Health Care/Drugs
Please allow me to give my opinion concerning prescription drugs and the chemical companies that make them before I address the topic of healthcare. Drug companies are not wringing their hands over your health problems. Especially when they know that some of the manmade chemicals that come from their company may be responsible for them. They are just as worried about how much of your money they are going to get as they are about helping you with your health problem.
It's important to keep in mind that the companies that make prescription drugs are in this to make a profit. The bigger the better. That's how it works for any company in America. To us some of their products and advertising may seem shameless since we are talking about the health of human beings. But that's how it is in our society now days. Money has become everything.
Fast food restaurants offer some foods that are bad for us, the alcoholic beverage companies make products that are bad for us, pornographers offer their "products" that are bad for us, and tobacco producers sell their products - despite the health problems that they cause society. If there is a market for a product someone will fill that void, even if it means harm to others. Prescription drug companies are no exception. They are more than willing to take your money.
Prescription drug companies offer products based on their lack of knowledge of the human body. We assume that they know what they are doing, but their knowledge and success is limited - despite all of their hard work and high technology. To begin with the human body is the most complex thing in the known universe. It is a complex chemical factory that no one fully understands. When I say "no one" I mean no one including any and all doctors, any and all chemists, and any and all drug manufacturers. There is no one who fully understands the chemical make up of the human body and how each chemical interacts with the other chemicals in the body.
As humans we will never fully understand the make up of the human being. Even when the scientists get finished mapping out the genetic makeup of the human body there will be an infinite amount of information still eluding them. This is due to factors that the scientists aren't even considering including the will and emotions (the soul) and the spirit of man displayed through the centuries by man's yearning for the art's, God, etc. The soul and the spirit are not scientifically verifiable even though we all know that we are made up that way - no matter what race or background.
Since this is the case and since man is complex to a degree that is beyond us we have to assume that the companies that produce prescription drugs are involved in a lot of guess work. This means that you and I are the guinea pigs. They test their products to some degree but that too is guess work. Even after their extensive testing people are often negatively affected or end up dying from their products. This is evidenced by the law suits that usually follow.
Some of their products may be helpful - no one can deny that. But they always have some type of side effects. Any pharmacist will confirm this. Some prescription drugs damage in such an esoteric way that the end result may be death - which is honestly unforeseen by anyone. That's because of a lack of understanding by the drug makers. This "honest mistake" is not taken lightly by the drug manufactures, but that is little comfort to those who die from their learning process.
If the truth be told, the chemists and the medical experts who design these drugs just do not understand enough about the human body to be able to insure safety for those who take the drugs. The drug companies who employ them don't want to face that because they are in that business to make large profits. So they are bound to come out with some products that harm people.
The Food and Drug Administration does what it can to regulate what the American people ingest, but they can only do so much seeing how their authority is relegated to what the Congress mandates. Since they are not perfect and since lobbyists representing the drug companies influence the Congress you can figure out that the American Taxpayers may not be getting the protection that they need from chemicals that end up becoming prescription drugs which your doctor pushes. It's not a conspiracy against the American people. It's just a sad commentary on our leadership, on big business and on a society that has become more concerned with money than people.
Because of the drive to succeed the prescription drugs that the chemical companies produce, which the taxpayers assume to be fully tested and completely safe, often end up causing more physical problems than they solve. How many television commercials have you seen hosted by a lawyer looking for victims of destructive prescription drugs? There are a lot of them advertising in the St. Louis market, where I live. Every time you turn around it's another drug killing people or causing life altering side effects.
Recently a doctor prescribed Lamisil for my toenail fungus. After checking around for information about this drug on the internet I found many people with terrible side effects - and some who say the drug should not be allowed in the marketplace. I decided that I would rather live with the discolored toenails than lose my liver from side effects. Even though I had purchased the first month's supply of Lamisil, I threw it in the trash. [Testimonies of those who have tried this drug are easily found on the internet.]
Here's my point. Chemical companies care about beating their competition to the marketplace with the latest drug. They care about making as much money as they can for their stock holders. They care about hiring the perfect advertising firm to market their product so that you want it. It's up to you to realize that prescription drug companies want your money. It's also up to you to care about your own health and question every prescription drug that is pushed your way - especially as you get older. It may save your life.
A few years ago I went to a new doctor to get an annual check up. The doctor determined that my cholesterol was too high so his automatic response was to put me on a prescription drug. I said no to the chemical and I never went back to him because I could tell that he was part of the chemical pushing system that our healthcare profession has developed. Last year I had my cholesterol rechecked by a different doctor who said it was slightly high but there was no reason to take any pills for it. So I didn't need the drug after all. My advise would be to watch what kind of chemicals you put in your complex chemical factory (your body). It may not like them.
As your next president I plan on addressing this problem of pill pushing by our healthcare system. I'm not sure how I'm going to do it but I think that if the American Taxpayers know that I am willing to tackle this they will give me plenty of ideas of how they want my administration to do it. I think it's wrong to put older folks on all of these chemicals and I think the American Taxpayers are getting ripped off just so that the chemical/drug companies can get wealthier. It's a system that perpetuates itself. It's got to stop. We could actually address this problem via the "Meet and Vote" program if there is enough interest.
Now let's talk about our healthcare system in general. I am not for socialized healthcare. (Be suspicious of those calling for "universal" healthcare.) I think that our system can be corrected without employing socialist tactics. The farther we can stay away from anything socialistic the better. Or have we already forgotten that socialism doesn't work in the real world? Having said that let me say that I think our healthcare system is a mess. It needs some work and maybe a little more government regulation. This especially applies to the insurance companies and the lawyers involved in frivolous lawsuits. Their greed has become something that our founding fathers would be ashamed of.
Part of the problem is the greed of the prescription drug companies and the health insurance companies. Part of it is malpractice insurance and the other exorbitant expenses that doctors have to pay to stay in business. Part of it is all of the new chemicals being designed each year that cause unexpected health problems in those who are around them. Part of it is also a food industry that causes people to get sick by the tantalizing goodies they offer the public and the chemicals that they use in their food to insure high profits. Last, but not least, part of the problem is the lifestyle that Americans lead which makes us more susceptible to health problems.
I am not an expert in the healthcare field so I'm not going to attempt to give a solution to all of the complexities of straightening it out. We can address this problem like we are going to do so many issues that the people want to get involved in - with the "Meet and Vote" program. That way we can get the real experts involved, including the healthcare professionals and those who wish to represent the chemical companies. This way the facts can be presented to the people out in the open. But I can address the simple issues that you and I can understand, like the relationship between all of the sickness that we are seeing in our country and the chemicals that are affecting us.
We could do away with much of the need for healthcare if we weren't so sick. That stands to reason don't you think? We could do away with more of it by using known natural cures to heal the sicknesses that we are encountering. The chemicals that are being marketed in our country for every conceivable purpose are responsible for a lot of health problems that people have. Then we are given more synthetic chemicals in the form of prescription drugs in an effort to repair the damage that was caused.
It is a fact that man made chemicals are included in almost everything that we eat, drink, and breath. It's amazing that we are not more sick, but our bodies have a way of compensating in most instances. Our food is laced with all kinds of strange stuff, most of which we can't pronounce (see the ingredients on the label of your favorite food and see if that isn't true). Lately we've seen an attempt by some fast food restaurants to clean up their food a little, but we need much more drastic measures since that is just a drop in the bucket.
To put it simply, we really need to change back to a more natural diet. This even includes taking the chemicals out of our water. The food industry would adapt if they were forced to. Otherwise they will do what's cheapest for them. Corralling the out of control chemical companies may have to take on some form of federal legislation. We'll see. One thing is evident - nothing is changing because the chemical companies are not being called to account for what they are doing to the American public. This is the fault of our fearless leaders.
As your next president it is my responsibility to appoint the director of Health and Human Services who I think will best serve the interest of the American people. This decision will have to come at the expense of the chemical companies who currently enjoy great representation in our nation's capital by the lobbyists that they hire. The person that I put in this position may be one of the most important appointees of my administration since the health of the whole nation will rest on his shoulders.
At this time there is only one man that I have in mind for that position. He may not want it or may be too busy to take it because of his success. There may be others who could do the job but Dr. Robert Marshall is the man for the job to me. I know of no one else who understands the human body like he does. He is not part of the "system" as you normally think of it. He's also not afraid to tell the truth about what we are doing to ourselves. He has not been bought off by the drug companies.
Because of his unusual success in curing people with natural methods I believe that he has the knowledge and the intestinal fortitude needed to turn the healthcare problem around. If he takes the job you can expect a major overhaul of everything that we've talked about here. That will be great for the public but not as good for the chemical companies. Dr. Marshall is the only one that I know of who would go to bat 100% for the American Taxpayers when it comes to health without fear of the drug companies - and have the answers to what really needs to be done to get our national health back on track.
Some big changes will be coming to our healthcare system if I am elected as your next president. I can promise you that the changes will not be socialistic in nature since I don't think that it is possible for the government to do a good job at providing healthcare. I know my limitations and I know they are big in this area, but I am 100% positive that I can come up with the right people to do a job that the American Taxpayers will be grateful for and proud of.
We are doing a lot of things wrong in our society these days. Healthcare and the chemicals that we are putting in our environment and in our bodies can be included in that list. But we are Americans and that means that we can and will find a way to correct what we are doing wrong. Of this I have no doubt. Please consider the American Taxpayer party in 2008 if you want to see real change.
[For those of you who are interested in Dr. Robert Marshall please go to his website: Healthline.cc. (You can also listen to his radio program from that website if it is not broadcast in your area.)]
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