Why Modern Medicine Needs a Philosophical Overhaul

Dr Brian Joondeph, who writes on Substack and American Thinker, recently posted an article about the loss of trust in the medical profession, particularly since the advent of COVID-19. The article was very good at identifying the problems in the American medical system. Citing a survey in the Journal of the American Medical Association, trust in doctors has declined significantly since 2020, the onset of the pandemic.

The chart below represents the decline according to the age groups. Still, other parameters such as race, ethnicity and gender show a similar decline.

I did have to chuckle, though, because I was relating this same information 50 years ago. Though COVID was not around then, the same insidious ill-health in the medical system was apparent then.

I recall speaking to people about how America spent the most on healthcare, had the most doctors, and had the best technology, yet Americans' health was below that of many modern nations. Life expectancy was way down compared to others in the West, and infant mortality was higher than in a country like Cuba.

One important measure of a nation's health is infant mortality, measured as the number of deaths in the first year of life per 1,000 births. Here is a list of the top 20.

Do you see the U.S. in the top 20 list? You would have to look down the list to know that it ranks 37th.

Then, there are under 5 mortality rates. The U.S. is in 50th place with 6.3 deaths per 1000 live births. That is staggering. 

Those at the top of the list have one third the U.S. death rate.

Little has changed during the 50 years since I was first alerted to this situation. America still spends the most and is the most medicated country. Yet, based on many health parameters, the country still trails badly compared to others. It's number one in the world in terms of obesity. Then, the corporatization of medical practices has made doctor-patient interactions less personal. Could it be that because of all that is being done, there is an inverse relationship between the amount of healthcare––or perhaps disease treatment expended––and the rate of illness?

COVID opened many people's eyes to the rot in the system, and Dr Joondeph touched upon this in his post. The result has been a loss of trust. But really, the loss of trust is a symptom of all that preceded it. Like any relationship, when trust is lost, it's very difficult to restore it.

When trust in a marital relationship is gone, the relationship is usually gone. If you have a financial advisor who rips you off, trust in financial advisors is often gone. The same goes for car salespeople. We could compile a long list. What is curious about the medical profession is that many people give doctors a lot of slack. They'll say it was a lousy doctor and then seek out a good one. However, what has happened is that, as a profession, collectively, there has been a loss of trust in medicine for so many reasons. COVID-19 exposed the medical system in an unflattering light.

During the pandemic, the system treated people with reckless abandon; dying loved ones were isolated, jobs were lost because of wanting to abstain from a medical procedure, and the idea of injecting healthy people with a toxic and improperly tested product was unconscionable. Also, in medicine, there has been a general gaslighting of anyone who complains or rejects a standard medical procedure, such as the plethora of vaccinations that are foisted on children. Take the tragic case of this infant.

HEARTBREAKING: Owen Matthew Stokes passed away 48 hours after his two month vaccinations.

Much of the medical system has so little trust in the body that two months after birth, a baby has to receive 8 different vaccines. How could a parent trust the medical profession after such an incident? Then, often, in these cases, gaslighting occurs, where the patient is told it's unrelated. They devalue the patient, and a person's experience doesn't count for anything.

I see this myself in practice. Doctors often refuse to accept that a child's condition could be related to vaccination even when the child shows changes within 24 to 48 hours. Instead of looking at itself in the mirror, medicine goes on the attack.

Chiropractors like myself have been on the receiving end of attacks for many years. Chiropractors were jailed in the early part of the 20th century. The medical profession had gone after acupuncturists, the vitamin industry, naturopaths, homeopaths, and, of course, during COVID-19, after its own members when they strayed from the established dogma.

When doctors often realize that a procedure or treatment has value, they embrace what they previously criticized. Acupuncture is a modality that has received widespread acceptance in Western Medicine, where 50 years ago, it was condemned as quackery.

While most of us will need a doctor at some point in our lives, the predominant philosophical tenet of modern medicine is to put things into the body with the illusion that it equates to health. Health comes from within, not from the outside, and the more you do to the body, the more you begin to see a law of diminishing returns with more sickness. America is a living embodiment of that philosophy.

However, many people have empowered themselves, perhaps after learning the hard way. So they've changed their lifestyle, including how they eat, incorporated a regular exercise regime, adopted relaxation techniques, and sought out professions like chiropractic.

Until Americans change their attitudes about health and take action against the pharmaceutical industry's overpowering influence, nothing much will change.