES
Here are some titles of articles at Dr Mercola's website, www.mercola.com, the second most popular, if not the most popular, health site on the internet, followed by the complete article of the first title. There's a SEARCH box on his homepage in which to look up these articles, or others on many health subjects.
- Drugs and Doctors May be the Leading Cause of Death in U.S. [See below]
- Drug-Company Influence on Medical Education in the USA
- Medical Journals Aim to Curtail Drug Companies
- The Mirage Of Peer Review
- Drug Industry Lies About New Drug Research and Development
- Uneasy Alliance -- Clinical Investigators and the Pharmaceutical Industry
- FDA Advisers Tied to Industry
- The Pharmaceutical Industry -- To Whom Is It Accountable?
- The Tightening Grip Of Big Pharmaceutical Companies
- Government and the Flu: A Short History
- Drug Company Lies About Celebrex in JAMA
- Odds Are The Drug Industry is Paying Off Your Doctor
- Drug Industry Using Senior Group Fronts to Promote Own Agenda
- Are Doctors Happy?
- Call to Ban Drug Companies From Sponsoring MD Education
- Medical Research or Drug Company Secrets?
- More Drug Company Conflict of Interests
- Most Media Coverage of Drugs Highly Biased
- Conflicts of Interest and the Public Trust
- Industry-Funded Medical Research Skewed Toward Industry
- Drug Company Gifts May Affect the Way Doctors Practice Medicine
- 3 Drug Companies Face Fraud & Bribery Charges
- Drug Companies Triple Money on Direct-to-Consumer Drug Ads
- Shame: A Major Reason Why Most Medical Doctors Don't Change Their Views
- America is Running Out of Doctors and Nurses
- Even Doctors Have No Faith in Conventional Medicine
- Four Steps to Reduce Your Drug Expenses by Up to 80% Now 12/17/03 These drug prices are hyper-inflated for one reason alone: drug company greed. www.mercola.com/2003/dec/17/drug_costs.htm
- Health Site Rankings 2/4/04 ... to dazzle and deceive, to continue inventing medical agendas and need through glitzy and smooth-talking sites, toward their usual underlying motive: greed ... www.mercola.com/forms/rankings.htm
- New Arthritis Drug Approved But Beware ... It is important to remember that any time you are dealing with numbers that large there will inevitably be corruption, greed and negative influences ... www.mercola.com/2001/dec/5/bextra.htm
- Who is Responsible for Your Health? 7/9/03 ... Mercola has effectively pointed out in this newsletter may be the case with the pharmaceutical industry whose goals have mutated into downright greed ... www.mercola.com/2003/jul/9/health_responsibility.htm
- Baby Formula Supplies 'Violate Code' and Kill ... This is a tragic example of how the drug model is frequently based on greed. ... Greed is a powerful ruling force in this world. ... www.mercola.com/1998/archive/ baby_food_kills_millions.htm
- Is Fluoride Really As Safe As You Are Told? 2/9/02 ... Want to read a first-hand story about lies and greed and disregard for human health and crooked deals between government and industry? Read Dr. Foulkes ... www.mercola.com/2002/feb/9/fluoride_safety3.htm
- The Real Dangers of Soda to You and Your Children 7/9/03 By Dr. Joseph Mercola with Rachael Droege. How many sodas have you had today? How about your kids? ... www.mercola.com/2003/jul/9/soda_dangers.htm
- Why Are Drug Prices so High? 7/9/03 By Dr. Joseph Mercola with Rachael Droege. The population is aging, prescription drug use ... www.mercola.com/2003/jul/9/drug_prices.htm
- The American Medical System is Nearing Collapse 8/21/02 ... The disease is caused by conflict of interest, tainted research, greed for big bucks, pretentious doctors and scientists, lying, cheating ... www.mercola.com/2002/aug/21/medical_system.htm
- My Vision ... By doing so, and by exposing the dishonorable motives - usually greed - that form the basis of the current establishment's methods, I hope to help... www.mercola.com/forms/myvision.htm
- Why Trust Me? A site that, startling as it may be with all the greed-motivated hype out there in health care land, is truly for you. www.mercola.com/forms/background.htm
- Hepatitis B Vaccine Continues to Kill Infants 7/9/03 By Dr. Joseph Mercola. The 2002 immunization schedule encourages the routine use ... www.mercola.com/2003/jul/9/hepatitis_b_vaccine.htm

DRUGS AND DOCTORS MAY BE THE LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH IN U.S., By Joseph Mercola, D.O. - At one time, the main title of my Web site read: Doctors are the Third leading Cause of Death. Many of you reading this have read or seen this in many places other than my Web site. This article, available on my home page, was widely circulated on the Internet and was one of the reasons why my Web site was initially popular. What you may not realize is that I am the one who made this analysis and popularized it. The original study was published by Dr. Starfield, a full professor of public health at the most prestigious hospital in the United States, Johns Hopkins. Her study never had the headline in it, but instead listed the published research documenting the various causes of deaths that doctors contributed to. I simply added them all up and compared them to cardiovascular diseases and cancer and came up with the above headline, which was widely circulated on the Internet.
Interestingly, when I contacted Dr. Starfield by e-mail she disagreed with the headline I had come up with. She did not feel that doctors were the third leading cause of death, but thought they were the number one cause of death because of their failure to inform their patients about the truth of health. Now this might be a bit too harsh, as, even if people understand health truth, they have freedom of choice and can choose to use sugar, soda and drugs (legal and illegal) to compromise their health and longevity.
However, JAMA actually published a study a year earlier that could support that doctors may be the leading cause of death in the United States. This finding is more of a speculation though, so below I have provided some other studies to support this assertion.
In 1994, an estimated 2 million (1,721,000 to 2,711,000) hospitalized patients had serious adverse drug reactions (ADRs) and 106,000 (76,000 to 137,000) had fatal ADRs, making these reactions between the fourth and sixth leading cause of death. JAMA April 15, 1998;279(15):1200-5, BMC Nephrol. December 22, 2003
Medication-related problems (MRP) continue to occur at a high rate in ambulatory hemodialysis (HD) patients. Medication-dosing problems (33.5 percent), adverse drug reactions (20.7 percent), and an indication that was not currently being treated (13.5 percent) were the most common MRP. [Of] 5,373 medication orders [that] were reviewed ... a [medication-related problem] MRP was identified every 15.2 medication exposures [i.e. one out of every 15 uses of medication produce significant problems]. Nurs Times. December 9-15, 2003;99(49):24-5.
In 2002, 16,176 adverse drug reaction reports were received, of which 67 percent related to reactions categorized as 'serious.' Pharm World Sci. December, 2003;25(6):264-8.
Medication administration errors (MAEs) were observed in two departments of a hospital for 20 days. The medication administration error rate was 14.9 percent. Dose errors were the most frequent (41 percent) errors, followed by wrong time (26 percent) and wrong rate errors. Ten percent of errors were estimated as potentially life-threatening, 26 percent potentially significant and 64 percent potentially minor.
Serious and Fatal Drug Reactions in US Hospitals - Drug-related morbidity and mortality have been estimated to cost more that $136 billion a year in United States. These estimates are higher than the total cost of cardiovascular care or diabetes care in the United States. A major component of these costs is adverse drug reactions (ADE). Healthsentinel.com
About 0.05 percent [one out of 2,000] of all hospital admissions were certainly or probably drug-related. Incidence figures based on death certificates only may seriously underestimate the true incidence of fatal adverse drug reactions. Eur J Clin Pharmacol. October, 2002;58(7):479-82
In a survey of over 28,000 patients, ADRs [bad drug reactions] were considered to be the cause of 3.4 percent [one out of 28] of hospital admissions. Of these, 187 ADRs were coded as severe. Gastrointestinal complaints (19 percent) represented the most common events, followed by metabolic and hemorrhagic [bleeding] complications (nine percent). The drugs most frequently responsible for these ADRs were diuretics, calcium channel blockers, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and digoxin. J Am Geriatr Soc December, 2002;50(12):1962-8
DR. MERCOLA'S COMMENT - As health reporter Nick Regush said last year:
"There is no way to be nice about this. There is no point in raising false hopes. There is no treatment or vaccine in sight. There is no miracle breakthrough on the horizon. Medicine, as we know it, is dying. It's entering a terminal phase. What began as an acute illness reached the chronic stage about a decade ago and progression toward death has been remarkably swift and well beyond anything one could have predicted. The disease is caused by conflict of interest, tainted research, greed for big bucks, pretentious doctors and scientists, lying, cheating, invasion by the morally bankrupt marketing automatons of the drug industry, derelict politicians and federal and state regulators - all seasoned with huge doses of self-importance and foul odor."
Currently, the United States spends about 1.5 trillion dollars for healthcare, and the projections are that it will double in less than 10 years. The sad tragedy is that we are spending all of this money on disease management focused on drugs and surgery, and our return on this investment is profoundly poor. More and more people do not have the energy they need to get through the day, while millions of others are suffering with painful crippling diseases, because they have violated basic health principles.
Often, negative health and lifestyle choices are made because of a lack of knowledge, and it's my passion to increase the public's awareness of the health tragedies facing the nation. I will give you, the consumer, the tools to become a major force for good health and to alleviate disease and suffering.
At Mercola.com, we have been steadily working to introduce innovative software that will accelerate this process, but finishing the manuscript of my book pushed the project back a bit. The beta version will be released shortly and I hope to have the full version out very soon. The software will help all of us to transform the system together.

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