The role politics and politicians play in a country’s health is worthy of scrutiny and is one that has possibly been overlooked by many other independent critiques and critics of the medical establishment. We raise this point in our new release book MEDICAL INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX: The $ickness Industry, Big Pharma and Suppressed Cures.
We devote one entire chapter to the issue of politics and health in Medical Industrial Complex. An excerpt follows:
Serious questions need to be asked about a health ‘system’ in which politicians are often reluctant to invest money in long-term, preventative measures that can take years to show a return on investment.
A politician’s future is very much at the whim of voters who are notoriously fickle. Little wonder then that many tend to focus on short-term policies and initiatives instead of long-term ones. Those who don’t are very quickly brought into line by their party – be it on the Left or Right of the political spectrum – whose modus operandi, invariably and almost without exception, is to do whatever’s needed to win the next election and to stay in power.
That’s politics, folks.
In the process…short-term tangible things like spending more money to reduce waiting surgical waiting lists (to win votes) instead of dealing with the long term underlying causes are given priority.
If the wellbeing of constituents, as well as minors and other non-voters – aka human beings – wasn’t at stake, we’d say this is rather naughty of our elected representatives. As people’s health and, indeed, their very lives are at stake, we’d say this practice or policy, call it what you will, is downright deplorable.
When politics is thrown into the medical melting pot and stirred up with those other essential ingredients – namely Big Pharma, hospitals, the medical academic establishment, hospital supply and equipment companies, and other key players in the Medical Industrial Complex – the practice can only be described as seriously corrupt.
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“The medical profession is unconsciously irritated by lay knowledge.” –John Steinbeck, East of Eden
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Making short-term medical policies, in the case of vote-hungry, power-mad politicians, and pandering to those same policies, in the case of greedy elements within the medical establishment, when lives and health are on the line is unforgivable.
How refreshing it would be if the government of the day announced it was replacing its “ambulance at the bottom of the cliff” health policy with a 10 or 15-year, or, better still, a 20-year vision for the country’s health. A vision that requires investment in long-term preventative measures and that encourages a holistic approach.
Alas, the nature of politics and politicians is that no such change will likely occur. Equally, the current system – a system in which cures for diseases and other ailments come a distant second to just treating symptoms – suits the big pharmaceutical companies and their kind just fine. So no change can be expected any time soon from that quarter either.
At the end of the day, we, the common people, have two choices: we can force the politicians to listen or, better still, we can take responsibility for our own health. The obvious advantage in the latter choice is that it’s actionable immediately and doesn’t rely on a change of government and/or a new type of political leader to emerge.
Be warned, taking responsibility for your own health is not without its challenges. It requires research and no small amount of courage. And…Some health professionals do not take too kindly to patients who want to be involved in decisions about their treatment.
So, be prepared for some battles with your doctor. We know from personal experience they don’t always welcome questions about the (inevitable) side-effects of prescription drugs or suggestions that natural medicine or a health supplement may be a better alternative than a ‘quick-fix’ pill for certain ailments.
Medical Industrial Complex is available via Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/MEDICAL-INDUSTRIAL-COMPLEX-Suppressed-Underground-ebook/dp/B00Y8Y3TUM/
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Morcan Books & Films 