Written By: Dr. Jason Bergerhouse, D.C.
In my latest podcast I am trying to bring back common sense, which go figure, is not so common these days!
In 2014, 1.3 million Americans went to the emergency room due to adverse drug reactions (ADR). Out of those 1.3 million Americans, 124,000 of them died according to the CDC and FDA. However, it is thought that this number is grossly underreported, in that it only represents a small percentage of the cases that occur each year.
This is in large part due to doctors or pharmacists being fearful of a lawsuit, guilt over responsibility, and a lack of interest, or time, or other excuses related to delaying the documentation of ADRs. Despite the under reporting, ADRs are still the 4th leading cause of death in the U.S according to the CDC.
This means that the number of deaths caused by ADRs are ahead of pulmonary disease, diabetes, AIDS, pneumonia, accidents, and automobile deaths! We put more faith in a bottle of pills than in our own body’s incredible ability to heal itself, and because of this we have become a nation of “pill-poppers.” Half the populous takes two or more pills and this is considered normal! We have become so sick that people think it’s weird or abnormal if you don’t get sick! Personally, I haven’t taken any prescription or over-the-counter medication in over a decade! How is it that being healthy and not taking medication is looked at as the abnormality?!
I’ll never forget a patient of mine with a laundry list of medication she was taking.
After I quickly counted the number of prescriptions, I realized she was taking a whopping thirty-six medications per day! Rightfully, I thought to myself, “Where is the science to justify this?” In fact, there is no science to show the safety, not to mention on the possible adverse events that can occur when taking two or more random medications. It’s called polypharmacy. The lady who came into my office was a perfect example of polypharmacy, as well as a walking “science experiment.” So, rather than seeking the CAUSE, her doctors treated the EFFECTS (the symptoms) by merely masking them with medications.
“You cannot poison the body back to health.”
– Dr. Jay
The main problem with the medical establishment is that their primary goal is to mask symptoms. Symptoms are the red flags – the warning signals your body gives to let you know there is a problem. All medications are designed to mask the symptoms. I can’t emphasize this truth enough. I relate masking symptoms to the equivalent of pulling the batteries out of the smoke alarm – so you can go back to bed comfortably – while your house burns down with you in it. I call this the smoke alarm analogy. On one hand, I get the concept behind mitigating symptoms. If somebody has extremely high blood pressure it is in their best interest to lower it, whether that’s with a blood pressure medication, diet, exercise, or other lifestyle change.
But, do they need to take the medication for the rest of their life? Herein lies the problem of masking symptoms with drugs! It never addresses the cause, and all drugs come with side-effects, especially with long-term use.
