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Author Topic: Corporate Profits over Patient in the Health Care Field  (Read 17744 times)

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AGelbert

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Quote
A political revolution.

It's coming. 

Because what should be alive is dead, because what should be dead is alive, because what should be set free is bound, because what should be bound is set free, because what should be done is not done, because what should never be done is being done.

By politicians who reward the powerful and punish the powerless, by bankers who regulate Congress instead of Congress regulating them, by police who kill children and call it law enforcement, by hacks who cut-and-paste plutocrat talking points and call it journalism, by judges who fill America's prisons with the poor and call it justice.

They will be held accountable, they will all be held accountable.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/07/01/1398125/-Bernie-Sanders-Is-Crashing-the-Gates



AG,
The pharmacologizing of mental health has been well-documented now for decades.  no surprise that so-called "caregivers" promote patients in order to justify the diagnosis.  It's good for "business." Likewise, pills instead of therapy. All part of institutionalizing profits for Big Pharma.

 Nevertheless, it's amazing with Vermont still has facilities like this open to warehouse the mentally ill. In the South, most of these people are on the streets or sleeping under bridges.

Surly,



As to the mental health thing, Vermont DOES have a plan, as the last commenter stated, of voluntary medication and mental health care, as opposed to throwing them in the streets (see: Ronald Reagan in California). The reason it's being sabotaged is for big pharma, as you noted.

BUT. there is another reason that has to do with the GROWTH of this Empathy Deficit Disorder COMBINED with the ethics free profit motive in this country (e. g. Prison industrial complex).

UB may disagree, but the subtext is the sadistic joy these "health care" EDD Nurse Rached types get out of CONTROLLING defenseless human beings. I think that THAT is the REAL reason, above and beyond profit, that this evil persists. But lacking hard evidence, I have to leave it in the subtext ("fringe benefit"  :evil4:) subordinate category.

Surly, For those who, unlike you, will NOT see the EDD pattern in the USA from "states rights" to "slaves are property" to "might is right" to "war is good business" to the current crop of EDD CEO's, politicians and doctors dominating the "We are doing it  for yer own good" profit over people and planet double talk, here is an article that connects a LOT of the dots that most people shy away from connecting:

Nurse Ratched and the Thera peutic State

Agelbert NOTE: Of course the logic challenged types looking for a chance to plug their 'greed is good' ideology will try to claim "it's all big gooberment's fault and we should let the free market sort it out".  ::) It really is amazing how EDD people can disingeunuously claim empathy "for our own good" while they carefully and calmly plan to ignore the poor and mentally ill everywhere in order to pad their pocketbook.   


 In the history of American cinema, few characterizations of female villains have been so artfully played as Louise Fletcher’s “Nurse Ratched” from One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Bloodless and detached, psychologically opaque, calculating and as serenely reserved as an adder, McMurphy’s more than worthy Antagonist in White is deftly portrayed as a creature of malignant control couched within starched layers of therapeutic justification.

Agelbert NOTE: e. g. See fossil fuel industry's claim of being "our savior" and "altruistically" controlling our energy Procrustean bed (that they profit massively from) "for our own good" using (see MKing = Rached) calm. prudent, scientific, measured, and so on, apex predator "math".  :evil4:

Throughout the course of the film, it will be both characters’ unyielding struggle for ascendency that ultimately crescendos into its tragic finale, as the spirit of rebellious freedom crashes headlong into a system that has been designed to silently strangle that very hope.

Quote
In bargaining for health and life in exchange for the freedoms and privileges of a free people, America has voluntarily introduced the spirit of tyranny through its back door in the guise of a cloying matriarchal nurse who has other agendas secured behind her chilling blue-eyed gaze.

The Good Nurse in her antiseptic fiefdom communicates the appearance of benevolent concern for her charges—but upon piercing the outer veil we find this not to be so. From Kesey’s novel we learn that Ratched has spent years acquiring the correct mix of doctors and staff that serve as pliant instrumentalities of her will—and that her will manifests a more personal agenda. Hence, as we immerse ourselves in the tale, we find that a select group of patients, many who are voluntary admissions, are in reality the victims of Ratched’s thera peutic malevolence.

Her method is designed to homogenize–to pit them against one another and themselves. By quashing bad thoughts, her project is systematically geared towards instilling an infantilizing culture of emasculation and caste-iron control. Most disturbingly, we learn that the ward’s thera peutic goal, once ideally aimed at the restoration of health, has long been discarded for the Nurse’s own questionable discipline: a therapy with a paper thin veneer of democracy that has nevertheless metastasized into a calculated regime of dominance.

Under color of an exaggerated maternal concern for our temporal wellbeing, the Thera peutic State arises in America with reptilian eyes as she licks her lips and sizes us up. Flowing from a technical reservoir of absolute certainty, the Great Matriarch Who Knows Best has deemed it prudent for you to assume the Procrustean dimensions of body and mind that have been lovingly prepared as an altruistic service to her wayward children.

Such a project, however, cannot be instituted in one day. Indeed, much of America is like a young colt that will not be broken; and hence, how difficult it is to accustom a proud people to the overseer’s yoke. Thus, any governmental strategy directed towards a policy of inordinate control must mimic the boiling frog scenario. However, if men can be convinced that the restriction or evisceration of freedoms or an unorthodox train of thought are counter to a people’s own interests of health or wellbeing, then many will fasten the saddle and halter upon themselves and lovingly lick the whip master’s hand. The great writer, C.S. Lewis crystallizes this observation:
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Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their consciences.

Once the camel’s nose has appeared under the tent, he cannot be kept out. For example: having long ago relinquished the reins of collective accountability to the hands of their Masters in a herded hive mentality such as New York City, should it be so surprising to a citizenry that its mayor could throw down stunningly invasive legislation concerning Big Gulps: laws that in themselves would elicit convulsive laughter in Gillette Wyoming?

It could be that the jihad leveled against tobacco fulfilled the same opening that the camel’s nose provided. Whichever way one views what is unarguably a nasty habit, it cannot be denied that the state has willingly used the practice as a wedge to cast moral aspersions on smokers by turning the population against one another, much as Nurse Ratched did in her therapy sessions that singled out and humiliated. Furthermore, it can be little denied that the American anti-smoking long march, which even the collectivized sheeple of Europe would deem beyond the pale, has taken every concession granted as a sign of weakness that only further arouses the state’s thirst for more lucre. In truth, cigarette smokers are looked down upon and deemed cultural pariahs—persona non grata who in some places fear smoking in their own residences lest the Health Gestapo make their dour appearance for crimes against children.

Quote

However, if men can be convinced that the restriction or evisceration of freedoms or an unorthodox train of thought are counter to a people’s own interests of health or wellbeing, then many will fasten the saddle and halter upon themselves and lovingly lick the whip master’s hand.

It is utterly amazing that a vice that never contributed to moral depravity and that some of the greatest minds of Earth’s intellectual pantheon engaged in have been relegated to the status of cultural lepers—often by the same crusaders who glowingly evangelize the benefits of brain numbing strains of Marijuana. One could perhaps feel a certain respect for the thera peutic busybodies if they in their fanaticism just made the entire tobacco enterprise illegal and stood on principle. But in extracting pounds of flesh in a mercenary fashion, the state retains its moral high ground while it pummels its victims and drains an increasingly debilitating amount of blood for its own purposes in the bargain. As government taxation now dwarfs the profits made by cigarette manufacturers, it assumes the role as muscle in what is no more than an extortion racket. It is as if a father, in punishing his naughty son, not only made him go to the woodshed to pick out a stick, but ordered him to use his personal allowance to go to the father’s own lumber store and purchase the means of his thrashing.

The Thera peutic State can only make its self-serving argument if health itself is viewed as a zero sum game. If the state then commands the economics of the health care industry, then a case can be made that the sphere of private action harms the public weal, therein providing the justification for turning a larger faction against a smaller one. As the private sphere becomes more diminished, this domain of personal right will also tend to vanish as the relationship between one’s culinary habits and the public’s interest in your Body Mass Index (BMI) become everybody’s business. When things are shared in common, what one does in the privacy of one’s own home, even things once viewed benign in a simpler age, are subject to the scrutiny of the nanny state—all in the interest of an abstract homogeneity. But the dark rub is this: Having acquired political mastery over the private authority by which health care is measured and dispensed, the state then solely determines the worthiness of how those finite resources are allocated and thus becomes the ultimate arbiter of life.

Quote

Furthermore, it can be little denied that the American anti-smoking long march, which even the collectivized sheeple of Europe would deem beyond the pale, has taken every concession granted as a sign of weakness that only further arouses the state’s thirst for more lucre.

The most pernicious development of the Thera peutic State is the reductionism of things moral to the physical. Under the specter of government mandated healthcare, personnel can compile into a clearinghouse almost everything about you, apparently including whether you have a firearm in your residence. Furthermore, a society that has deconstructed morality into lifestyle preferences normalizes what was once considered in traditional America as deviance. The tendency to view moral choices that manifest as cruelties, addictions and criminal activities into biological and cultural pathologies is ultimately ethically confusing, thus dissolving conceptions of good and evil into a deterministic fog that hamstrings moral accountability.

Societies that descend into the morass of thera peutic reductionism invert the moral universe and magnify relatively innocuous health matters into civil sins while reserving judgment upon or even validating immoral lifestyles and sexual proclivities that not long ago were viewed as wicked, diseased or narcissistic at best.

Quote

It is utterly amazing that a vice that never contributed to moral depravity and that some of the greatest minds of Earth’s intellectual pantheon engaged in have been relegated to the status of cultural lepers—often by the same crusaders who glowingly evangelize the benefits of brain numbing strains of Marijuana.

In societies that come to view the temporal and material world as the totality of existence, death then becomes that greatest of all evils whom none can escape. As such, death is annihilation and the obsessions of health and the avoidance of pain and suffering are ultimately manic but futile longings pursued as so much smoke. Inevitably, youth withers and death draws its veil as we eventually roll snake-eyes despite the Herculean efforts of our medicine. So terrifying is our culture’s morbid fear of death that it does what it can to submerge it in the Waters of Forgetfulness.

Our advertisements and entertainments betray this vain worshipping at the Cult of Youth; but it was not always this way. In healthy societies and ages, such neurotic fear of death would be viewed with astonishment. In all wisdom, there are worse things than death—including the loss of liberty and the obsessive anxiety to dig one’s claws into survival at any cost. In bargaining for health and life in exchange for the freedoms and privileges of a free people, America has voluntarily introduced the spirit of tyranny through its back door in the guise of a cloying matriarchal nurse who has other agendas secured behind her chilling blue-eyed gaze.

In that final scene that haunts anyone who has ever viewed Cuckoo’s Nest, Chief Bromden, the silent Native-American giant who McMurphy psychologically redeems by his rebellion, comes to terms with his demons and is ready to now leave that shadow- world existence of perpetual smallness where he has for years hid himself away. Even before finding and “liberating” McMurphy from his final silent hell, he had awoken to the knowledge that the slow manacled death that comes when you hold your freedom hostage to fear is far worse than any terrors that await on the outside.

We would do well in considering this metaphor before America willingly barters away any more of a legacy birthed in the rebellious distrust of power—especially that artful and cunning seduction concealed within Nurse Ratched’s thera peutic hand.
__________________________________________________
Glenn Fairman writes from Highland, Ca. He can be reached at arete5000@dslextreme.com. • (1108 views)
http://www.stubbornthings.org/nurse-ratched-therapeutic-state/
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Barrie Dunsmore: The real news on weather disasters


http://vtdigger.org/2015/07/03/barrie-dunsmore-the-real-news-on-weather-disasters/

Viewers should also be repeatedly reminded of what ties these political representatives have to the oil, gas and coal industries. Under the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, which gave corporations the same rights as individual people, corporations now can and do plow hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars into elections. Most don’t do so for patriotic or altruistic reasons. Under current lax campaign finance laws, some of that money can be hidden. But not all of it. And the American people should be told regularly, just how much their congressmen and senators are getting from corporations, or individuals who oppose virtually any climate change legislation.

The usual argument against effective steps to slow the devastation of a changing climate is that they are too expensive.

So Americans should also frequently be told how much it is costing taxpayers right now, to clean up after every major storm, including business and workers’ pay losses.

No state can be blamed for the hurricane, typhoon, flood or drought it has been hit with. But its people are ultimately responsible for those they elect to represent them.

Such news coverage would certainly make the extreme weather reporting more relevant – and even help to combat climate change. Maybe some day.

Read this with interest. Barrie is, of course, correct. But given that our current system of campaign funding is tantamount to, "rent a politician,"  I question whether we'll ever lived to see it.  And what media outlet would dare report such linkages with the threat of the corporate sugar tit being withdrawn as a result?

Of course the media/corporate suicidal Empathy Deficit Disordered status quo defenders will continue to avoid using CFS.  But comments from folks like Barrie make it harder and harder for them to BS and pretend they aren't BSing.

The TRUTH of how TOTALLY gamed our system is cannot be hidden anymore. Take this comment at Thom Hartmann's site that references another comment.

Quote
Aliceinwonderland • 14 hours 54 min ago #12 This post, written by Alan McLemore, follows an article from Truthdig: The Fight Over Obamacare Was A Giant Political Charade; July 2, 2015.

It was so damn good, I just had to re-post it here. It starts with him responding to a comment from another blogger. Great comment, except for this: "You will need a lawyer, to get treatment approved even if you have coverage."

Bad news. I am a lawyer, and one of the things I have seen happen steadily since Reagan was elected has been the non-stop cutting back of the rights people have to sue corporations and, in particular, medical corporations. They did it by using corporatist media to tell lies, like the infamous million-dollar McDonald's hot-coffee case: https://www.ttla.com/index.cfm...

I used to practice medical-malpractice law, but quit after the cases dried up--because under present law, a lawyer must spend $50,000 or more to get the requisite expert witnesses, medical records, and other things necessary to prepare and try the case. This is true even if the case is "open and shut", which many are.

This means that, in Texas (and now in most states), you are very unlikely to find a lawyer to help you unless you have at least a half-million dollars in damages. And now that pain-and-suffering sorts of "consequential" damages are very limited, that means an extremely serious injury--with tons of medical bills--is required.

How serious? If you come in and tell me you lost half the fingers on your right hand, or lost half the sight in one eye or the hearing in one ear, I'll tell you "Sorry, not enough damages, good luck with your next doctor".

And in cases where medical-malpractice isn't involved: More and more, the "terms of service" you unthinkingly agree to in a transaction require you to "arbitrate" disputes. What this means is that you have to "try" your case before a panel of corporate lawyers who pass as "arbitrators". It's not cheap--and less than 5% of claimants prevail even if you spend the money.

It's an awful situation. All the more reason for BERNIE IN '16.

Yeah no sh it. Literally do-or-die, folks. - See more at: http://www.thomhartmann.com/blog/2015/07/bernie-sanders-could-be-next-fdr#comment-325848

I celebrate Aliceinwonderland's take on the importance of a future with President Sanders. But I think he understates, even with his grave warning, the gravity of the situation.  I don't think it is "do or die". We ARE DEAD! It's resurrection of CFS (Common F'n  Sense) or extinction.
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Bingo!    Can you say, celebration of Moral Hazard? Can you say, Empathy Deficit Disordered business model?

Yep.
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Most Americans say drug prices are unreasonable and blame company profits
http://healthpopuli.com/2015/06/17/most-americans-say-drug-prices-are-unreasonable-and-blame-company-profits/

Sanders to introduce bill targeting high drug prices 

   
By Peter Sullivan - 09/01/15 05:53 PM EDT

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is introducing legislation aimed at fighting high prescription drug prices, as he attacks pharmaceutical companies for their “outrageous profits.”

The presidential candidate, challenging Hillary Clinton from the left, has made attacking high drug prices one part of his push on healthcare, where he also calls for a “single-payer” system of government-provided insurance for all.

“Americans should not have to live in fear that they will go bankrupt if they get sick,” Sanders said in a statement. “People should not have to go without the medication they need just because their elected officials aren’t willing to challenge the drug and health care industry lobby.”

Sanders’s bill would allow the Medicare prescription drug program to negotiate prices with drug companies, which is currently banned under a 2003 law. The measure would also allow the importation of drugs from Canada.

It requires drug companies to report information about factors that affect pricing, such as research and development costs. Pharmaceutical companies say they are producing groundbreaking new cures that are difficult and expensive to develop.

Clinton has also pointed to high drug prices as a problem. In June she called for fixes to “the exploding cost of drugs.”

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services says that prescription drug spending increased 12.6 percent last year, the largest increase since 2002 and more than twice the increase in overall health spending.

New specialty drugs that treat complex conditions account for much of the price increase. Sovaldi, a new cure for Hepatitis C, has become a symbol of high drug prices with its $84,000 cost for a 12-week treatment.

Sanders also says he will soon introduce a single-payer healthcare bill. He held a rally outside the Capitol in July to call for single-payer and a fix for high drug prices.

Sanders asked if the country wants “drug companies to be making outrageous profits from people who can’t afford their products?” The crowd responded, “No!     

http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/252473-sanders-to-introduce-bill-targeting-high-drug-prices

« Last Edit: December 29, 2016, 01:48:49 pm by AGelbert »
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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If the shoe fits, WEAR IT!


Quote
Yankee ingenuity is a stereotype of inventiveness, technical solutions to practical problems, "know-how," self-reliance and individual enterprise associated with the Yankees who originated in New England and developed much of the industrial revolution in the United States after 1800.[1] The stereotype first appeared in the 19th century. As Mitchell Wilson notes, "Yankee ingenuity and Yankee git-up-and-go did not exist in colonial days."[2]

Yankee ingenuity characterizes an attitude of make-do with materials on hand. It is inventive improvisation, adaptation and overcoming of shortages of materials.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yankee_ingenuity

THIS is an eye opener  :o for all those that have swallowed the 'stoic, self reliant, independent individual that can handle whatever comes', "Yankee ingenuity" MYTH:

Gary Shattuck is a former federal prosecutor who specializes in researching and writing about historical events utilizing period legal documents.

Quote

September 4, 2015 at 7:45 am

Vermont had a significant opiate addiction problem in the 19th century and, as I will further relate at the inaugural lecture of the Sam Hand Lecture Series at UVM on October 20 (http://www.uvm.edu/~crvt/?Page=news&storyID=20942&category=crvevent) and my more in-depth article to be published by the Vermont Historical Society next month, it was the medical profession at the heart of much of it.

Huge amounts of opium and morphine were being consumed by Vermonters out of all proportion to what the rest of the country was experiencing, resulting in widespread addiction (“habit” they called it) by 1900, much of it because of doctors. It is a tragic, yet fascinating, story and highly relevant to what we are seeing today.

Gary Shattuck

http://vtdigger.org/2015/09/03/shumlin-promotes-prescription-drug-take-back-day/
« Last Edit: December 29, 2016, 01:50:05 pm by AGelbert »
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Hat tip to Reality of Truth Internet poster.     


Quote
This is all we need to know (Death rate increase graph associated with
Parkinson's and glyphosate application + gmo plantings):




Indeed they do, pass this around too! Print it and post it on store windows, give it to friends, keep wallet foldouts and hand them to strangers as you pass by! Let us obliterate the helpless corrupt fools from the face of this world with absolute righteous indignation, no remorse, no mercy, no hesitation and no concern for their nonsense (just like they have no concern for us!).
« Last Edit: July 13, 2016, 02:50:26 pm by AGelbert »
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Agelbert NOTE: Although this video reveals quite a bit about the profit over patient modus operandi so customary in the USA, it leaves out the FACT that we-the-people SUBSIDIZE, through R & D expense "tax deductions", advertising and drug promotion campaigns (that EXCEED actual drug R & D and INCLUDE the bought and paid for Doctors :evil4:) and, last but certainly not least, FREE US Government medical and drug R & D available 24/7 to the drug "private" (for PROFIT) corporations, these Corporate WELFARE QUEENS disguised as part of the "health care system" (i.e. corporate ECONOMIC HEALTH   ).

Tell me, FRIENDS, WHY don't those whining about all the "costs of the social safety nets" INCLUDE THESE BILLIONS OF DOLLARS of money from we-the-people in the "burden" on our economy of "social safety nets"? Because they have an agenda to continue fleecing we-the-people for the benefit of corporate WELFARE QUEENS. But they will always deny that.       


"We deny any wrong doing"      

Your friendly neighborhood drug pusher is not the shady guy standing on a street corner.

How dangerously irresponsible is Big Pharma and the MDs who do business with them?

Fashion your seat belt. We all need to be smarter about this... EVERY drug prescribed has its side effects posted online.

Read the documents. Most doctors don't. If you're really serious, there's an online resource that let's you see how much your doctor has received from drug companies to "introduce" you to their products. - See more at: http://www.nextworldtv.com/videos/health-and-wellness/your-friendly-neighborhood-drug-pusher.html#sthash.ZwIvX29w.dpuf
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Agelbert NOTE: Here is an example of how a conscientious Dentist is confronting the Vermont Dental Society's BASELESS, Capitalist, 'greed is good', turf protecting health care provider "business model" that wants to shut out Dental Therapists in Vermont. We already have Nurse Practitioners to lower doctor costs. There is NO JUSTIFICATION for this Dental profit over patient, no matter what a certain dentist champion of Capitalism from Texas might say.  ;)     

Jan. 15, 2016, 7:00 pm by Commentary
Editor’s note: This commentary is by Dr. James C. Gold  , a retired dentist who lives in Norwich. He his chair of the Good Neighbor Health Clinics in White River Junction, and past member of the Vermont State Board of Dental Examiners and the North East Board of Dental Examiners. The opinions expressed in this article are his own and do not necessarily represent those of any organization with which he is affiliated.

James Gold: Dental therapists will be quality providers 


SNIPPET 1:

Organized dentistry’s position that four years of dental school education ensures a higher quality of treatment than that provided by allied professionals is not always true.

Quality is based upon a provider’s desire to strive for a high standard, constant improvement, taking quality continuing educational courses, and eye-hand coordination that remains consistent or improves over the span of a 30- or 35-year career.

Dental therapists  will receive as many hours of clinical experience in the procedures they will be licensed to perform as a dental school student, and take the same portion of the clinical examination in basic competencies as a dentist to receive a license.
Quote

The bottom line is that dental therapists will be quality providers and this is supported by exhaustive literature, decades of experiences, and the rigorous training and licensure requirements included in the proposed legislation.


SNIPPET 2

The dental therapist opportunity will benefit patients, the dental profession and overall population health. Because they are providing only routine preventive and basic services, their working environment can occur in mobile clinics, schools and nursing homes, all venues less likely served by a fully staffed dental office.

And it is in these venues, particularly in rural parts of Vermont with limited access to fully licensed dentists, where the need is most acute.

It is unfortunate that the Vermont State Dental Society’s position defies logic, the evidence and public sentiment on this issue. One has to wonder what truly is their biggest fear.  

Treatment provided by dental therapists has helped improve the oral health for the populations they serve. Dental therapists will be good for the state and are worthy of positive support from the Vermont Legislature. 

http://vtdigger.org/2016/01/15/james-gold-dental-therapists-will-be-quality-providers/

Agelbert ADDITIONAL NOTE: The Vermont State Dental Society’s position defies the logic of "First, Do No Harm". Howevah, I understand their LOGIC quite well. Their hero, John D. Rockefeller, voiced their LOGIC several decades ago. See Below.

 
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Meet the ‘rented white coats’ who defend toxic chemicals

Center for Public Integrity

How corporate-funded research is corrupting America’s courts and regulatory agencies 

The National Institutes of Health’s budget for research grants has fallen 14 percent since its peak in 2004, according to the American Association for the Advancement of Science. With scarce resources, there’s little money for academics to study chemicals that most already deem to be toxic.

Yet regulatory officials and attorneys say companies have a strong financial interest in continuing to publish research favorable to industry.
Gradient   belongs to a breed of scientific consulting firms that defends the products of its corporate clients beyond credulity, even exhaustively studied substances whose dangers are not in doubt, such as asbestos, lead and arsenic.  :o  >:( Gradient’s scientists rarely acknowledge that a chemical poses a serious public health risk.


The Center for Public Integrity analyzed 149 scientific articles and letters published by the firm’s most prolific principal scientists. Ninety-eight percent of the time, they found that the substance in question was harmless at levels to which people are typically exposed 
.
Quote
“They truly are the epitome of rented white coats,”
said Bruce Lanphear, a Simon Fraser University professor whose own research showing that even tiny amounts of lead could harm children has been called into question by Gradient  scientists  .

A panel of experts convened by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concluded in 2012 that there is no reliable evidence for a safe level of lead.

http://www.publicintegrity.org/2016/02/08/19223/meet-rented-white-coats-who-defend-toxic-chemicals
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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CDC Executive Resigns After Being Caught Colluding With Coca-Cola to Salvage Soda Market

July 12, 2016 | 85,495 views


By Dr. Mercola

I've often written about the collusion between industry and our regulatory agencies, and how industry-funded research tends to simply support and promote the industry agenda rather than shed truthful light on the benefits or risks of any given product.

Recent media reports have now revealed devastating evidence showing a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) executive aided a Coca-Cola representative in efforts to influence World Health Organization (WHO) officials to relax recommendations on sugar limits.1

In March 2015, WHO published a new sugar guideline that specifically targeted sugary beverages, calling them out as a primary cause for childhood obesity around the world, especially in developing nations, where the soda industry is now aggressively expanding its reach.

WHO's recommendation to limit soda consumption was a huge blow to an already beleaguered soda industry, struggling to maintain a declining market share amid mounting evidence identifying sweetened drinks as a primary contributor to the obesity and diabetes epidemics.

The damning email correspondence between Coca-Cola and the CDC was obtained by the nonprofit consumer education group U.S. Right to Know (USRTK).2 According to PhillyVoice:3


"The emails were between Barbara Bowman, Ph.D. director of the CDC's Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, and Dr. Alex Malaspina, a former Coca-Cola scientific and regulatory affairs leader and the founder of a food industry-funded group, International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI).


They allegedly show Bowman's multiple attempts to aid Malaspina's relationship with WHO leaders whose actions (think soda tax) were hurting the beverage industry.


According to the report, Bowman — whose job is to try to help prevent obesity, diabetes and other health problems — 'appeared happy to help the beverage industry cultivate political sway with the World Health Organization.'"

Soda Politics

This kind of political maneuvering and back scratching is covered at length in Marion Nestle, Ph.D.'s book "Soda Politics." I interviewed Nestle, a professor of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University, last year.


Download Interview Transcript

In response to the CDC-Coke scandal, she says:

"[T]he fact that a high-level U.S. health official is communicating in this way with a beverage industry leader appears improper," adding the emails "suggest that ILSI, Coca-Cola and researchers funded by Coca-Cola have an 'in' with a prominent CDC official.

The official appears to be interested in helping these groups organize opposition to 'eat less sugar' and 'disclose industry funding' recommendations.

The invitation to dinner suggests a cozy relationship ... This appearance of conflict of interest is precisely why policies for engagement with industry are needed for federal officials."

Nestle's book reveals the soda industry is well aware of the connection between soda consumption and obesity and obesity-related diseases.

Soda companies are by law required to inform the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) about vulnerabilities, and for the last decade Coca-Cola has been telling the SEC that obesity is the most significant threat to soda industry profits.

Quote
In short, Coca-Cola knows that once the truth about soda's influence on obesity becomes fully recognized, their jig is up.

Exposed CDC Official Steps Down

For many years now, health advocates have warned people about the connection between sugary drinks and obesity, and the message has slowly but surely started to take hold.

U.S. soda sales have dropped 25 percent since 1998,5 no doubt due to successful public health advocacy, and this makes the current scandal all the more scandalous, as it's an attempt by a high-level health official to undo all the work that's already been done to protect the public health. According to USRTK:

Quote
"Alex Malaspina was able to ask for and receive regular input and guidance from a top official at the ... CDC on how to address actions by the World Health Organization that were hurting the food and beverage industry.

The emails ... reveal that ... Bowman ... tried to help Malaspina find inroads to influence WHO officials to back off anti-sugar talk. Bowman suggested people and groups for Malaspina to talk to, and solicited his comments on some CDC summaries of reports ... "

Surprisingly, Bowman had the good sense to immediately vacate her post once her betrayal of the public trust was exposed.

According to The Huffington Post, Bowman "announced her immediate departure from the agency ... two days after it came to light that she had been offering guidance to a leading Coca-Cola advocate who was seeking to influence world health authorities on sugar and beverage policy matters."

Perfect Example of Why Revolving Door to Industry Needs to Be Shut

While Bowman didn't mention her public disgrace as a factor in her resignation, saying she'd made the decision to retire "late last month," her boss, Ursula Bauer, Ph.D., confirmed Bowman's dealings with Coca-Cola in an internal email to CDC staff.

In it, Bauer states the "perception that some readers may take from the article [revealing Bowman's dealings with Malaspina] is not ideal," adding that the situation "serves as an important reminder of the old adage that if we don't want to see it on the front pages of the newspaper then we shouldn't do it."8

Bowman's connections to Coca-Cola actually dates back decades,9 and it's anyone's guess as to how those ties may have slowed down the path to truth and influenced public health policy. She'd been at the CDC since 1992; she was appointed director of the Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention (DHDSP) in February 2013. But earlier in her career, Bowman worked as a senior nutritionist for Coca-Cola.

This just goes to show the power of the corporate and federal regulatory agency revolving door allegiances. Public servants must choose the hard road of doing what is best for the public, not their former bosses and acquaintances.

Few have that kind of integrity, it seems, and this case is a perfect example of why the door between private industry and public health and regulatory agencies needs to be more closely monitored. This is not a new problem and is pervasive in Washington for other industries. Yet the U.S. Congress and Senate continually fail to pass legislation to address this glaring loophole that decimates public health.

Philadelphia Imposes Soda Tax and Other Bad News for Big Soda

This scandal comes on the heels of a number of blows against the soda industry. Aside from WHO Director General Dr. Margaret Chan announcing soda is a key contributor to child obesity and suggesting restrictions on sugary beverages, Philadelphia recently decided to implement a soda tax to cut consumption.

Mexico imposed a soda tax in 2014, and San Francisco requires ads for sugary drinks to include a health warning as of last year. Many cities around the world are also considering similar measures to restrict soda sales. However, the stance against sugar taken by WHO was perhaps considered one of the most serious. In a June 2015 email to Bowman, Malaspina expresses worry about negative publicity related to sugar-rich products and European soda tax plans.

Malaspina says WHO's actions can have "significant negative consequences on a global basis," and that "the threat to our business is serious." He also notes that WHO officials "do not want to work with industry," adding that, "something must be done." In response to Malaspina's request for suggestions on how to get an audience with WHO, Bowman replies that "someone with Gates or 'Bloomberg people' may have close connections that could open a door at WHO," USRTK writes.

"She also suggests he try someone at PEPFAR program, a U.S. government-backed program that makes HIV/AIDS drugs available through the sub-Saharan Africa. She tells him that 'WHO is key to the network.' She writes that she 'will be in touch about getting together.'"

Clearly, the soda industry is struggling to stay alive. But at what cost should they be allowed to promote their business? It's equally clear that the price for their unrestricted success is disease and death of its consumers, which is why these kinds of backdoor dealings are so unpalatable.

Without Conflicts of Interest, Could Junk Food Industry Survive? ??? 


In 2013, I interviewed Michele Simon, who has practiced public health law for nearly 20 years, fighting corporate tactics that deceive and manipulate you about health. Last year, she released a report that revealed disturbing ties between the American Society for Nutrition (ASN) — considered a premier source of nutritional science — and the primary purveyors of obesity and chronic ill health.

ASN is sponsored by 30 different companies, including Coca-Cola, Kellogg's, Monsanto and the Sugar Association, just to mention a few, each of which pays $10,000 a year in return for "print and online exposure, annual meeting benefits, and first choice to sponsor educational sessions, grants, awards and other opportunities as they arise." As noted by Simon:
Quote

"In other words, food, beverage, supplement, biotech and pharmaceutical industry leaders are able to purchase cozy relationships with the nation's top nutrition researchers."

Junk food purveyors gain even more influence by sponsoring educational sessions at various conferences and annual meetings, and featuring speakers that represent the industry. ASN's ties are particularly problematic since they also publish three academic journals, including the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (AJCN).

These ties can "taint scientific objectivity, negatively impact the organization's policy recommendations, and result in industry-friendly research and messaging that is shared with nutrition professionals and the general public alike," according to Simon.

Obesity researcher David Allison, Ph.D. tops the list of those with the most conflicts. Allison serves on the editorial board of the AJCN, ASN's flagship publication, even though he has ties to PepsiCo, the Sugar Association, World Sugar Research Organization, Red Bull, Kellogg, Mars, Campbell Soup and Dr. Pepper Snapple Group.

According to Simon, "having Allison in such a critical gatekeeper role demonstrates how industry can potentially influence even the science that gets published."

'Just Say No' to Soda

"Just Say No" was a slogan created by first lady Nancy Reagan. The "Just Say No" advertising campaign against recreational drug use was prevalent through the 1980s. Today, the same slogan would be appropriate to discourage soda consumption, and a whole lot easier to implement as well.

If you struggle with weight or chronic health issues, replacing soda and other sweet drinks, including fruit juices, with pure water could be one of the best things you could possibly do. Granted, other dietary changes are likely needed as well, but for many, ditching soda can go a long way.

If you crave some flavor, try adding some lime or lemon juice to still or sparkling water. Tea is another option. Just avoid adding sugar, and steer clear of bottled varieties as they're usually loaded with added sugars. Ditto for so-called "designer water" like Vitamin Water.

If you find it difficult to quit, don't be discouraged. Many are indeed addicted to soda. To break free, be sure to address the emotional component of your food cravings using tools such as the Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT). A version referred to as Turbo Tapping tends to be particularly useful for eliminating soda addiction in a short amount of time.

If you still have cravings after trying EFT or Turbo Tapping, you may need to make some changes to your diet. My free nutrition plan can help you do this in a step-by-step fashion.

Remember, sweetened beverages, whether sweetened with sugar, high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), naturally occurring fructose or artificial sweeteners are among the worst culprits in the fight against obesity and related health problems, including diabetes and heart disease. Ditching ALL of these types of beverages is a significant first step toward reducing your risk for chronic health problems and weight gain.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2016/07/12/cdc-soda-industry-coca-cola.aspx
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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CDC Executive Resigns After Being Caught Colluding With Coca-Cola to Salvage Soda Market

July 12, 2016 | 85,495 views

[embed=640,380]<iframe width="640" height="390" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7sRYOFnDxlo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>[/embed]

By Dr. Mercola

I've often written about the collusion between industry and our regulatory agencies, and how industry-funded research tends to simply support and promote the industry agenda rather than shed truthful light on the benefits or risks of any given product.

Recent media reports have now revealed devastating evidence showing a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) executive aided a Coca-Cola representative in efforts to influence World Health Organization (WHO) officials to relax recommendations on sugar limits.1

In March 2015, WHO published a new sugar guideline that specifically targeted sugary beverages, calling them out as a primary cause for childhood obesity around the world, especially in developing nations, where the soda industry is now aggressively expanding its reach.

WHO's recommendation to limit soda consumption was a huge blow to an already beleaguered soda industry, struggling to maintain a declining market share amid mounting evidence identifying sweetened drinks as a primary contributor to the obesity and diabetes epidemics.

The damning email correspondence between Coca-Cola and the CDC was obtained by the nonprofit consumer education group U.S. Right to Know (USRTK).2 According to PhillyVoice:3


"The emails were between Barbara Bowman, Ph.D. director of the CDC's Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, and Dr. Alex Malaspina, a former Coca-Cola scientific and regulatory affairs leader and the founder of a food industry-funded group, International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI).


They allegedly show Bowman's multiple attempts to aid Malaspina's relationship with WHO leaders whose actions (think soda tax) were hurting the beverage industry.


According to the report, Bowman — whose job is to try to help prevent obesity, diabetes and other health problems — 'appeared happy to help the beverage industry cultivate political sway with the World Health Organization.'"

Soda Politics

This kind of political maneuvering and back scratching is covered at length in Marion Nestle, Ph.D.'s book "Soda Politics." I interviewed Nestle, a professor of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University, last year.

[embed=640,380]<iframe width="640" height="390" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/q1YmS_WiR0U" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>[/embed]

Download Interview Transcript

In response to the CDC-Coke scandal, she says:

"[T]he fact that a high-level U.S. health official is communicating in this way with a beverage industry leader appears improper," adding the emails "suggest that ILSI, Coca-Cola and researchers funded by Coca-Cola have an 'in' with a prominent CDC official.

The official appears to be interested in helping these groups organize opposition to 'eat less sugar' and 'disclose industry funding' recommendations.

The invitation to dinner suggests a cozy relationship ... This appearance of conflict of interest is precisely why policies for engagement with industry are needed for federal officials."

Nestle's book reveals the soda industry is well aware of the connection between soda consumption and obesity and obesity-related diseases.

Soda companies are by law required to inform the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) about vulnerabilities, and for the last decade Coca-Cola has been telling the SEC that obesity is the most significant threat to soda industry profits.

Quote
In short, Coca-Cola knows that once the truth about soda's influence on obesity becomes fully recognized, their jig is up.

Exposed CDC Official Steps Down

For many years now, health advocates have warned people about the connection between sugary drinks and obesity, and the message has slowly but surely started to take hold.

U.S. soda sales have dropped 25 percent since 1998,5 no doubt due to successful public health advocacy, and this makes the current scandal all the more scandalous, as it's an attempt by a high-level health official to undo all the work that's already been done to protect the public health. According to USRTK:

Quote
"Alex Malaspina was able to ask for and receive regular input and guidance from a top official at the ... CDC on how to address actions by the World Health Organization that were hurting the food and beverage industry.

The emails ... reveal that ... Bowman ... tried to help Malaspina find inroads to influence WHO officials to back off anti-sugar talk. Bowman suggested people and groups for Malaspina to talk to, and solicited his comments on some CDC summaries of reports ... "

Surprisingly, Bowman had the good sense to immediately vacate her post once her betrayal of the public trust was exposed.

According to The Huffington Post, Bowman "announced her immediate departure from the agency ... two days after it came to light that she had been offering guidance to a leading Coca-Cola advocate who was seeking to influence world health authorities on sugar and beverage policy matters."

Perfect Example of Why Revolving Door to Industry Needs to Be Shut

While Bowman didn't mention her public disgrace as a factor in her resignation, saying she'd made the decision to retire "late last month," her boss, Ursula Bauer, Ph.D., confirmed Bowman's dealings with Coca-Cola in an internal email to CDC staff.

In it, Bauer states the "perception that some readers may take from the article [revealing Bowman's dealings with Malaspina] is not ideal," adding that the situation "serves as an important reminder of the old adage that if we don't want to see it on the front pages of the newspaper then we shouldn't do it."8

Bowman's connections to Coca-Cola actually dates back decades, and it's anyone's guess as to how those ties may have slowed down the path to truth and influenced public health policy. She'd been at the CDC since 1992; she was appointed director of the Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention (DHDSP) in February 2013. But earlier in her career, Bowman worked as a senior nutritionist for Coca-Cola.

This just goes to show the power of the corporate and federal regulatory agency revolving door allegiances. Public servants must choose the hard road of doing what is best for the public, not their former bosses and acquaintances.

Few have that kind of integrity, it seems, and this case is a perfect example of why the door between private industry and public health and regulatory agencies needs to be more closely monitored. This is not a new problem and is pervasive in Washington for other industries. Yet the U.S. Congress and Senate continually fail to pass legislation to address this glaring loophole that decimates public health.

Philadelphia Imposes Soda Tax and Other Bad News for Big Soda

This scandal comes on the heels of a number of blows against the soda industry. Aside from WHO Director General Dr. Margaret Chan announcing soda is a key contributor to child obesity and suggesting restrictions on sugary beverages, Philadelphia recently decided to implement a soda tax to cut consumption.

Mexico imposed a soda tax in 2014, and San Francisco requires ads for sugary drinks to include a health warning as of last year. Many cities around the world are also considering similar measures to restrict soda sales. However, the stance against sugar taken by WHO was perhaps considered one of the most serious. In a June 2015 email to Bowman, Malaspina expresses worry about negative publicity related to sugar-rich products and European soda tax plans.

Malaspina says WHO's actions can have "significant negative consequences on a global basis," and that "the threat to our business is serious." He also notes that WHO officials "do not want to work with industry," adding that, "something must be done." In response to Malaspina's request for suggestions on how to get an audience with WHO, Bowman replies that "someone with Gates or 'Bloomberg people' may have close connections that could open a door at WHO," USRTK writes.

"She also suggests he try someone at PEPFAR program, a U.S. government-backed program that makes HIV/AIDS drugs available through the sub-Saharan Africa. She tells him that 'WHO is key to the network.' She writes that she 'will be in touch about getting together.'"

Clearly, the soda industry is struggling to stay alive. But at what cost should they be allowed to promote their business? It's equally clear that the price for their unrestricted success is disease and death of its consumers, which is why these kinds of backdoor dealings are so unpalatable.

Without Conflicts of Interest, Could Junk Food Industry Survive? ??? 

[embed=640,380]<iframe width="640" height="390" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qkuNejVGhTQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>[/embed]

In 2013, I interviewed Michele Simon, who has practiced public health law for nearly 20 years, fighting corporate tactics that deceive and manipulate you about health. Last year, she released a report that revealed disturbing ties between the American Society for Nutrition (ASN) — considered a premier source of nutritional science — and the primary purveyors of obesity and chronic ill health.

ASN is sponsored by 30 different companies, including Coca-Cola, Kellogg's, Monsanto and the Sugar Association, just to mention a few, each of which pays $10,000 a year in return for "print and online exposure, annual meeting benefits, and first choice to sponsor educational sessions, grants, awards and other opportunities as they arise." As noted by Simon:
Quote

"In other words, food, beverage, supplement, biotech and pharmaceutical industry leaders are able to purchase cozy relationships with the nation's top nutrition researchers."

Junk food purveyors gain even more influence by sponsoring educational sessions at various conferences and annual meetings, and featuring speakers that represent the industry. ASN's ties are particularly problematic since they also publish three academic journals, including the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (AJCN).

These ties can "taint scientific objectivity, negatively impact the organization's policy recommendations, and result in industry-friendly research and messaging that is shared with nutrition professionals and the general public alike," according to Simon.

Obesity researcher David Allison, Ph.D. tops the list of those with the most conflicts. Allison serves on the editorial board of the AJCN, ASN's flagship publication, even though he has ties to PepsiCo, the Sugar Association, World Sugar Research Organization, Red Bull, Kellogg, Mars, Campbell Soup and Dr. Pepper Snapple Group.

According to Simon, "having Allison in such a critical gatekeeper role demonstrates how industry can potentially influence even the science that gets published."

'Just Say No' to Soda

"Just Say No" was a slogan created by first lady Nancy Reagan. The "Just Say No" advertising campaign against recreational drug use was prevalent through the 1980s. Today, the same slogan would be appropriate to discourage soda consumption, and a whole lot easier to implement as well.

If you struggle with weight or chronic health issues, replacing soda and other sweet drinks, including fruit juices, with pure water could be one of the best things you could possibly do. Granted, other dietary changes are likely needed as well, but for many, ditching soda can go a long way.

If you crave some flavor, try adding some lime or lemon juice to still or sparkling water. Tea is another option. Just avoid adding sugar, and steer clear of bottled varieties as they're usually loaded with added sugars. Ditto for so-called "designer water" like Vitamin Water.

If you find it difficult to quit, don't be discouraged. Many are indeed addicted to soda. To break free, be sure to address the emotional component of your food cravings using tools such as the Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT). A version referred to as Turbo Tapping tends to be particularly useful for eliminating soda addiction in a short amount of time.

If you still have cravings after trying EFT or Turbo Tapping, you may need to make some changes to your diet. My free nutrition plan can help you do this in a step-by-step fashion.

Remember, sweetened beverages, whether sweetened with sugar, high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), naturally occurring fructose or artificial sweeteners are among the worst culprits in the fight against obesity and related health problems, including diabetes and heart disease. Ditching ALL of these types of beverages is a significant first step toward reducing your risk for chronic health problems and weight gain.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2016/07/12/cdc-soda-industry-coca-cola.aspx



Something else to be aware of AG is the replacement for aspertame.
Welcome, neotame ? Same poison, different recipe....



Yep.  :(

Chopin appropriately described in music the trajectory of our "civilization" .
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

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The Forgotten History of Vaccinations You Need to Be Aware Of

January 18, 2015 | 401,377 views

Quote
Dr. Suzanne Humphries: "In my research, I was startled [to realize] that what I found was completely counter to what I have been told and taught my entire life. I now don't believe that smallpox vaccines eradicated smallpox. I now don't believe that polio vaccines eradicated polio.

The stories are very twisted, long, and complicated, and the vaccines have changed over time. It's really easy to kind of throw up smokescreens here and there and make whatever argument one might want to, because people are so ignorant and because the story is so complicated." 


SNIPPET:

By Dr. Mercola

Vaccines are one of the most controversial medical therapies, and it's impossible to make an informed decision unless you know both sides of the story. In the process of knowing both sides, the historical context is critical.

Dr. Suzanne Humphries, author of Dissolving Illusions: Disease, Vaccines, and the Forgotten History,1 is a nephrologist who has committed the latter part of her medical career to exposing the "lost history" of vaccinations.

Barbara Loe Fisher of NVIC commented that this is one of the rare books that conducted in-depth research documenting the medical history related to mass vaccination programs and infectious diseases.

I have read the book from cover to cover and would strongly recommend that you pick up a copy if you have even the remotest interest in this topic, especially if you believe in the safety and necessity of vaccines, as the comprehensive documentation will likely cause you to reevaluate your position.

It is an absolutely fascinating read, and in some ways demonstrates that enforcement of vaccine programs could be far worse today, when compared to historical standards when people were imprisoned and even killed when they refused to comply.

I will likely reread the book again so I can be well armed to articulately express my concerns on why one needs to have serious reservations on the validity of vaccines, based on historical precedents.

FULL eye opening article:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2015/01/18/history-vaccination.aspx

Dr. Suzanne Humphries knows her medicine and knows the human immune system like few Doctors around:

He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

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He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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August news bulletin: identifying “bad actors”; asking why cancer prevention is not more of a priority

August 8, 2016 at 5:34 pm 

August 2016 News Bulletin

Quote
"At this rate it will take more than 300 years just to screen the compounds that have already raised some concern."   
Commentary: Identifying the “bad actors”— new challenges for the evaluation of endocrine disrupting chemicals. “We encourage decision makers around the world to adopt a new chemical evaluation tool that could save lives and money.” (Environmental Health News)


Quote
"In order to make prevention a priority, we need to convince the skeptics in the cancer research and treatment communities that environmental chemicals are an important issue."
Why Isn’t Cancer Prevention a Priority? “Research shows that more than half of all cancers are preventable. Yet, why isn’t prevention a priority? More precisely, why aren’t environmental chemicals a focus of prevention research? When researchers talk about prevention, more often than not, they’re referring to things like diet, exercise, tobacco, and other lifestyle factors. Given the mounting evidence linking environmental chemicals with cancer, however, and the fact that toxic chemicals are so widespread, it’s hard to understand why there is so little research focused on environmental carcinogens.” (Silent Spring)

Quote
"“Before we can prescribe medicine, we have to prove it’s safe,” she said. “So how come with the chemical industry, we assume everything is safe and have to prove there’s harm?”
Call for Action on Toxic Chemicals. Every day, children and adults are exposed to a variety of chemicals found in common household items. Now a growing body of research suggests that many of these chemicals — which are used to make plastic more flexible, fruits and vegetables more abundant and upholstery less flammable — may also pose a threat to the developing brain. (New York Times)

Quote
"... DuPont Co. and its spinoff, the Chemours Co., have been found liable in the first two of 3,500 lawsuits in which people claim their exposures to PFOA caused cancer and certain other health problems."
PFOA, PFOS Likely Hazardous to Immune System: Scientists. A panel of epidemiologists, toxicologists, microbiologists and other scientists have critiqued and then supported the National Toxicology Program’s draft analysis that concluded perfluorooctanoic acid, more commonly known as PFOA, and perfluorooctane sulfonate, or PFOS, are presumed to be immune hazards to humans. “The systematic approach helped readers to clearly understand what science the program considered and the reasons some scientific studies provided higher levels of confidence while others were graded more moderate or lower priority in the program’s final conclusions,” the commenters and panel members said. (Bloomberg BNA)


Quote
"Retail giant puts formaldehyde and triclosan on the list
Chemicals push affects about 90,000 items made by 70 companies"
Wal-Mart Asks Its Suppliers to Stop Using Eight Chemicals. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is asking suppliers to remove formaldehyde, triclosan and six other substances from their products, part of an effort to eliminate controversial chemicals from household goods. (Bloomberg)

https://healthandenvironmentonline.com/2016/08/08/august-news-bulletin-identifying-bad-actors-asking-why-cancer-prevention-is-not-more-of-a-priority/
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

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The major problem with our health care system: The profit motive.   

Aetna Proves That Single Payer Is The Only Way To Go

It's been over two years since the bulk of Obamacare went into effect, and American health insurance companies are making a great case for why it's time to adopt a single payer system and take the profit motive out of how health care is paid for once and for all.

On Monday, Aetna, America's third largest insurance company, announced that it will withdraw from Obamacare exchanges in 11 states and it will only offer insurance through the state-level Obamacare marketplaces in four states in 2017.

Obamacare has, overall, been a huge success, especially among the less visible and more marginalized populations in America.

Economist David Cutler told the New York Times back in April that "The law has clearly reduced broad measures of inequality. These are people who blend into the background of the economy. They are cleaning your hotel room, making your sandwich. The law has helped this population enormously."

In February, the administration estimated that roughly 20 million more people have insurance now that Obamacare has gone into effect, and marginalized groups in general benefited the most.

According to that New York Times analysis from April: "Part-time workers gained insurance at a higher rate than full-time workers, and people with high school degrees gained it at double the rate of college graduates. Adults living in households headed by relatives, such as siblings or cousins, [which is] often a marker of economic distress, gained insurance at double the rate of traditional households."

And having health insurance and access to affordable healthcare leads to big benefits for communities: the New York Times reported that one federally funded health clinic in South Los Angeles has enrolled 18,000 new patients under the law, nearly all of them from minority backgrounds, and the clinic reported a 44 percent increase in cervical cancer screenings and a 25 percent increase in tobacco cessation therapy, which means more lives saved and healthier community outcomes.

But, Aetna's announcement on Monday is proof that the law is still fundamentally flawed.

And Aetna is by no means alone.

In April, UnitedHealth Group, the largest health insurance company in America, announced in April that it will be withdrawing from the ACA insurance exchanges in most of the 34 states where it currently operates, saying that it's expecting to lose $650 million dollars in 2016.

The Kaiser Family Foundation points out that if United dropped out of all 34 states, 1.1 million people would have just one option for an insurer, creating a for-profit monopoly for those people.

And then there's Humana, which announced in July that the company will offer exchange plans in "no more" than 11 states next year in 2017.

Humana's announcement coincidentally came on the exact same day that the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit to block Humana's proposed merger with Aetna.

Some of the shortcomings with Obamacare can be traced to the fact that so many red states have refused federal funds to expand Medicaid.

But the truth is, we're never going to be able to affordably cover every American until we address the major problem with our health care system: The profit motive.

Journalist and Author T.R. Reid pointed out in his 2008 documentary Sick around the World­ that the United States is the only industrialized nation in the world that allows for-profit corporations to offer basic, primary care health insurance.

The key difference between us and the rest of the developed world is that health care is considered a legal and political right in every other industrialized country, and here it's only considered a privilege.

And when people pay for health insurance provided by a for-profit company, they aren't just paying for insurance, they're paying for all of the administrative costs of the company, including executive salaries and CEO bonuses.

According to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Aetna's Chairman and CEO Mark Bertolini took home $27.9 million in compensation last year, about $24.8 million of which was value gained on stock options.

In 2014, UnitedHealthcare CEO Stephen Hemsley took home over $66 million dollars, including $45.5 million in exercised stock options.

Those salaries and stock options make up just a portion of the 12 percent to 14 percent administrative overheads that are typical for for-profit health insurance companies.

So while the executives get bonuses, consumers like you and I get stiffed with paying for it in the form of inflated insurance rates!.

In contrast, in 2015 the administrative overhead amounts for Medicare were only about 2 percent of the program's operating costs and nobody working for Medicare became a multimillionaire.

If we want universal coverage at the federal level, we need to take the profit-motive out of healthcare with a federal single-payer program like the Medicare-For-All programs proposed by Congressman John Conyers and Senator Bernie Sanders.

But this isn't something that we have to wait for Congress to take action on - citizens at the state level can take the lead.

Right now in Colorado, there is a very popular proposed amendment that would replace the state's problematic Obamacare insurance exchange with a universal healthcare program called "ColoradoCare."

Very simply, the program would pair private providers with state funds from combined sources to extend healthcare coverage to every man, woman, and child in Colorado.

Citizens in Colorado are leading the way, but citizens in other states can, and should, organize and push for efficient statewide universal healthcare systems to replace the inefficient and costly for-profit insurers that cruelly put profit over people.

http://www.thomhartmann.com/blog/2016/08/aetna-proves-single-payer-only-way-go
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

 

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