Introducing a new way of talking about health care reform

The current US health care system is built almost entirely upon a colossal lie: that putting chemicals into bodies is a rational way to care for health. This blog will address this lie from multiple perspectives.  

Our modern health care system does emergency medicine very well – which accounts for about 4% of health care utilization. It very often does more harm than good for the other 96% of the health care needs of the population.  This blog will shine a light on the multiple failures of our modern disease management system, and its inability to care for the health of the vast majority of those it serves.

Every day research comes out that shows how cheap and readily accessible therapies can dramatically cut the risk of common causes of disease and death. Cutting the risk of these diseases would also save our health care system untold billions every year. This research virtually never makes it into the headlines, though it is vastly more relevant to the general population than the standard headlines about gene therapies or new medical technologies. This blog will bring a small fraction of that research to light.

Every day we hear politicians talking about the need to reform health care. However, no one is talking about making the types of changes that would result in a system that actually cares for health. A single-payer health care system simply assures everyone equal access to the current medical system. This blog will, over time, address the absurdity of the idea that more use of the current system will result in greater health for the users.

Every day one can find tirades about the perils of alternative medicine, or the lack of research behind the therapies used by alternative medicine practitioners. This kind of accusation is simply ridiculous in the face of the mountains of scientifically tested, peer-reviewed research that supports a wide range of therapies that are used almost exclusively by alternative practitioners. Further, it ignores the fact that there is a vast difference between types of alternative medicine practitioners.

Some have read some books and advertise in local papers as alternative medicine practitioners of one kind or another. Some have certificates in various field that require many hours of study. Others have attended 4-year accredited medical schools, often completed residencies and practice as licensed primary care physicians, with prescription rights and insurance coverage. To state that the therapies used by practitioners of alternative medicine isn’t proven is an absurd distortion of a complex topic. This blog will bring some small fraction of the scientific data supporting alternative therapies to light in the hope that those “skeptics” espousing the “it’s all unproven” myth will encounter a bit more skepticism of their own.

We hope you enjoy reading, and we look forward to your comments.