Conventional western medicine tends to focus on treating symptoms, rather than the underlying condition, with pharmaceutical drugs. These meds often come with severe side effects, causing some patients to seek alternative healthcare. In a New York Times Op-Ed, a cardiologist appears to suggest that the Big Tech search engines should censor any “fake medical news” that raises questions about the efficacy of pharmaceutical drugs.
Against this backdrop, Silicon Valley is already suspending, de-platforming, de-monetizing, shadow banning, and throttling certain individuals and websites that it perceives as non-conforming to a far-left political agenda.
Obviously there is no one panacea when it comes to health challenges. For any illness or condition, due diligence along with guidance from a competent healthcare professional are required. America is also blessed with incredibly sophisticated medical technology, access to which hopefully won’t be ruined by the drumbeat for Medicare for all and other forms of failed, socialized medicine.
Many Americans, and people around the world, however, say they have obtained good results with integrative medicine. This is a combination of conventional or allopathic techniques with alternative/complimentary health practices.
Complementary approaches can include herbal medicine, homeopathy, dietary modifications, and nutritional supplementation and other natural products. Mind/body methods include tai chi, yoga, meditation, acupuncture, shiatsu, and care delivered by Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners and chiropractors.
Related story: Dr. Farrah Agustin-Bunch and the Big Pharma Deep State
Big Pharma has over and over pushed out various studies with questionable methodology that seek to discredit nutritional approaches, which the lazy, click-baitey mainstream media compliantly moves into the headlines. The same multinational corporations and government agencies continually assure the public that drug therapies are safe.
That said, when it comes to supplements, there are some products in the over-the-counter market that contain substandard ingredients and/or fall way short of the hype, if not useless.
Other such products and regimens have turned out to be effective and safe according to their proponents, including complimentary physicians.
Is Censorship the Prescription?
The Times Op-Ed alluded to above, authored by Dr. Haider Warraich, focuses mainly on statin drugs prescribed for high cholesterol:
“While misinformation has been the object of great attention in politics, medical misinformation might have an even greater body count. As is true with fake news in general, medical lies tend to spread further than truths on the internet — and they have very real repercussions. Numerous studies have shown that the benefits of statins far outweigh the risks, especially for people at high risk of heart disease. But they have been targeted online by a disparate group that includes paranoid zealots, people selling alternative therapies and those who just want clicks…
“Silicon Valley needs to own this problem. I am not a free-speech lawyer, but when human health is at stake, perhaps search engines, social media platforms and websites should be held responsible for promoting or hosting fake information…”
Free Access of Heath-Related Information at Risk?
Integrative physician and Intelligent Medicine radio show host Dr. Ronald Hoffman responded to this potential threat to sources the provide information about natural alternatives:
“Fair enough, but what constitutes fake news according to this self-appointed gatekeeper of Medical Truth? Highlighted among heresies that shouldn’t be promulgated is statin denialism—the belief that the benefits of cholesterol lowering drugs have been over-promoted. For the record, I occasionally prescribe statins, but only after a thorough evaluation of their risks and benefits lead me to conclude that they’re the only option for an at-risk patient…
“I guess I would qualify as one of those ‘zealots’ in Dr. Warraich’s view. Maybe her opprobrium should instead be directed towards the authors of a study in the mainstream Annals of Internal Medicine, who found that current guidelines for eligibility for statins might lead to them being overprescribed…”
Raising questions, even in good faith, about vaccines, which the media has turned into its own version of a no-go zone, is also an issue, Dr. Hoffman continued:
“If you think censorship isn’t already happening, consider the case of GreenMedInfo. They recently were booted off Pinterest for posting articles critical of vaccines. Let me state that I’m not an ‘antivaxxer,’ but like many responsible physicians and (admittedly a minority) of scientific researchers, legitimate concerns remain about the safety and effectiveness of the profusion of vaccines that we’re now being encouraged to take in the name of public health.”
Dr. Hoffman added that there seems to be a concerted effort to delete information from Wikipedia about natural, non-drug therapies.
Bottom line according to Dr. Hoffman:
“But who’s to be the arbiter of truth in medicine? Contrary to the notion that it’s ‘settled science,’ medicine is a dynamic field, beset by controversies. The medical orthodoxies of a mere few years’ past seem quaintly obsolete by today’s standards.”
Have you used natural alternatives for wellness? If so, share your experiences below.
