The Daily "ECHO"

The Daily Echo: Has our traditional medical system been “Bought”? July 15, 2016

July 15, 2016

This week I have been highlighting some of the clips from Jeff Hays movie, “Bought”. Today we bring you the trailer. I would urge you to watch this film and see some alarming things going on with our current medical system. We have heard in the past the phrase, “follow the money”. I can bet most people visiting their local physician office may notice a few “Pharm” Reps hanging around. Why you may wonder does my physician have to be “sold” on a new medication? Why does it seem like the “drug of the month” is prescribed to every patient coming in and out? While I personally don’t know the reason a physician may choose to prescribe this or that I do know that “Big Pharma” is a multi-Billion dollar industry…Yes with a B…. Where my frustration comes in has to do with the patient we have worked with to begin an exercise program, get their nutrition spot on, and begin to get healthy. Many of these patients are on prescribed medication. I would never nor have I ever told a patient to cease a prescription. My advice is to tell your physician you are making changes and would like to work with them on slowly eliminating their (high blood pressure meds, cholesterol meds, pre-diabetic or type 2 diabetic meds). The lab work validates the changes in the blood chemistry and yet time and time again the PCP will not adjust or work with the patient. Multiple times the patients have had to “fire” their PCP and find one willing to wean them off because their bodies have no need for them anymore. Not always is it the physician who is to blame. Many times the physician will advise the patient to make life style changes to no avail. Many patients feel cheated if they go to the PCP’s and come away without a prescription or referral for a test or procedure. I know I have many friends who I work closely with in the medical field that tell me this. We must all understand getting healthy is a personal responsibility that means making better choices. A prescription or as I call it “Permission Slip” allows people to behave a certain way and at least for a short period of time not suffer the consequences of those bad decisions. It would be like driving your car to a mechanic when the engine light goes on and he cuts the wire to the dashboard and say, “It’s gone now”. We laugh at that analogy but how much different is it when we get heartburn to take a pill and we fixed it????? Do you really think your body needs an H2 blocker or Proton pump inhibitor? Or maybe that double cheese burger, fries, coke and pastry for lunch might be responsible for it? Or maybe the fact you haven’t exercised for 10 years have a body fat % of 50% might have a bit to do with it. So as you can see my friends we must all take responsibility and that means deciding who you decide is your physician…. I personally have a great physician who practices what he preaches. He is healthy low body fat percentage, exercises, eats great. Only prescribes meds when the reward outweighs the risks (which is very little). Lastly when your physician gives you advice, understand that is what it is….Advice…. You ultimately decide if you feel that advice is good or not. You can always get a 2nd, 3rd, or 4th opinion. It’s your body and you aren’t going to get another one so choose wisely how you take care of it.

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