Many emails I’ve received about the Health Care Bill – H.R. 3963 – contain a confusing array of warnings that I’ve found impossible to verify from searches of the actual Bill in pdf format, but some warnings pan out to be legitimate. In the paragraphs below I have inserted supporting screen shots from the Bill itself, since ’seeing is believing.’ Click here to download the actual Bill.
If you agree with any or all of what is posted below, please contact your U.S. ‘representatives’ and ask them to strike at least those sections you consider to be onerous.
What I’ve verified from the Bill so far:
1. National Card: You will be required to be in possession of a national, digital-based ‘health card’ or ’similar mechanism’ (if you want health care).
2. Re-admissions ‘De-incentivized’: You’ll be less likely to be re-admitted to the hospital, if you return to the ‘ER’ for help.
3. Salary Control: An employer will be unable to decrease the salaries of his employees, in attempt to be able to afford health care coverage for them.
4. Slap by Another Tax: You’ll be taxed on your income – at an additional 2.5% – if the U.S. ‘health czar’ deems that you don’t have “acceptable health care coverage.”
The above four (4) proposals included in the Bill are just some of costs ‘we the people’ will endure if we accept this promise by the U.S. government to “provide affordable, quality health care for all Americans, reduce the growth in health care spending, and… other purposes.” As I continue to gain insights from readers and further study of the 1,190 pages of the Bill, I will update this post.
In the following four (sections) I will expound upon the evidence.
1. Health Card? Hey, Why Not Just ‘Verichip’ Me Instead?
Section 1173A proposes the utilization of a “machine-readable health electronic plan beneficiary identification card” (’health card’) that would “enable the real-time…determination” of your “financial responsibility at the point of service….”
Clearly, proof of citizenship will need to be on your card. But what information about your “financial” status (indicating your level of “responsibility”) will also be included?
The proposed ‘health card’ will stipulate whether or not you are eligible “for a specific service with a specific physician at a specific facility, on a specific date or range of dates.” Wow! All this sounds impressively specific.
And this Section (1173A) indicates as an alternative to the ‘health card’: “a similar mechanism.” Question: What might our ‘trusted public servants‘ in Washington have in mind for such a “similar mechanism“?
Well, why not entice us with an even ‘more convenient mechanism’ than a card, and something that is unlikely to be misplaced, like the Verichip, using “Health Link” technology “to link you and your health record”?
This section of the ‘Health Care’ Bill – on the ‘Health Card‘ – is draconian legislation and smacks of the totalitarian future described so well (and as a warning) by George Orwell.
Screen shot from the Bill – Section 1173A: [Got Card? jpg - will post after technical difficulty resolved].
[VeriChip jpg]
[HealthCard jpg]
2. Bill Provides Incentive Not to Re-Admit: Less Pay to Hospitals for Re-Admitted Patients.
Even non-health care workers understand that re-admissions to the hospital are extremely common, necessary and important for Americans’ health. It is not wise for me as a doctor – carrying the responsibility of patients’ health in the Emergency Department – to have a financial incentive to NOT readmit you, your spouse, your child or your parent!
But Section 1151 allows the new U.S. ‘health Secretary (’czar’) to tell hospitals and doctors: ‘Don’t re-admit that patient, or we’ll reduce your pay.’
Quote: “The Secretary shall reduce…payments…to such hospitals.”
Screen shot from the Bill – Section 1151: [Reduced Pay for Re-admissions jpg - will post after technical difficulty resolved].
3. Salary Cuts to Pay for Employees’ Health Care? Government Says You Cannot.
Section 1174 basically says, ‘You will provide your employees with health care coverage, but you cannot take it from their salaries.’
Quote: “Any contribution on behalf of an employee, with respect to which there is a corresponding reduction in the compensation of the employee, shall not be treated as an amount paid by the employer.”
Salaries are the #1 expense for most companies. Yet the government is demanding that you do not adjust salary rates in order to pay for health insurance. If you did reduce salaries to pay for health insurance, you, as employer, would need to make records appear as if the draw from other account categories was made for other reasons, in such a manner that would not ultimately reveal your business decision.
Of course, taking such a measure as that would be considered by the government to be criminal, especially after the proposed “strengthening of audit authority,” which is also included in the Bill. Advice: Keep quiet or one of your employees or colleagues may report you to Big Brother. Sure sounds like George Orwell’s 1984 to me.
Screen shot from the Bill – Section 1174: [No Health Care from Salaries jpg - will post after technical difficulty resolved].
4. You Have No Health Care Insurance? Your Income Tax Just Increased 2.5% – Unless You’re Amish?
You will be taxed 2.5% if the U.S. ‘health czar’ deems that you don’t have “acceptable” health care coverage.”
Quote: ‘‘In the case of any individual who does not meet the requirements…there is hereby imposed a tax equal to 2.5 percent of…the taxpayer’s…gross income….”
An important story from Fox news reported that the Amish are to be except from the mandate because admirably, they “take care of their own” and don’t carry commercial or governmental “insurance.” In fact, they’ve avoided the Medicare and ‘Social Security’ scams since the 60s after fighting to not have to pay taxes toward those two ‘programs’ for the same reasons.
From the Fox story: “[I]f the Amish can opt out, then some civil libertarians say they want out, too — not for religious reasons but because they don’t think the underlying health insurance mandate is legal.”
Any “civil libertarians” out there who think this mandate from the ‘givement’ is coercive and illegal?
One thing for sure: If ‘civil liberty’ doesn’t beat this thing, and this Section of the Bill passes, the IRS/U.S. Treasury/’Federal’ ‘Reserve’ will be able to effectively sniff out Americans ‘under the radar’ who aren’t paying their ‘fair share’ of income taxes (’Ah! Let’s gain control of ‘em when their most vulnerable: in need of health care, and without a ‘health card’!).
Screen shot from the Bill – Section 59B: [Tax Imposed - will post after technical difficulty resolved].
Action to Take: If you agree that any of the above Sections (#59B, 1151, 1173A, 1174) of H.R. 3963 – the “Health Care” Bill – are not “Good Medicine” for America please contact your U.S. ‘representatives’ in Washington D&C and ask them to strike these sections from the Bill immediately, assuming they still actually hear you.
Disclaimer: None of us on TGM are ‘anti’ any religion or race. To point out what we think may be truth associated with a religion does not mean we are in any way ‘against or for‘ that religion.
Recommendation: Be sure to explore all the References (links below) before drawing any conclusions as to the verity of the information in this post.
A One-World Government/New World Order (NWO) – An Open Conspiracy: The NWO was once considered fodder for uneducated eccentrics, but the Internet – the ‘new media’ – has exposed and confirmed many of the plans and accomplishments for the NWO. I created this Triad to conceptualize and document NWO progress, and I think you will find the supporting references (below) enlightening.
One World Triad:
Religion as the Third ‘Front’ to be ‘Mastered’: In the mythical sense, might Religion contain the most challenging obstacles for the New World Order ‘elite’ to overcome before the Triad (‘unfinished pyramid’?) is complete? Given the progress already made on the Governance and Finance ‘fronts’ (see references below) it seems likely that significant inroads are probably being made in the attempt to create a one-world Religion too.
Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your perspective?) secretiveness is the the modus operandi of the Federal Reserve (Finance) and much of the U.S. Congress and Executive branch (Governance). Secretiveness characterizes some or all of the world’s religions too. Therefore, unless we are part of the NWO ‘elite’ there is no way to know alldetails of the NWO plans and accomplishments on the three ‘fronts.’ But as you will see from the references, significant progress has at least been made on Governance and Finance. Progress on the Religion front remains largely a question.
Religion: Bane or Blessing to the NWO? Religion may be the ‘angle’ of the Triad that is the most likely to result in the death or success of the New World Order. What is of obvious concern is the fact that history and current geo-military-politics – some say especially in the Middle East due to the America-Israel alliance – demonstrate that the Religion ‘front’ has significant potential for death to humans and possibly human civilization itself.
Hold Back the ‘Winds of Strife‘: Regardless of your religious beliefs and geopolitical persuasion, and whether or not you believe that a NWO is in the world’s best interest (Caveat emptor), please consider the ‘Preventive Strategy’ below, since doing what you can to help ‘hold back the winds of strife’ might be ‘good medicine’ for mankind at this point in time.
Title for installment: Deflation 101 -- America ‘Zero Bound’: Is Economic Collapse Imminent?
[Critical update (since initial post on January 12th, 2009): The Consumer Price Index (CPI) decreased 1.0 percent in December, 2008. Read below to understand why this may signal the onset of deflation and ultimately a depression. It may be likely that the 'media masters' controlling our mainstream media will brush over or censor the bad financial news, as the U.K. is apparently starting to do. Regardless, President Obama's inauguration has certainly eclipsed it.
Introduction: We seem to hear a lot about 'inflation' on the mainstream media, but little about 'deflation': inflation's ugly opposite, and the potential player in America's economic collapse ('depression'). Please consider first reading 'Deflation 101' below, if you are not familiar with the concept of deflation (the vicious cycle by which the prices of our goods and services can drop to catastrophic levels, deflate). N.b.: All emphases ours.
Ben Bernanke's Insights from the 2002 Report [Important: these thoughts of his were communicated to us seven (7) years ago]:
1. “I believe that the chance of significant deflation in the United States in the foreseeable future is extremely small…[because of]…the resilience and structural stability of the U.S. economy itself.” “A particularly important protective factor in the current environment is the strength of our financial system: …our banking system remains healthy and well-regulated….”
2. “Of course, we must take care lest confidence become over-confidence…. I would be imprudent to rule out the possibility [of deflation] altogether.”
3. “The…bulwark against deflation in the United States…is the Federal Reserve System itself. I am confident that the Fed…has…sufficient policy instruments to ensure that any deflation that might occur would be both mild and brief.” Note: We Americans have been lead to believe that the secretive Federal Reserve ‘policy instruments‘ are sane and in our best interest, and yet less than two months ago Congress clearly indicated that our money is manipulated secretively by the Federal Reserve and that “Secrecy of the monetary policy process…promotes increased financial market uncertainty [and] unnecessary volatility….”
4. The Federal Reserve’s primary ’policy instrument‘ is the way it increases and decreases the interest rates on the money it lends to its banks. And this from Mr. Bernanke is extremely important: “Deflation may result if…the [interest rate for banks] declines to zero or very close to zero,” a rate (a lack thereof) which the Federal Reserve has now achieved.
5. Once the…interest rate is at zero, no further downward adjustment in the rate can occur…. At this point, the nominal interest rate is said to have hit the “zero bound.”
6. ‘Zero Bound’ is when the Federal Reserve can no longer manipulate the money supply by lowering interest rates to stimulate us to buy, as is their ‘policy‘. Said another way, per Fed chairman Bernanke: When the Federal Reserves “policy rate falls to zero -- its practical minimum -- monetary policy loses its ability to further stimulate aggregate demand and the economy.”
7. America is now ’zero bound,’ and 7 years ago Bernanke wrote, “Suppose that, despite all precautions, deflationwere to take hold in the U.S. economy and, moreover, that we were to fall to zero.What then?”
8. “Some…have concluded that when that [interest] rate stands at or near zero [ is 'zero bound'] the [Federal Reserve] has ‘run out of ammunition’ -- that is, it no longer has the power to expand aggregate demand and hence economic activity.” “Hence…the situation is one to be avoided if possible.”
9. Now that ‘zero bound‘ has been reached -- where interest rates have been lowered to $0.0% -- the Federal Reserve “can no longer use its traditional means of stimulating…demand [by lowering interest rates] and thus will be operating in less familiar territory.” N.b.: Isn’t this an admission that the ‘traditional means’ -- the ‘policy instruments’ -- used by the Federal Reserve ’system’ are tenuous at their core?
10. The Federal Reserve’s “inability to use its ‘traditional methods’ may complicate the policy-making process and introduce uncertainty in the size and timing of the economy’s response to policy actions.”
11. [Being 'zero bound'] “creates…an even greater burden on households…that [have] accumulated substantial debt before the onset of the deflation…because, even if people are able to refinance their existing debts at near the low [0.0%] interest rates, with [housing] prices falling, they must still repay the principal….”
12. Bernanke continued: “I should emphasize that my comments on this topic are necessarily speculative, as the modern Federal Reserve has never faced this situation [of being zero-bound] nor has it pre-committed itself formally to any specific course of action should deflation arise.”
[This is the end of Bernanke's comments from his 2002 report]
Deflation 101: Prerequisite ‘lesson on deflation’ (largely from Wikipedia):
A. Deflation is associated with recession and more rarely, long term economic depression.
B. Deflation is caused by a general, widespread collapse in the public’s demand for goods and services -- across all or most industries.
C. Result of deflation: prices for goods and services drop (deflate) severely, as businesses cut prices on an ongoing basis to entice buyers to buy. If we consumers don’t buy, then the businesses must cut costs even more, with employees first to be cut (rising unemployment). BTW: Rising uninsured too. In the ER we’re noticing a definite increase in unemployed -- and thus uninsured -- patients who cannot afford to pay cash to see their doctors, but who know we in the ER must see them for free (seemingly for any disease condition). These patients are stressed. And as the volume of these uninsured ER patients increases, their own economic/financial stress is translating to the ER work environment. The stress is becoming palpable.
D. In deflation, because the price of goods is falling, even though we consumers may still have dollars to spend, we have an incentive to delay purchases and consumption until prices fall further (’waiting for the bottom’), which in turn reduces overall economic activity and contributes to to the ‘deflationary spiral’ (a collapse in total demand of all goods and services; e.g., a decreased demand for that real estate you may be trying to sell). N.b.: I’ve now come to understand why ‘waiting for the bottom‘ to buy and ‘waiting for the top‘ to sell each contribute to deflation and inflation respectively.
F. Now that the Federal Reserve -- and thus America -- is ‘zero bound‘ (as above), the ‘Fed’s’ primary tool (’policy instrument‘) -- the manipulation of the interest rates it requires of its banks -- has ‘circled the drain.’
G. Federal Reserve members may try to pull out a few remaining, less dazzling ‘policy instruments’ from their bag of tricks, but concern is growing that they may fail to provide real solutions to preventing what could be an upcoming deflation crisis (depression).
Gold 101: Things on Earth are precious and valuable only if they are limited in supply. Diamonds are valuable primarily because they hoarded. This artificially increases their value. Gold is valuable because its supply is truly limited on Earth. Interestingly (as I understand it) if/when we have a gold-based currency, periods of relative deflation tend to undulate normally/healthfully with periods of relative inflation (’yin-yang’ balanced scale phenomenon). For example, if the prices of goods and services drops (deflates), the purchasing power of each gold-based unit of currency increases and people can by more with their ‘dollars.’ This stimulates the economy. Conversely, when the prices of goods and services increases (inflates), the purchasing power of each gold-based unit of currency decreases; people can then buy less with their ‘dollars’ and this cools the economy.
Ironically, Ben Bernanke used gold as an example (in his 2002 address), of why something has value, indicating that if through alchemy we could synthesize gold, it’s value and thus its price would plummet. This begs the question: Since we cannot synthesize the precious metal, why are we not using it as the standard for our currency, instead of continuing with the Federal Reserve’s phony, secretive system, which is based on their ‘alchemy‘ of worthless bank notes (’dollars’)?
Dollarization 101: Economies based on unstable currency, like the one we have now in America, spawn the use of alternative currencies. This is called ‘dollarization’: the use of foreign or alternative domestic currencies. When our ‘official’ money becomes unreliable, dollarization allows commerce to continue to some degree, unless governments make it illegal to use the alternative currency, as America’s did during the Great Depression, or if government shuts down the alternative currency resources, as the FBI attempted to do recently with the gold-based Liberty Dollar.
Mining 101: Deflation also acts as a stimulus to increase mining and exploration, since one easy way to make real ‘money’ (something of limited supply, and thus with true value) is, according to the Wikipedia post, to ‘dig it out of the ground.’
Barter 101: As the value of the dollar tanks, citizens take it upon themselves to do what they can to control chaotic economics by resorting to barter (and alternate currencies, as above). In effect, barter acts as protective tariff in deflated economies, encouraging local consumption of local products and services.
Inflation 101: As Bernanke said, with deflation and the ‘zero bound‘ state, it becomes impossible for the Federal Reserve to manipulate interest rates any further to try to stimulate consumer and business spending. One of the only other ‘policy instruments’ ‘the Fed’ then has then is to simply print and circulate increasing numbers of fiat paper ‘dollars’ (and simply enter more ‘money’ into the Federal Reserve digital balance sheets). By doing this, the value of the fiat-based currency approaches zero (in a sense becomes ‘bound for zero’ too). [See Zimbabwe dollar below].
CPI 101: Decreasing Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a helpful indicator of possible deflation, because it allows us to watch the ‘prices consumers pay’ drop (as consumers and business hold off making purchases until the nebulous ‘bottom’ is reached.
We need to remember that the Federal Reserve can and will intervene with another of their ‘policy instruments’ to artificially keep the CPI from decreasing: By simply increasing the supply of paper dollar bills in circulation, consumers ’spending behavior’ will increase. Unfortunately, however, with more worthless paper dollars in circulation, the cost of goods and services (the price -- the number of paper dollars -- citizens pay for the goods and services) will go up (’inflate’). With a fiat monetary system like the Federal Reserve (instead of America having a gold standard and allowing free market events to take their course), we are guaranteed to eventually have periods of deflation (and possibly depressions) and inflation (and possibly hyperinflation).
CPI Deflation Watch (see Dr. Evan’s post at the top of this link): We had a decline of the core CPI of -0.1% in October 2008, and only a 0.02% increase in November, 2008. According to Professor Evans at Brigham Young University, two consecutive declines in the CPI may signal an increased likelihood that we’re faced with a destructive deflationary period (the precursor of a depression). It is noted on Dr. Evan’s CPI Deflation Watch post that 0.02% is practically zero, but “at least…we dodged the deflation bullet for the month of November.” When this installment of TGM was initially posted last month, we wrote:
“The data for the next CPI report, for December (from the Bureau of Labor Statistics) comes out on January 16th, 2009. Let’s hope the CPI turns out to be in the positive direction, not negative. Professor Evans certainly understands being ‘zero bound’ when he wrote: “The scary thing about the January release is that the Fed can’t lower the fed funds rate anymore to try and stimulate the economy. The next CPI report comes 4 days before Obama’s inauguration. It will be interesting to see if the events of the inauguration eclipse important CPI news, especially if it indicates a drop in the CPI.”
Unfortunately, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) did decrease by 1.0 percent in December, 2008. And it is likely that President Obama’s inauguration (and the latest ‘war’ between Israel and Palestine, and the downed U.S. Air flight, etc.) did eclipse this news about the declining CPI. Regardless, if Professor Evans is correct -- that two consecutive monthly declines in the CPI could signal an increased likelihood of deflation (which can be the precursor of a depression), then the the current CPI trend of…
-0.1%(October) → +0.02% (essentially zero percent in November) → -1.0% (December)…
Should probably be a big concern to us all (CPI → ?percentfor January…
Current Recession → Deflation → Depression? We are now officially in a recession. And 7 years ago we were told by Ben Bernanke in his address, that it would be ‘unlikely’ that an ongoing fall in prices (like we are now seeing) would continue into an all-out deflation (a collapse, a ‘depression’). But I wonder what Mr. Bernanke is thinking now, what with the Federal Reserve, and thus America, being ‘zero bound.’ All of the preconditions for a collapse are here, especially the fact that the Federal Reserve has no more ‘manipulative wiggle room’ to lend our money at lower interest rates to try to stimulate the economy (since there’s nothing lower than a 0.0% rate).
According to Reed Construction Data, deflation -- and a stagnant economy -- has become a much larger risk in the last few months. And ”ominously, some of the leaks from the Obama transition team [many of whom are Bilderberg and Trilateral Commission folks], suggest an inclination to stop the recession at any cost, even if this means [using fiat dollars to eventually be 'substantiated' by our tax dollars] to prop up failed enterprises and households.”
Excuse me? “An inclination“? It’s called the ‘bailout,’ and it already started during the Bush administration. Regardless, the ultimate result is this: Those ‘economically-compromised crippled enterprises and houses’ will remain a significant drag on our economy for many years to come.
And what if this is the beginning of a deflationary period leading to ‘Great Depression #2′? Well, believe it or not, there are liberal (’socialist’?) thinkers in Washington -- like Stephen Leeb -- who appear to be ‘fine’ with the consideration of a World War III as a solution to a next depression!
Federal Reserve to the ‘Rescue’?: Mr. Bernanke assured us 7 years ago in his address that the Federal Reserve system “ensures that the financial system will remain resilient if financial conditions change rapidly.” His promises and talk are cheap. America’s ‘Federal Reserve’ is now ‘zero bound.’ So now, what are ‘the Fed’s’ only recourses -- to 1) achieve prevent deflation and possible depression, 2) provide a $700 billion bailout and 3) a $500 billion tax cut -- when there is no tangible, real value to our dollars in the first place?
Incredible answer from Bernanke 7 years ago: “Government has a technology, called a printing press (or, today, its electronic equivalent), that allows it to produce as many U.S. dollars as it wishes at essentially no cost…. [Federal Reserve 'alchemy' to the rescue!]…. We conclude that, under a paper-money system, a determined government can always generate higher spending and hence positive inflation.”
Notice he doesn’t say the ‘printing press’ is a cure to economic woes, only that it will ‘generate higher spending and create inflation‘! Oh, and a ‘determined government‘? The Federal Reserve operates autonomously and secretly from ‘we the people’ and the ‘government’ (which is supposed to mean by our representatives in the U.S. Congress.
Incredibly, Mr. Bernanke says that simply printing more money is the solution! Bernanke even goes so far to say, “we can take comfort that the logic of the printing press...must assert itself, and sufficient injections of money will ultimately always reverse a deflation.” Of course that ‘policy instrument’ will ‘ultimately always reverse a deflation,’ but is “the logic of the printing press” really logical? Isn’t it hard for you to believe what your reading? Bernanke and his minions are pulling the wool over the eyes of us Americans and they know it:
Notice from Bernanke’s 2002 address, that in his very same ‘breath’ (read it yourself) he says, “By increasing the number of U.S. dollars in circulation…the U.S. government…reduce[s] the value of the dollar…, which is equivalent to raising the prices…of…goods and services.” I’m no economist, but how can reducing the value of America’s currency -- and raising the prices of all its goods and services -- be a sound, long-term solution? And yet then Bernanke cites “academic literature warning of the possibility of an uncontrolled deflationary spiral, in which deflation feeds on itself and becomes inevitably more severe.”
And what Mr. Bernanke didn’t describe, resulting from his ‘logical’ ‘printing press’ solution (the printing of more worthless, fiat dollars), is the opposite extreme: an ‘uncontrolled inflationary spiral’ (runaway inflation). Printing more and more paper money ‘dollars’ may be perceived as helping initially, but it won’t be the solution to bailing out America in the long run. Are Americans really too stupid and/or complacent to see what’s going on here? And who gets all those paper dollars before we do? The ‘trusted’ bankers (whoever they are).
Got milk? Let’s learn from the Zimbabweans who have allowed their corrupt, fiat monetary system to bring them to the point of now paying $24 billion of their own ‘dollars’ for a gallon of milk (see the link). Is this possible for the U.S. ‘dollar’?
Federal Reserve Hijack of America: Some analysts are saying the three most egregious Constitutional compromises we are allowing include: 1) America’s foreign interventionism/occupation/’nation building,’ 2) The massive financial bailouts of companies and banks (’nationalization’ of economies = ’socialization’), and 3) Especially the ‘Federal Reserve’ system for America’s ‘currency.‘
Is it possible that the powers of the U.S. Constitution are being hijacked by ‘our own’ Federal Reserve? For example, see this video where Congressman Ron Paul asks why Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke cancels a Congressional hearing on the Federal Reserve to attend a secretive meeting in Switzerland:
I would think Bernanke’s ’solution’ for us Americans (’the logic of the printing press’) should be leading to a revolt, even American Revolution #2 (links to book, The Revolution by Ron Paul). That is if there are enough patriotic, independently thinking Americans left in this country. Please consider joining the Campaign for Liberty (it’s free), and get their regular email updates about what is going on with America, and what you can do to try to save ‘her.’
Faith in ‘The Government’ Does Not Mean Faith in the Federal Reserve Because ‘The Fed’ is Unconstitutional: America’s ‘Federal Reserve’ is not officially ‘federal’. Nor does it have a ‘reserve.’ And now this corrupt monetary system is ‘zero bound.‘ Should we still sit back and believe Ben Bernanke’s conclusion seven years ago that “the chances of a serious deflation in the United States appear “remote’because of our economy’s underlying strengths, and because of the determination of the Federal Reserve and other U.S. policymakers to act preemptively against deflationary pressures”?
Final Words: If the CPI declines again in January, we may be in for deflation. And ‘the Fed’ -- to try to prevent us from going into another great depression -- will rev up essentially the only ‘policy instrument’ it has left in its bag of tricks: ‘the printing press.’ That’s not good medicine for America. Instead of allowing for banks and companies to collapse (let free enterprise and competition operate), and getting America back to a gold standard (like other countries appear to be doing), we’ll sit back and watch as the counterfeit, fiat monetary system of the secretive Federal Reserve starts printing gobs and gobs of valueless ‘dollars.’ That sound’s logical? According to Ben Bernanke it is.
Editor’s note: Audio for this installment of Political Health and Healing is forthcoming.
Title: ‘Fed Health’ Coming to You and Your Doctor Soon? Or: Daschle’s Federal Reserve-based ‘Fed Health’ is An Insult to Thinking Americans.
Would Tom Daschle’s Fed Health Dash Our Hope for Health Freedom? TGM is About Integrative Medicine and freedom of choice in health care: having the freedom to integrate the best evidence-based therapies and diagnostics from all medical disciplines. Secrecy cannot be a part of that approach. However, according to a recent article in Medical News Today, submitted by the Citizens’ Council on Health Care, President-Elect Barack Obama’s choice of Senator Tom Daschle – to head up the department of Health and Human Services (HHS) – might entirely dash our hopes of real, lasting holistic reform of our health care system, since our health freedoms under Daschle may be severely compromised under his Fed Health plan.
The article says this: “If Mr. Daschle succeeds with Fed Health, Americans can expect that all private medical decisions-and their doctors-could soon be under federal control.” Mr. Obama’s choice for Secretary of HHS “signals a plan to eliminate free-markets and resurrect national health care….”
If the Federal Reserve and its banks are secretive about what’s going on with our tax dollars, how could we think anything different for our health care under a Federal Reserve model? And if this is true, why isn’t mainstream media warning us? Maybe there’s just too much other bad news to report.
Senator Tom Daschle: Our New Representative at HHS.Here’s what he apparently wants:
A national health board modeled after the Federal Reserve’s board! This Federal Health Board would oversee the entire health care system. Mr. Daschle calls it “Fed Health“. If this is true, it should be alarming to any American who has a functional brain. The ‘Criticisms’ section on Wikipedia’s Federal Reserve page reminds us that Milton Friedman outlined how the Federal Reserve caused the great depression. Is ‘The Fed’ repeating its history today? Regardless, do we want our national health care to be modeled after a corrupt, counterproductive organization like the Federal Reserve that operates as an organization largely autonomously, outside of Congressional oversight? We’re with Ron Paul who wisely recommends that the Federal Reserve be abolished. Here’s what else Daschle apparently wants:
Federal government to direct the practice of medicine and control all facets of health insurance.
Ongoing surveillance of your personal health for government research purposes.
Government officials to have access to your patient records online for monitoring of physician treatment decisions.
No Thanks, Obama and Senator Daschle. Integrative medicine doctors will be tempted to use various explicatives at the thought of what Daschle wants. Take for example #5 (above): monitoring your doctor’s treatment decisions? Integrative medicine doctors base treatment decisions on their experience with their patients and on published clinical research. Many treatments are often outside the realm of ’standard’ ‘allopathic’ medicine – drugs and surgery – and do not fall within what Daschle’s ‘Fed Health’ would dictate as being their ’standard of care.’
Fed Health’s Standard of Care = Fed Health’s Standard of Scare. What if, for example, you want the freedom to choose EDTA chelation as a treatment for your cardiovascular disease – angina or claudication – or simply for prevention? (TGM #15, 14, 13) Or if the anticipated flu epidemic arrives and you and your integrative medicine doctor decide to treat you with an intravenous infusion of dilute hydrogen peroxide to cure your flu?
[Click image to download full Lancet report]
Or what if you become infected by MRSA or one of the other growing numbers of bacteria that have become resistant to antibiotics, and you request that your doctor treats you with photoluminescence (UV light-energized blood)?
[Image links to the book Dr. Douglass' father's wrote.
None on TGM team receive proceeds from book sales]
Or what if you and your doctor decide to try high-intensity magnetic therapy to treat a stubborn, hard to treat condition you may have?
[Image links to A.M.R.I. of Washington]
These are just a few examples of evidence-based ‘integrative medicine’ therapies out of thousands. You probably want and need the freedom to choose. Good medicine is NOT about limiting our therapeutic armamentarium to only drugs and surgery. But what if Daschle and other ‘big brothers’ with HHS and ‘Fed Health‘ scare you and your doctor with: “That’s not the standard of care. You can only use anti-bacterial and anti-viral drugs for your condition. Cease your practices or be fined or go to jail” That’s what may be in store.
What Does Fed Health Have to Do With Unions and Corruption? ‘As a man thinketh, so is he.’ Or put another way: the character of a man = his thoughts + feelings combined. It is our opinion that to be even somewhat ‘okay’ with plans like Fed Health, politicians who devise or endorse plans like this – and U.S. citizens who support them – would have to think and feel like labor union bosses, mobsters and Federal Reserve members who are clearly sacrificing U.S. Constitutional principles for the sake of total power and control. Their thinking goes something like this: “We’re entitled to these powers, like locking in higher wages for workers, and dictating how medicine is practiced. Therefore, we’ll act irrespective of local, state or federal law. In fact, our wants/our entitlements supersede the U.S. Constitution. What if we want money? We’ll get it outside Congressional negotiations. We’ll get it from the Federal Reserve.” The perverted thinking may become most obvious from what we may be about to see happen with American health care: Daschle’s Fed Health, or some version of it.
How Quickly Fed Health Cometh? States are already having to cut Medicaid coverage during these economic hard times. More cuts are expected in 2009. Yet here’s the clincher: Some of our representatives in Congress are seeing a need to allow the millions of growing unemployed U.S. citizens who have lost health benefits to start receiving Medicaid benefits with our tax dollars paying the entire bill, of course. How quickly might a ‘Fed Health’ be implemented? As soon as enough emergency departments around the country start reporting increases in ‘crisis level’ volumes and casualties, as increasing numbers of U.S. citizens resort to the ‘ER’ as last resort for their acute health care needs.
Where does this type of unAmerican, ‘Fed Health’ thinking and planning come from? As noted on TGM #16 post, this article from American Free Press clearly indicates that Senator Tom Daschle is part of the ‘One World Government Bilderbergerite’ mentality. To find Daschle in the list of other Bilderberger meeting attendees, see this Wikipedia link. One World Health Care anyone? It appears that Senator Tom Daschle is not good for your health or good for good medicine either.
The only solution: We predict that health care – socialized medicine under a Fed Health-like plan – may be the final straw that breaks America’s back. If it’s not to late, the only solution is to restore honor and integrity in Washington, with the likes of Representatives like Congressman Ron Paul and do away with the secretive, unconstitutional Federal Reserve – if that’s still possible. Please see TGM #16 and 17.
Good Medicine Word of the Week. It’s disgusting in our opinion: ‘Fed Health‘ – the concept for Senator Tom Daschle’s health care plan for America, using the Federal Reserve as the model. All of your private medical decisions could soon be under federal control. Is this the kind of change America wants and needs?
Title: The Only Good Medicine for America’s Current Political Situation and for Health Care: Honorable Representatives in Washington Like Congressman Dr. Ron Paul Who are Willing to End the Federal Reserve.
Editor’s note: Audio for this show is forthcoming. At this time, other than the YouTube videos, no other audio is included with this installment of Political Health and Healing.
Coming Soon: Fed Health. Last week we spotlighted how Obama + unions + organized crime + the Federal Reserve could = a situation not good for America. On the next installment of Political Health and Healing we’ll focus more on Obama’s choice to represent us and our ‘health freedoms’ at HHS -- Senator Tom Daschle -- and his dubious plans for our brand new health care system, based on the Federal Reserve model: ‘Fed Health’ as it’s called. Brace yourself for an unpleasant shock.But Before that: the Solution….
Current U.S. Political Situation like a Cancer in Need of a True Surgeon. The unions, the mob, the current IRS, the FDA, the Federal Reserve -- and the politicians these entities influence -- are like the cells comprising an insidious cancer that has metastasized into the vital organs of our country. And it seems like the cancer is growing ‘hyperplastically.’ So what good medicine do we have to heal the pathology? Dr. Douglass thinks the only hope and solution to saving America and our health care system is a ‘Ron Paul revolution’ -- if it’s not too late. Unfortunately, mainstream media -- and thus -- mainstream America -- largely ignore Congressman Dr. Ron Paul.
Ron Paul tells it like it is: The doctor-turned-Congressman appears to be our only representative in Washington willing to use his ’scalpel’ to excise the cancers in government that are killing us. There are many YouTube videos of Congressman Paul at work. In this recent one he proclaims how embarrassing the ‘nationalization’ of U.S. industries -- like the auto industry -- really is:
Ron Paul Answers the Question: Where’s the Bailout Money Going (4.5 min):
End the Federal Reserve? The Fed is unconstitutional, it’s secretive and it’s destroying America. With the exception of Ron Paul, most of our other representatives in Congress don’t seem to care. Or might the Federal Reserve be secretly ’sharing the wealth’ of our tax dollars with many of our representatives in Washington?Ron Paul is surprised at how many young Americans understand the dire need to End the Fed.
Music Video: End the Fed:
Money, Banking and the Federal Reserve: 40-minute movie showing the sad truth.
Americans can do something: Start by getting free updates from Congressman Ron Paul and get involved in the Campaign or Liberty. On June 15, 2007, Ron Paul introduced HR 2755, Federal Reserve Abolition Act. Unfortunately -- and not entirely surprisingly -- there were no co-sponsors to the bill and no further action was taken. The legislation was referred to the House Committee on Financial Services and effectively ignored. Ignorance is bliss for only so long. Assuming HR 2755 is best for America, then who is to blame for this? Is it our representatives in the House of Representatives or is it U.S. citizens who are too uninformed and complacent to demand that their representatives take action on what they feel is best for their country? Please look into the Campaign for Liberty!
Next installment of Political Health and Healing: Daschle’s Federal Reserve-based ‘Fed Health’ is an insult to thinking Americans. We’ll address in more detail how upcoming HHS secretary Tom Daschle plans to use the Federal Reserve to model America’s ‘new and improved’ US health care system. Incredible. Watch out America. Your hopes for health freedom may soon be dashed by Daschles ‘Fed Health’.
Title: Laying the Political Groundwork for ‘Fed Health.’ Given the recent alarming and disappointing news about Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, selling Obama’s Senate seat to the highest bidder – just before President-elect Barack H. Obama takes residence in Washington – we thought it important to spotlight on this and the next two installments of Political Health and Healing, what mainstream media might underplay: how in some ways similar thinking – amongst Barack Obama, Senator Dashle, labor unions, organized crime and the Federal Reserve – is required to accept what is apparently being planned for our health care, ‘Fed Health’, and ultimately how it may negatively affect our health freedoms.
“For youz Americans it’s Obama, Daschle and Fed Health.
That’s the deal for health care. Gotta problem with that?”
Image from www.gamespot.com
Will Unions, Mafia and Federal Reserve be Largely to Blame for the Collapse of U.S. Dollar? It is understandable how unions can protect workers from unfair corporate labor practices, yet it is not fair to America how labor unions fix wages. Fixing the price of labor is incompatible with free enterprise. And combining such price fixation with organized crime threatens our freedoms as protected by the U.S. Constitution. Recent case in point: A fundamental concern of the bailout of the ‘Big Three’ auto makers is “whether the legislation would force concessions from the unions.” The euphemistic way of saying this is to ask if the unions will be ‘competitive,‘ i.e. will they lower union workers wages? This is nothing new to Americans. We’ve become accustomed to unions exerting their negative influence and power on free markets by essentially fixing wages, but in reality, to even be asking unions to lower wages in the United States is incongruous with American principles.
On TV recently United Auto Workers (UAW) president Ron Gettelfinger said the UAW wont commit to lower wages for union workers, and stated erroneously that their wages are already the same as foreign auto companies. And then Mr. Gettelfinger announced that the UAW will ‘go to the Federal Reserve‘ if the bailout bill is not passed by the Senate, which is exactly what they are doing: trying to get their way through ‘auto czar Paulson’, since the ‘balance of powers route’ (Congress) didn’t work for them. So now, the finance arms of Chrysler and G.M. are to be morphed into government-regulated financial institutions so they become eligible for direct loans from the Federal Reserve. It’s called the nationalization of the auto industry. Maybe after this, the impact of the nationalization of health care – a ‘Fed Health’ – wont seem so bad.
The joke is on all Americans though because the ‘Federal Reserve’ is a quasi-private fiat monetary system without a ‘reserve’ of ‘funds,’ i.e., it has NO MONEY – unless ‘the fed’ prints more, for the money tree. After doing away with the gold standard, our monetary system is all ’smoke and mirrors.’
Regardless though, shouldn’t we be shocked as Americans? The UAW essentially said, “If we can’t get the money through Congressional legislation, we’ll get it from our friends at the Federal Reserve”! So now we have two systems of government in the U.S. to choose from, the legislative branch and the ‘Federal Reserve’ branch? Apparently yes. We’ll be addressing what all this seems to mean for the advancement of medicine during this and the next two installments of TGM. And as we’ll see on TGM #18 – as unbelievable as it is – the Federal Reserve is to be the model for our new health care system – Fed Health! Few people seem to be asking, ‘Who’s running the show here, anyway?’
Obama’s Relations With the Unions and the Mafia. It’s not news that organized crime largely controls the labor unions, but from the Wall Street Journal and CBS just six months ago: Obama favors closing down the official government oversight board created to try to rid the unions of organized crime. Interestingly it wasn’t until after Obama published his ‘pro-mob’ position, that the Teamsters union then endorsed him for U.S. president. As the WSJ piece says, “The Teamsters in Chicago have shown little enthusiasm for rooting out corruption in their ranks.” And Obama’s “warm words to the Teamsters [are] …disturbing.” Note: According to the WSJ Bush appears involved in this too.
The CBS article continues: Obama’s Federal Election Commission records show a “hefty contribution to his…presidential race from Richard Simon who has mob ties.” But “the taint of corruption and of ties to organized crime seemed not to ruffle Obama….” If Obama wants to be portrayed as promoting “good government and higher morality, the place to start may not be Washington, but his home town of Chicago.” We might do well to study this article to see the depth of this unhealthy political situation.
Obama’s Relations with Governor Blagojevich. We’ll probably hear little or nothing about the relationship, or flat denials that there was much of a relationship between ‘the Gov’ and Obama. Or we may hear, “Oh c’mon, you think Governor Rod Blagojevich has significant ties to the unions or that Obama really has any significant relationship with Blagojevich – just because ‘The Gov’ controls his Senate seat in Washington? Naaaah!” Bottom line: Obama is looking pretty weak before assuming office. He said he had no contact with ‘Blago’ about the Senate seat. But his campaign chief of staff, David Axelrod stated last month that Obama spoke with the governor about the vacancy! Obama should tell us all – on mainstream media – about his relationships with any and all thugs who run Chicago politics. To prove his innocence, he should allow himself and his political team to be fully investigated. Otherwise can we trust him and his administration with our health and health care? Hey, at least, ‘Bobo,’ ‘Geuseppi,’ ‘Hoffa’ and ‘Vinny’ and the rest of the “Chicago Outfit” will probably be merry this Christmas at their palaces in Chicago or Las Vegas. And if mafia politics repeats itself, ‘family member’ Gov. Rod Blagojevich will probably be merry too.
Pieces of the Mysterious Puzzle for Health Care: Obama, Dashle, the Mob, Unions and the Federal Reserve. Clearly Obama has relations with America’s labor unions, which are corrupt. And the unions look to a separate entity, the Federal Reserve, for money when they don’t get what they want from what is supposed to be a Constitutionally-based balance of powers in Congress. What you may find interesting, if you read the ‘Criticisms’ section on Wikipedia’s Federal Reserve page, is where Milton Friedman outlined how the Federal Reserve caused the great depression. If the UAW circumvents Congress – and free enterprise – by going directly to the Federal Reserve for their bailout, is the Federal Reserve repeating history today?
And what’s probably most ironic, and adds to the mystery of what will probably be a radically different health care system in the near future: Obama’s choice to head up the department of Health and Human Services (HHS) WAS Senator Tom Daschle who, as mentioned above, wanted to use the Federal Reserve model for America’s ‘new and improved’ US health care system – ‘Fed Health‘. Watch out America. We may be in for a shock. If Mr. Daschle succeeded, you could probably expect that soon, all private medical decisions made on your behalf, by you and your doctor, will be under federal control. “Fed Health“?
Where does this type of alien thinking and planning come from? A friend sent me this article from American Free Press showing that Daschle is part of the ‘One World Government Bilderbergerite’ mentality. To find Daschle in the list of other Bilderberger meeting attendees, see this Wikipedia link.
One World Health Care anyone? It appears that Senator Tom Daschle would not have been good medicine for America! Perhaps the exposure of his improprieties (not paying his ‘fair share’ of income taxes, etc) was a good thing, but don’t expect the end of this one politician to make much of a difference in Washington D&C.
Next installment of Political Health and Healing: The Only Good Medicine for America’s Current Political Situation: Honorable Representatives in Washington Like Congressman Dr. Ron Paul.
Good Medicine Word of the Week: The apparently not-so-good choice to head HHS – Senator Tom Daschle. See TGM #18.
Is the TACT Trial ‘Lost in Space’? The first NIH-sponsored research trial on intravenous EDTA chelation therapy for the treatment of cardiovascular disease – the Trial to Assess Chelation Therapy (TACT trial) – is under attack by the notorious, so-called ‘quackbusters’ and their unofficial, but official sounding National Council Against Health Fraud (NCAHF). And the attack is being used to threaten our access to EDTA chelation therapy once again. It’s not about science. It’s about politics and medical economics.
‘Quackbusters’ Use Medscape to Publish their Biased, Inaccurate Article Against EDTA Chelation and the TACT Trial. This most recent attack by the so-called quackbusters comes in the form of an article they published on Medscape, an online resource for physicians that is supposed to be unbiased and objective. Title of article: Why the NIH Trial to Assess Chelation Therapy (TACT) Should Be Abandoned. Link to the original and summary articles. The authors concluded, using their supposed ‘expertise’ that the TACT trial is unethical, dangerous, pointless, and wasteful and that it should be abandoned. This conclusion is unwarranted, unsubstantiated and offensive to many physicians – and undoubtedly to many scientists at the NIH – who have invested significant time and money to make this important research possible.
Is the Medscape Article Evidence that the TACT Trial is Very Important? Some integrative medicine doctors think it is evidence that the pharmaceutical industry and the medical-industrial complex see chelation as a major threat economically. If the safe, inexpensive intravenous EDTA chelation therapy really is effective for treating cardiovascular disease then it is a huge threat to conventional medicine.
Dubious Authors and Referenced ‘Authorities’ of the Medscape Article: The article’s conclusions, and the opinion that the TACT trial should be abandoned, are from what appear to be grossly biased NCAHF doctors who hold themselves out to be ‘experts.’ Some of them have been discredited in court, even branded as being unfit as medical experts. A few of the NCAHF cronies include Wallace Sampson, Robert Baratz, Kimball Atwood (authors); and Stephen Barrett, Victor Herbert (referenced in the article); other ‘quackbusters’ of the NCAHF: William Jarvis, John Renner.
What Do the Federal Reserve and the National Council Against Health Fraud Have in Common? Both are private organizations, but use ‘National’ and ‘Federal’ in their names so they sound like official government entities. The NCAHF is anything but a legitimate council, with governmental oversight. Yet because of misleading names, people are fooled into believing they are official, sanctioned.
Are the NCAHF ‘Experts’ the Real Frauds? Court Discredits NCAHF and Medscape Authors:
1. See the article on attorney Carlos Negrete’s website: ‘Barrett Put in His Place Again.’ In Dr. Barrett’s own hometown the court commented on his de-licensed status. The NCAHF ‘quackbusters’ tried to convince the court that “…existing law should be changed” to allow them to bring lawsuits against doctors and companies, even if they have “little or no evidence against the targeted entity.” Essentially the NCAHF told the court that the companies they target should be forced to defend themselves on the basis of accusation alone. The court concluded that it “was not persuaded that such a change in law was appropriate or logical.”
2. In a California Superior Court case, Medscape article author Dr. Wallace Sampson and Dr. Stephen Barrett were the so-called ‘experts’ representing the NCAHF in a case in which the NCAHF was accusing a homeopathic company of wrong doing. Judge Haley Fromholz concluded:
A. Dr. Sampson has “thin credentials to opine on the proper standards for…clinical or scientific research…for obtaining valid evidence about…the efficacy of drugs.”
B. Both Dr. Sampson and Dr. Barrett are “biased.” And the weight of their testimony was “slight in any event.” The two doctors “can be described as zealous advocates of the [NCAHF's] position.” They “therefore [cannot be considered] neutral or dispassionate experts.”
C. “In light of their affiliations and their orientation, it can fairly be said [of] Dr. Barrett and Dr. Sampson [that] their testimony should be accorded little, if any, credibility….”
Yet these are some of the so-called experts on Medscape that the medical world is relying on to opine that an NIH drug trial on EDTA chelation is ‘unethical and pointless’ and that it should be abandoned.
ACAM Response: The American College for Advancement in Medicine (ACAM), has publicly reaffirmed its commitment to the TACT trial. ACAM President, Dr. Jeanne Drisko said, “Ultimately, the TACT trial results will assess chelation therapy’s place in health care.” The TACT trial’’s principal investigator, Dr. Tony Lamas, is a Cardiologist who teaches at the University of Miami School of Medicine. He said he believes the allegations made by the ‘quackbusters’ are “without merit” and that “we’ll sufficiently answer their unfounded allegations of impropriety,” and that federal officials “will find that the allegations are of a political nature.”
EDTA Chelation Therapy Would Rock the Medical World. If EDTA chelation therapy is effective, which it appears to be empirically and in many published clinical reports, then something this safe and inexpensive – implemented on a large scale to treat heart and peripheral vascular disease – would rock the medical world as we know it.
Good Medicine Word Of The Week: The ‘not-so-good’ NCAHF – stands for the non-official ‘National Council Against Health Fraud’ – a private organization we on TGM think is fraudulent and comprised largely of physician zealots who are on a quixotic global crusade to stamp out what they judge to be medical quackery.
Next Week: Rapid-fire review of recent published research on various other promising integrative medicine approaches that may help you have a Heart of Health.
Helen Keller: “The heresy of one age becomes the orthodoxy of the next.”
Is it time to quit viewing EDTA chelation therapy for heart disease as medical heresy, and start using on a more wide spread basis in this new age of medicine?
This is Part 2 of Effective Alternatives for Treating Cardiovascular Disease – EDTA Chelation as Front-Runner.
Trial to Assess Chelation Therapy, TACT trial: We discuss this placebo-controlled trial sponsored by the National Institute of Health. This research is worthwhile, but in our opinion we already have enough empirical and research-based evidence to be offering intravenous EDTA chelation therapy to cardiovascular disease patients now. Regardless, and unfortunately, it appears that the so-called ‘quack busters’ – the phony ‘experts’ from the ‘National Council Against Health Fraud’ – are trying to sabotage the TACT trial in attempt to expunge this safe, simple, effective and inexpensive alternative treatment for cardiovascular diseases. Next week we shine the TGM spotlight on the ‘quack busters.’
EDTA Monograph by Cardiologist Dr. Stephen Olmstead: “The preponderance of clinical reports in the medical literature support a claim of efficacy for symptomatic angina, intermittent claudication and critical leg ischemia.” Note: we are currently trying to get in touch with Dr. Olmstead to find a digital version of the Monograph and link to it from the TGM website.
EDTA Chelation Therapy as ‘Holistic’ Therapy: EDTA is not a ‘natural’ product. It is an artificial, synthetic drug. However, one could argue that it is a ‘holistic’ therapy since it is infused systemically, and reaches and potentially detoxifies heavy metals from most of our tissues and organs.
EDTA Package Insert Altered by Abbott Labs to Remove Cardiovascular Disease as an Indication for the Drug: Even by the 1960s existing evidence for EDTAs efficacy to treat cardiovascular disease was enough for Abbott Labs to include it as one of the ‘indications’ for the drug. Later the language was arbitrarily changed, stating that EDTA is ‘not’ indicated for this purpose. To the best of our knowledge, this mysterious manipulation of medical product information is unprecedented in medical history.
Off-Label Drug Legislation the Result of One Doctor’s Fight Against the FDA to Be Able to Offer EDTA Chelation to His Patients. In 1981, during a ‘David and Goliath’ type battle, Dr. Ray Evers from Alabama fought the US Food and Drug Administration for his right to use EDTA to treat his patients with cardiovascular disease. With EDTA in his ’sling’ he toppled the FDA. The federal court ruling in favor of Dr. Evers stated that the FDA’s arguments against Dr. Evers were “nonsensical.” This was a huge victory for patients and the advancement of good medicine not only because it lessened the FDA’s tyranny against our medical freedoms, but also because it resulted in today’s doctors’ ability to prescribe drugs ‘off-label.’ This means we can now legally use any medication for any purpose, even though that purpose – that ‘indication’ – is not necessarily approved by the FDA. All this because of Dr. Ever’s fight for EDTA! Kevin asks the logical question: Why was the FDA trying to regulate an Alabama doctor’s medical practice? And Dr. Douglass asks: What political influences – what constituencies/vested interests – may have teamed up with the FDA to start that battle against EDTA and Dr. Evers in the first place? We’ll may never know.
Dr. Rogers vs. the Florida State Board of Medical Examiners: Dr. Robert Rogers, MD fought the Florida Medical Board all the way to the Florida Supreme Court over his right to provide EDTA to his patients with cardiovascular disease, and won. The Florida Supreme Court ruled that the action of the Florida medical board restraining Dr. Rogers from utilization of chelation therapy for his patients was “an arbitrary and unreasonable exercise of the state’s police power.”
Note: To download full report as a pdf file click on the document.
Negative Published Studies On EDTA Chelation Therapy For Treating Cardiovascular Disease: There have been six negative studies. We discuss them, and how they all either have major irregularities from a scientific standpoint, or have negative conclusions even though the results reported in the studies were positive. For an excellent online resource with commentary and analysis of each one of the studies, go to http://www.drcranton.com/chelation.htm And as we’ve mentioned on previous shows, a good resource for finding physicians who are likely to be offering intravenous EDTA is the organization American College for Advancement in Medicine at acam.org.
Good Medicine Word Of The Week: Off-label use – in commemoration of Dr. Ray Evers and his ‘David and Goliath’ fight against the FDA. Now American physicians can use EDTA, and any other drugs, for purposes other than what the FDA approves them for.
Next week: If intravenous EDTA chelation really is a safe, effective and inexpensive alternative to bypass surgery and angioplasty, do you think there might be attempts by conventional medicine to squelch it? We’ll shine the TGM spotlight on the phoney ‘quack busters‘ and the so-called National Councel Against Health Fraud (or is it the ‘National Councel of Health Frauds’?) in their obvious efforts to supress the TACT trial and our access to EDTA chelation therapy for treating heart disease.
Part I of Effective Alternatives for Treating Cardiovascular Disease – EDTA Chelation as Front-Runner
Dr. Douglass Interview with Dr. Ronald Hoffman on Health Talk, WOR Radio 710, New York City, N.Y., discussing the relative worthlessness of bypass surgery and angioplasty for stable heart disease. Click here to listen.
EDTA chelation therapy could result in profound health care cost savings, which are sorely needed with the current financial crisis the world is in. And with the prospects of massive tax increases and socialized medicine under an Obama administration probably doesn’t make the outlook much better. An example of research showing the potential cost savings from EDTA chelation comes from a study done by Danish physician Dr. Clause Hancke: 90% of his patients who were on the waiting list for getting coronary artery bypass surgery or leg amputation due to poor circulation to their legs, were able to cancel their surgeries after a course of intravenous EDTA chelation treatments. Imagine the potential for financial savings and real health improvements.
Basics of EDTA Chelation: EDTA – Ethylene-diamine-tetra-acetate – is one of many ‘chelating agents’. The ‘chel’ (pronounced keel) in chelation (”kee-LAY-shun”) comes from the Greek for ‘claw.’ Chelating agents, chelation drugs ‘claw’ strongly onto metals and minerals in our blood, cells, tissues and organs and are then ‘flushed’ out of the body, primarily through the kidneys. The attraction between EDTA, and say lead (or other positively charged atoms) is through electromagnetic forces, not ‘covalent’ chemical bonding. EDTA’s has varying attractions for different metals. For example, if an EDTA-calcium complex comes into the presence of lead, the EDTA will have a higher electromagnetic attraction for lead and thereby preferentially bind to the lead, and release the calcium in to the body, allowing for the efficient removal of lead through the kidneys (and a small amount of elimination through the bowels). It is a true ‘detoxification’ therapy.
EDTA chelation therapy is not ‘natural.’ It is a synthetic amino acid approved by the FDA for treating lead toxicity, not cardiovascular disease. Use of EDTA for treating cardiovascular disease is considered ‘off-label’ use of the drug. The controversy of EDTA chelation is primarily around the financial implications it has, as a replacement for bypass surgery and angioplasty. Listeners will recall from last week that entire ‘industries’ have been built around bypass surgery and angioplasty, and that these two procedures do not extend life or even decrease the rate of subsequent heart attacks in people with stable heart disease.
History of EDTA Chelation for Treating Cardiovascular Disease: The benefits were discovered serendipitously in the 1950s. Cardiologist Dr. Norman C. Clarke reported that while treating a patient for lead toxicity who happened to have angina symptoms at the time, that the patient told Dr. Clarke that his chest pains lessened. Dr. Clarke reported his earliest findings – his empirical, experience-based discoveries – in the American Journal of Medical Sciences and the American Journal of Cardiology. Since then, numerous studies and clinical reports have been published supporting EDTA’s efficacy for the treatment of cardiovascular disease. An excellent resource for finding published studies on EDTA chelation for cardiovascular disease: Saunder’s textbook, Cardiovascular Drug Therapy chapter titled “Magnesium EDTA Chelation.” Other resources: www.drcranton.com/chelation.htm and www.acam.org.
Scientific studies on EDTA Chelation for Cardiovascular Disease. We discuss a few of the published studies. It appears, in general, from the research and from clinical experience (when treating patients who are not diabetic and who do not smoke cigarettes), that 75%-90% of patients experience significant improvement in their symptoms, such as chest pain and exercise-induced leg pain, after a course of intravenous EDTA chelation treatments. Some research supports EDTA chelation as being of benefit to cerebrovascular disease too (improving arterial circulation to the brain). The ultimate question becomes, when is the evidence enough?
Good medicine word of the week: EDTA chelation – the intravenous administration of an FDA-approved drug, used ‘off-label,’ for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, including poor circulation to the heart, legs and brain; to the entire body, in fact.
Next Week: Part II Effective Alternatives for Treating Cardiovascular Disease – EDTA chelation as Front-Runner! Maverick doctors challenged legally by state and federal governments win their cases thereby foiling attempts to take away our freedoms to use EDTA chelation for treating cardiovascular disease.
Title for the show: Treating Cardiovascular Disease – Conventional Approaches Not Working.
What is Cardiovascular Disease? ‘Cardio’ for heart. ‘Vascular’ for vessel. Cardiovascular disease generally means the obstruction of arteries – the vessels that deliver oxygen and other nutrients to all of our cells and tissues. This includes obstruction of the arteries to the heart: the coronary arteries; arteries to the brain: the carotid arteries; arteries to the legs: the peripheral arteries. In fact every single artery in the body can become obstructed as a result of atherosclerosis (‘hardening of the arteries’).
Medical Economics of Cardiology and Cardiovascular Surgery Trumps Evidence-Based Medicine: According to current scientific evidence, surgical intervention with bypass surgery or angioplasty does not improve the health outcomes of patients with stable coronary artery disease.
A. Case Against CABG.
The scientific evidence generally does not support the use of ‘bypass surgery’ (coronary artery bypass grafting, CABG) for the treatment of patients with stable angina: a pattern of recurring chest discomfort, that is not worsening in frequency, duration, quality, location, severity, etc. This is in contrast to unstable angina.
Studies:
1. Eleven Year Survival in the Veterans Administration Randomized Trial of Coronary Bypass Surgery for Stable Angina, The Veterans Administration Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery Cooperative Study Group: Eleven (11) year study done at 13 different veterans hospitals showed that patients who undergo bypass surgery have the same survival rates as patients who have only medical management, without surgery. New England Journal of Medicine 1977; 311:1333-1339.
2. European Coronary Artery Surgery Study Group, Long-Term Results of a Prospective Randomized Study of Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery in Stable Angina Pectoris: This study found a slight, statistically insignificant increase in survival rate in bypass surgery patients. Lancet 1982; Nov.27, pp 1173-1180.
3. Ten-Year Follow-up of Survival and Myocardial Infarction in the Randomized Coronary Artery Surgery Study: Results were similar to those of the Veterans study (#1 above). Circulation 1990; 82:1629-1646.
B. Case Against Angioplasty: COURAGE Trial.
This study of 2,300 patients with stable coronary disease (stable angina) shows that angioplasty and stents do not prolong life, or even prevent heart attacks in most of these cases. This was discovered by comparing the outcomes of patients with stable angina who had angioplasty, with the outcomes of the patients who had only medical therapy (no surgical intervention). New England Journal of Medicine 2007, March 26.
Conclusion: despite the widespread belief that angioplasty and stenting cuts down on heart attacks and death, it’s never been shown to do that in patients with stable coronary disease.
Important note of caution: For patients having heart attacks – myocardial infarction – or unstable angina, the angioplasty procedure or bypass surgery may be life saving in those cases. It is thought that about 50% of all deaths from heart attacks occur within 1 hour of the start of symptoms, often before the patient gets to the hospital. If you experience chest pain that is new, worsening or not lessening in severity, call 911 immediately.
To Intervene or Not to Intervene: How do the world’s doctors treat stable angina (stable coronary artery disease)? In this 2007 New England Journal of Medicine survey of over 7600 doctors, essentially 60% (57%) of them recommended surgical intervention: angioplasty or bypass surgery. The other 40% (43%) recommended the more conservative approach: medical management alone, thus ‘bypassing bypass’ and ‘avoiding angioplasty.’ Australia and Oceania win as the most conservative areas globally, with essentially 55% of the surveyed doctors recommending the ‘medicine-only’ approach, compared to the rest of world at around 45% with the same recommendation. Click here to view the excellent Clinical Decisions Interactive by Drs. Susan Cheng and John Jarcho.
Belief System and Mantra Sometimes Necessary in Conventional, Allopathic Medicine: “The benefits outweigh the risks and costs; The benefits outweigh the risks and costs!” – even if the evidence may not support that belief.
Consequences of Ignoring or Regarding Evidence-based Medicine, Evidence-based Cardiology:
A. Ignoring: “…an ‘industry’ is being built around this operation – coronary bypass surgery: the creation of facilities for open heart operations in community hospitals…and proliferation of catheterization and angiography suites…the expansion and development of training opportunities in clinical cardiology, cardiovascular surgery and cardiovascular radiology. This rapidly growing enterprise is developing a momentum and constituency of its own, and as time passes, it will be progressively more difficult and costly to curtail it materially…. The financial implications of CABG are profound…. The enormous funds already being devoted to this procedure divert support available for other, perhaps more necessary, aspects of medical care.” Eugene Braunwald, M.D., Professor Emeritus of Medicine and Cardiology at Harvard Medical School. New England Journal of Medicine 1977; 297(12):661-663.
B. Regarding: The COURAGE trial and the studies on bypass surgery cited above should lead us to improve the way we treat all patients with stable coronary artery disease. Now that would be good medicine. But will we regard and act upon the scientific evidence, or continue to largely ignore it?
Next Week: Intravenous EDTA chelation therapy for the treatment of cardiovascular disease. The conclusion in the New England Journal of Medicine survey above said many of the doctors surveyed from around the world expressed how important it is for doctors to discuss with their patients all treatment options and their possible outcomes. But are all the treatment options being discussed? If not, why not? Let’s look at and regard the scientific evidence for one option some doctors think is part of a good ‘Integrative Medicine’ approach to treating cardiovascular disease: EDTA chelation therapy.
Good Medicine Word Of The Week: Angioplasty – the process of mechanically opening a partially or completely obstructed artery by inflating a balloon to squash the obstructing material (the ‘atherosclerotic plaque’).
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