by Marcel Hernandez, ND
At this stage in its centuries-long history, the world of complementary medicine is confronting major issues. It’s clear that medical freedom is dangerously threatened.
Mainline medical philosophies have become religions – and an inquisition is being mounted against those who oppose the predominant views.
On one hand we see the conventional cabal of large pharmaceutical companies, medical corporations, and most of the country’s legislators and regulatory agencies.
Their reluctant opponents are the holistic medicine practitioners, herbalists, supplement suppliers, compounding pharmacies, and healers of all persuasions. Also in the latter group are the vast number of people who utilize natural therapeutic approaches as part of their personal health maintenance.
The battle is raging – and guess who is losing?
Although it has been estimated that conventional pharmaceuticals kill upwards of 500,000 people a year, as soon as a single consumer experiences a negative reaction to an herbal medicine, most likely improperly used, a government regulatory agency will remove the medicine from the pharmacopeia of natural medicine practitioners.
Yet the same agency allows the herbicide Round Up®, a carcinogen, to remain on retail store shelves.
Meanwhile, we keep losing effective, safe, natural medicines that have been used for generations.
In our infusion center, a certain regulatory agency has forbidden us to use intravenous compounds of wormwood (for breast cancer), milk thistle (for liver conditions), curcumin (for cancer and for inflammation) and others that we were safely administering via IV with positive results for our patients.
These herbs are safe and effective when infused by a skilled practitioner, and research by the National Institutes of Health supports their therapeutic value. Yet dangerous and largely ineffective chemotherapy drugs are routinely administered to patients who are already weakened by their struggles to attain good health.
I hold very little faith in and have almost no patience for conspiracy theories, but I can’t help wondering. Those enforcing the dominant medical system in this country seem to care primarily about making money. And the standard corporate philosophy aimed at achieving this end includes squashing competition.
How do I know this? I was formerly employed as medical director for an insurance company, where I found that accountants and lawyers were guiding insurance reimbursement decisions and medical care.
The argument of providing safe, effective medical care is sometimes used as a rationale for greater suppression of basic human rights.
As a licensed naturopathic medical provider, there are a couple of approaches I might take in helping my patients get the care and natural medicines they need to achieve their health goals. An activist approach would entail putting my energy into existing channels that are fighting for our rights. But that is not my path.
I would rather contribute funds to these channels to support their endeavors for medical freedom. I believe I can best serve my patients by continuing to focus my energies on research that may help them address the serious conditions they are dealing with.
The greater personal issue is how I should respond emotionally and spiritually to the challenges we face. Frustration, anger, outrage, and self-righteousness are not my path. I observe these reactions happening all around me, and I see that they are largely ineffective in inspiring change.
I do feel an inner sadness as I think of how greed and bias have subverted right action. I feel compassion for the suffering that humans are experiencing in these difficult times. I pray that the forces of light and truth will prevail.
In my own little corner of creation, I will continue, to the best of my ability, to be a radiant channel of service and positive energy.