In this week’s Gary Null’s Newsletter:
• A Revolution in American Medicine is Long Overdue
• Genetically Engineered Foods
• Recipe for Potato Leek Soup
A Revolution in American Medicine is Long Overdue
By Richard Gale and Gary Null PhD
The sweeping occurrence of CoV19 infections has contributed to a loss of jobs, careers, regular education for our children and has adversely impacted the health of otherwise healthy people. But for tens of millions of Americans who have lost their health insurance or have not been covered, the situation is more dire. One illness, one infectious disease, could push them over the edge into insolvency and bankruptcy. Now is the opportune time to change course, bail out all Americans and cease providing taxpayer gifts to Wall Street, the rich and powerful.
The fundamental problem with Obamacare, and the proposed combination of a Green New Deal and Medicare for All, is that both leave the unconscionable profit making in the system. The medical lobbies, insurance and hospital industries and Big Pharma assure that if you are hospitalized with CoV19 and don’t have insurance, you will receive a bill for tens of thousands of dollars. There is no power in the US at this moment that would prevent these private industries from foregoing a $3.5 trillion windfall profit annually. Therefore the Democrats who claim they want universal healthcare want it only on the condition that the existing system is not upended. Yet that is exactly what is demanded at this moment.
The onslaught of misinformation from the corporatist wings of both political parties and media biases against universal healthcare are obviously confusing the electorate. This confusion leaves citizens bewildered about how they will pay their bills unless a fundamental overhaul of medical insurance is undertaken. More important, what will happen if you are diagnosed with a serious illness and are not fully covered? What are your chances of joining the ranks of the 530,000 families that file bankruptcy annually for medical reasons? According to a study published last year by the American Journal of Public Health, 66.5% of bankruptcies are medically-related. In the past, it was rare for people to go bankrupt because they did not have accessible medical care. There was a time in the US when medicine carried a higher standard of ethics. The Hippocratic Oath was respected and no one was denied medical care because they could not afford it. But that was in the past. Obama’s Affordable Care Act, which Biden continues to believe is a successful piece of legislation, has done little to mitigate the increasing financial burden on individuals and families. In fact, quality of healthcare has steadily declined.
Now with the CoV19 pandemic, we are witnessing patients forced to pay out of pocket enormous bills for diagnostic testing, ER visits, hospitalization and treatments. If you are returning to the country from overseas, you may be forced to pay for the time spent in quarantine even if you test negative for the virus. And the pharmaceutical and insurance industries are already capitalizing on this disaster.
The Democrat Party’s full throttle assault to undermine the legitimacy of Bernie Sanders’ campaign was orchestrated by the insurance and medical industrial complex, which has influenced unbridled bias across the media waves. The goal is to effectively sustain Obama’s failed healthcare efforts. After listening to dozens of commentators on CNN, MSNBC, Fox, and the pseudo-health journalists at the New York Times, and Washington Post, the false impression was created to perceive Bernie as only offering free stuff to everyone and at enormous cost to taxpayers.
No one truly knows how much a national universal program would cost. Forecasts for a 10-year period range roughly between $13 trillion and $48 trillion. One thing is certain. The math is simple. It would be extremely expensive and for it to succeed dramatic infrastructural changes would need to be made throughout the entire healthcare system and how medicine is conventionally practiced. That conversation is long overdue.
However, perhaps this is the wrong argument because it is based upon the Democratic Party’s deep seated cognitive dissonance to protect the vested interests of Wall Street’s financial community, Biden’s allegiance to the credit lending industry, the military industrial complex, and the pharmaceutical and agro-chemical industries. In effect, the entirety of corporate America and the deep state, its lobbyists and oligarchic billionaires, and their sounding board in the mainstream media, are on one side of the scale while the urgent humanitarian medical needs of average citizens are on the other. All that weighs on the side of Medicare for All are the educated adults, unionists, working people, and those who understand climate change and the need for a comprehensive and equitable healthcare system. This still remains to be a revolution that must take place across the nation. So, how does such a revolution get launched?
First, Medicare for All is doable and affordable. In fact, it can potentially save $1.7 trillion a year by removing from the equation unnecessary and unconscionable profit to private insurance providers, the drug makers and the large mega-hospital networks. There is no reason for having so many levels of bureaucracy between direct medical care and the patient. Every industry directly involved in providing treatment and care would continue to profit. But it would be a reasonable profit. Instead we have a medical lobby that is excessively greedy and eager to take advantage of loopholes in order to milk the system for whatever it is worth.
But we can only have a viable Medicare for All after we seriously look at what it costs to treat a patient and make efforts to reduce the exorbitant waste that has been programmed into our current system. How is it that a hospital can charge $787 for an adult and $393 for a child for a one dollar bag of intravenous saline solution, plus an additional $127 to administer it? Americans spend more on prescription medications than any other developed nation, as drug prices can soar ten times the rate of inflation. Daraprim, for example, which is prescribed to fight one of the world’s most common parasitical infections that causes toxoplasmosis, can cost $45,000 per month, or $750 for a single pill that costs $13.50 to manufacture.
When we consider the costs for treating CoV19, the figures get even more outrageous. An average Medicare payment for a common respiratory infection is about $13,300, and over $40,000 for an infection requiring a ventilator. That was in 2017, and the average costs have increased 20 percent or more in less than three years. Average out of pocket costs for being hospitalized for pneumonia is $1,300 and much higher for those covered by small business insurance. Cases of uninsured people being treated for Cov19 have received medical bills upwards to $35,000 and conservatively there are 28 million uninsured citizens in the US at this moment and rising as unemployment increases. Consequently only 1 in 7 Americans polled would not seek CoV treatment because of the cost.
Based upon earlier figures between 2012-2015, about $2.6 trillion can be saved by removing bureaucratic waste and profiteering. This includes $275 billion on private insurance paperwork, $55.6 billion on liability insurance, $471 billion for insurance billing, $140 billion for medical fraud (2016), $210 billion for unnecessary medical testing, and $190 billion for wasteful administrative services. Back in 2016, the British Medical Journal reported that medical error is the third leading cause of death in the US. As a result over $1 trillion is spent on avoidable medical errors.
Universal healthcare will not break the economy. What is breaking the economy is our current broken medical system. Universal, quality care is easily within reach but only after the health of the population is given preference over the healthcare system’s vulture capitalists. Then Americans will no longer have to worry about bankruptcy, which further contributes to the stresses associated with ill health, because they cannot afford the treatments or medications without putting themselves and their family into perpetual debt.
Second, providing universal healthcare does not guarantee that patients will receive quality care. If we are truly honest with ourselves and ask whether the US has the best medical care available, the answer should be a resounding no. American emergency medicine is exemplary as is specialized surgery. However, chronic care for treating heart disease, cancer, diabetes, pain management and neurological and mental health conditions has been a dismal failure. More physicians need to be brought into the system without the anxiety of paying off enormous school debt and being forced to work to exhaustion. We would be wise to make medical education free in return for young doctors committing themselves to charging reasonable fees if they wish to remain within the system. If a doctor prefers to gouge patients, that is their right to do so outside of the national system.
Finally, the US lags far behind in a implementing a national preventative program. Very little has been done to prevent diseases shown to be directly related to life-style, diet and toxic conditions in our environment. A viable prevention program would begin by supporting and mandating holistic health programs in our schools beginning with grade school. Why does offering school courses in “How to be Healthy” seem absurd when it has been shown repeatedly in the scientific peer-review literature and efforts in other advanced nations to avoid preventable illnesses and further reduce medical costs? But in order to launch a comprehensive preventative program at a national scale, only respected educated health consumers should be in charge. Entities representing private corporate interests should be prohibited since they are responsible for the medical disasters that now demand for universal healthcare. If Obamacare and the current corporate medical establishment were truly effective, there would be no discussion about Medicare for All.
Hence this program would save nearly $2 trillion a year and help prevent tens of millions of diseases. The nation would be much healthier if comprehensive measures were taken to prevent disease in the first place. During the past three years we have sent on multiple occasions suggestions for implementing a Medicare for All to the Sanders’ campaign and leading Democrats in Congress. But not a single person has responded. What does that tell us about the sincerity and commitment of those who profess universal healthcare but get their funding and marching orders from the drug industry?
Richard Gale is the Executive Producer of the Progressive Radio Network and a former Senior Research Analyst in the biotechnology and genomic industries.
https://garynull.com/a-revolution-in-american-medicine-is-long-overdue-6-july-2020/
Find this and other articles by Gary Null at: https://garynull.com
Genetically Engineered Foods
In genetic engineering, also called genetic modification, a gene from one seed or crop is inserted into another to give it a desired trait. More than four dozen genetically engineered foods and crops are grown or sold in America. These foods and crops are commonly made a part of the food chain and the environment.
More than 75 million acres of genetically engineered crops are being cultivated in America, while up to 500,000 dairy cows are injected regularly with Monsanto's recombinant bovine growth hormone.
The majority of the processed food sold in supermarkets tests positive for genetically engineered components. According to projections from the biotechnology industry, virtually 100 percent of American food will be genetically engineered within 5 to 10 years.
The Food and Drug Administration and the food industry argue that genetically modified foods are no different from other foods and thus don't need to be identified or labeled as such. The one way you can know you are not eating genetically engineered food is if you eat something labeled "organic," because the law does not permit organic food to be genetically engineered.
Nicols Fox, an independent investigative journalist and author of "Spoiled--The Dangerous Truth About the Food Chain Gone Haywire," says: "I think the American consumer has been misled to think that the FDA is doing thorough testing of these products and that is not true. What they are doing is looking for a substantial equivalency. If it looks like a tomato, if it is chemically similar to a tomato, then that is fine. They ask the companies to look for allergens or toxins that are produced but they go no further than that. If there are long term feeding studies being done with these products, we don't know about them. They are not being required and if the companies are doing it they are not telling us about them. Really we are the test rats for these products."
Fox explains some of the concerns about genetically engineered foods. "Genetic engineering is basically about the art of the impossible. These are genes that would never cross in real life. You could never get a flounder to breed with a tomato in real life. You could only do it in the lab. Now why are these mixes potentially dangerous? Because we have been co-evolving with the environment for a hundred thousand years. We have developed a relationship with these foods that we eat that has taken a great deal of time to establish itself. When we are confronted with these new genetic crosses, our bodies have no experience. Also, there is a common misperception that a gene has one trait and when you transfer that gene you are simply transferring that one trait to the new product. That is not true. A gene can do many things and it can do different things in different situations so when you put it in to a new environment you may have very unexpected.
Genetic engineering of foods is another example of how the multibillion dollar food industry simply ignores public health in its quest for profit. "Consumers have not been out there saying we want a genetically engineered tomato, we want a genetically engineered soybean," Fox says. "What the companies are telling us is that these products will enable farmers to use less pesticides, less herbicides and perhaps have higher yields. That is not necessarily true. For instance, if you have a corn that is resistant to a certain herbicide such as Roundup it is common sense that you are not going to be using less of it, you are going to be using more of it. USDA studies have found that the yields vary: in some places you may have increased yields and in other situations you may have decreased yields, and the same with pesticide and herbicide use. There is no conclusive evidence that these are universally of benefit. So that really needs to be studied a great deal more, but the fact is that no one is doing this for the consumer. This is being done to enhance the profitability of agriculture, of distribution, of processing, and of marketing. That is why it is being done, not for us."
I would be remiss if I did not remind the reader of some important history concerning the danger of genetically engineered products. In 1989, a genetically engineered form of L-tryptophan killed 37 Americans and permanently disabled or caused harm in more than 5,000 others with a potentially deadly and painful blood disorder prior to being recalled by the FDA.
Showa Denko, the Japanese manufacturer, had used genetically engineered bacteria to create the supplement. The widely held belief is that the bacteria became contaminated during the recombinant DNA process. Showa Denko has had to pay out well over $2 billion to the victims.
Furthermore, a study by Dr. Marc Lappe in the Journal of Medicinal Food reported decreased levels of highly beneficial phytoestrogens, which are believed to provide protection against heart disease and cancer, in genetically modified soybeans. Other studies report that genetically engineered food will probably result in lower-quality foods with inferior amounts of nutrition. For example, cow milk that has been injected with genetically engineered bovine growth hormone has greater levels of pus, bacteria and fat.
From Get Healthy Now: A Complete Guide to Prevention, Treatment, and Healthy Living, with Gary Null. Senior project editor Amy McDonald. Seven Stories Press.
Recipe for Potato Leek Soup
Yield: 4 servings
2 tablespoons olive oil
6-8 leeks, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 stalk celery, sliced
4 cups water
4 potatoes, sliced thin
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
1 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground marjoram
Sea salt to taste
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and sauté the leeks, garlic and celery until the leeks are translucent, add the water, potatoes, parsley basil, thyme, marjoram, salt, and pepper and cook over low heat until the potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.
Remove half the potatoes and leeks; puree in a blender or food processor with* 1 cup of the soup- and return to pot. Stir well and serve.
It may surprise you to learn that leeks contain a good amount of omega-3 fatty acids. Paired
with the powerful anti-inflammatory herb thyme, which is known to safeguard and increase the amount of healthy omega-3 fats in cell membranes and other cell structures, you have a powerful inflammation fighting meal.
From: Anti-Arthritis Anti-Inflammation Cookbook: Healing Through Natural Foods
By Gary Null, PhD, Essential Publishing
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About Gary Null
An internationally renowned expert in the field of health and nutrition, Gary Null, Ph.D is the author of over 70 best-selling books on healthy living and the director of over 100 critically acclaimed full-feature documentary films on natural health, self-empowerment and the environment. He is the host of ‘The Progressive Commentary Hour” and “The Gary Null Show”, the country’s longest running nationally syndicated health radio talk show which can be heard daily on here on the Progressive Radio Network.
Throughout his career, Gary Null has made hundreds of radio and television broadcasts throughout the country as an environmentalist, consumer advocate, investigative reporter and nutrition educator. More than 28 different Gary Null television specials have appeared on PBS stations throughout the nation, inspiring and motivating millions of viewers. He originated and completed more than one hundred major investigations on health issues resulting in the use of material by 20/20 and 60 Minutes. Dr. Null started this network to provide his followers with a media outlet for health and advocacy. For more of Dr. Null’s Work visit the Gary Null’s Work Section or Blog.GaryNull.com In addition to the Progressive Radio Network, Dr. Null has a full line of all-natural home and healthcare products that can be purchased at his Online Store.
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