The Institute of Medicine recently released some sobering statistics: Medication errors injure a staggering 1.7 million Americans every year. Of those, 7,000 die. The economic cost is $3.5 billion. And this cost does not include human suffering or costs from lost productivity.
These figures also hide other horrible facts about our cut and drug system. The so-called side effects of Big Pharmas drugs cause several hundred thousand deaths every year. That means people die from properly prescribed chemicals. Plus, figures published in the Journal of American Medical Association reveal that modern medical treatments result in:
* 12,000 deaths from unnecessary surgery
* 7,000 deaths from medication errors in hospitals
* 20,000 deaths from other errors in hospitals
* 80,000 deaths from infections in hospitals
* 106,000 deaths from negative effects of drugs
These are only the known injuries and deaths. The real toll may be much higher.
But the government does not think the drug companies are to blame. It believes the true bad guys are in the supplement industry and in alternative medicine.
Heres proof. I recently sent a message to Senator Diane Feinstein of California. I was concerned about her support for a bill that would give the FDA more controls over nutritional supplements. Heres her reply explaining her support:
The herbal supplement Ephedra was associated with 164 deaths between 1994 and April of 2004, when it was banned by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Sadly, in the time between the FDA announcement of the ban in December of 2003 and the time of the bans implementation in April of 2004, four people died from taking Ephedra. I believe that something more must be done to ensure that dietary supplements are safe and effective.
Something is not right here. There are 309 deaths every day from orthodox methods. But by the figures above, after 10 years Ephedra had caused only 164 deaths.
Mrs. Feinsteins countrymen are suffering thousands of deaths and injuries from Big Pharma each year. That rate is thousands of times higher than the deaths 10 years of one bad supplement caused. Graft and corruption at the FDA are common. It answers to the likes of Merck, Pfizer, and other drug companies. These companies are the source of all the payoffs for FDA advisors.
So do not turn to conventional medicine for anything other than actual emergency care. If you do, you will have made a heavy bet against yourself. You can see your odds. And no matter what Senator Feinstein says, Id bet on supplements and non-chemical treatments.
Ref: Journal of American Medical Association, July 26, 2000; HealthDay News, July 20, 2006.