Opinion by Consumer Advocate  Tim Bolen 

Friday, October 31st, 2010

It is common knowledge that few, if any, Americans believe what US network TV tells them about health care.  Most people don't believe what the big newspapers tell them either.  Americans think that our media is controlled - and it is.  So, Americans, even those involved in conventional, status quo, health care seek real information elsewhere. And, where do they go?  The answer to that question is readily obvious.  They get information about what is really happening from those of us in the North American Health Freedom Movement; websites, newsletters, radio shows, TV shows, conferences, public speaking engagements, legislative efforts, etc. 

In fact, just about everything we do works.  We are being listened to by the people that matter.  I'll give you a demonstration further down the page.

Why do I say that?

A few day ago an acquaintance of mine sent me a video, which I'll show you in a minute, of a speech delivered in a Senate candidate race in Michigan.  The doctor delivering the speech was using his argument to attempt to get rid of US Senator John Dingle (D) Michigan in favor of a Republican candidate.  His argument  was that "ObamaCare" needed to be repealed and he was talking about why he thought that.

My friend wanted me to comment on the video, so I did.  When I did that I realized something terribly important; that what this doctor was so angry about was that within "ObamaCare" the legislators had put provisions in place to deal with some of the VERY MAJOR US health care ISSUES that those of us in the Health Freedom Movement had been complaining about for years. For real.

More, not only had we, in the Movement been saying these things, but key people in conventional health care had picked up a large important part of our message and adopted it as their own.

Just below I am going to quote George D. Lundberg MD, the former Editor in Chief of Medscape, eMedicine, and the Journal of the American Medical Association.  George, who I am eager to meet, wrote an interesting blog article in August of 2009 called "How to Rein In Medical Costs Right Now."  He was just as brutal in his condemnation of the system as I am - but the difference is that George is "in" the system.  I'm not.  George is high up in the system and he is listened to - as in the Obama Administration, and the US Congress, adopted his ideas (our ideas) so much so that this Michigan doctor wants to get rid of John Dingle and repeal Obamacare.

Here is what former JAMA Editor George Lundberg MD said needed to be done:

1. Intensive medical therapy (like chelation?) should be substituted for coronary artery bypass grafting (currently around 500,000 procedures annually) for many patients with established coronary artery disease, saving many billions of dollars annually.
    

2.  The same for invasive angioplasty and stenting (currently around 1,000,000 procedures per year) saving tens of billions of dollars annually.
    

3. Most non-indicated PSA screening for prostate cancer should be stopped. Radical surgery as the usual treatment for most prostate cancers should cease since it causes more harm than good. Billions saved here. (Just like Hulda Clark said).
    

4. Screening mammography in women under 50 who have no clinical indication should be stopped and for those over 50 sharply curtailed, since it now seems to lead to at least as much harm as good. More billions saved.  (Just like Hulda Clark said).
    

5. CAT scans and MRIs are impressive art forms and can be useful clinically. However, their use is unnecessary much of the time to guide correct therapeutic decisions. Such expensive diagnostic tests should not be paid for on a case by case basis but grouped along with other diagnostic tests, by some capitated or packaged method that is use-neutral. More billions saved.
    

6. We must stop paying huge sums to clinical oncologists and their institutions for administering chemotherapeutic false hope, along with real suffering from adverse effects, to patients with widespread metastatic cancer. More billions saved. (Just like Hulda Clark said).
    

7. Death, which comes to us all, should be as dignified and free from pain and suffering as possible. We should stop paying physicians and institutions to prolong dying with false hope, bravado, and intensive therapy which only adds to their profit margin. Such behavior is almost unthinkable and yet is commonplace. More billions saved."

Does all that sound familiar?  You bet it does.

Now go listen to this Michigan doctor whine about it:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HnkxIh62dQ

My response to my Michigan acquaintance was: