We want to preface these statistics by emphatically stating they are not meant as an attack against the health care/medical field or physicians as a whole.  The medical field has seen many incredible advancements in the past few decades--the technologies developed for non-invasive surgery such as arthroscopic and laser, along with video technology, MRI's, Cat Scans, and other advancements have simplified many previously highly invasive surgeries to a small 1/2" incision, local anasthesia and one-day outpaitent procedures. 

Many adverse health conditions and diseases have been reversed, thousands of lives have been saved by emergency medical intervention and countless lives touched in a positive way because of the compassion and care of competent physicians. 

The cost of medical school, the intense competition, and the committment and diligence required are extraordinary.  Most physicians today find themselves overloaded with the stress of an increasing workload due to the high cost of liability and malpractice insurance, administrative regulations, and the tremendous task of trying to stay abreast of new developments and continuing education in a rapidly changing field. 

We applaud the advancements in the prevention of disease and the care of patients entrusted to them.  Yet, in spite of their best efforts, we find ourselves in a quandry when it comes to the overall state of health in America today, as evidenced by the following documented statistics:        

1. The United States health care system is killing Americans at an alarming rate, even though we spend over 15% of the Gross National Product (GNP) on health care.  According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, our health care outcomes ranked only fifteenth among twenty-five industrialized nations worldwide. 
2. As many as five out of six Americans will die from heart disease and cancer.
3. The percentage of Americans dying of cancer today is the same as it was in 1970 and even 1950!  Over $200 billion has been spent since 1971 trying to prevent and cure cancer.  Yet today you have a higher chance of getting cancer than ever before in history, and you have the same chance of dying as you did in 1950. 
4. Half  (50%) of all personal bankruptcies are caused by medical expenses.
5. More than 180,000 people die annually from the negative effects of legal drugs, and  prescription drug use has become the third largest killer of Americans, behind heart disease and cancer.
6.  A recent report by the Kaiser Family Foundation indicates that in 2003, 3.1 billion retail prescriptions were filled in the United States at a cost of $163 billion.  This translated to eleven prescriptions filled for every man, woman, and child in the country in 2003.
7. There are over 200,000 non-prescription drugs on the market; there are over 30,000 prescription medications.  Doctors write over three billion prescriptions each year.  The average American has over thirty different prescription and nonprescription drugs in their medicine cabinet.   
8. The word iatrogenic means death induced in a patient by a physician's activity, manner, or therapy. The term is used especially if there is a complication following a treatment or during the course of stay at a hospital. . . new research shows that the estimated total number of deaths induced inadvertantly by a physician or surgeon or by medical treatment or diagnostic procedures--in the U.S. annually--is between 783,936 and 999,936.  From these updated numbers it becomes evident that our conventional, modern medical system is the leading cause of death and injury in the U.S., as approximately 699,697 Americans died of heart disease in 2001 and 553,251 died of cancer.  These numbers are derived from the total deaths directly caused by adverse drug reactions, medical error, bedsores, infections, malnutrition in hospitals, outpatient practices, unneccessary procedures, and procedures related to surgery. 
9. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved 78 drugs in 2002.  Only 17 contained new, active ingredients. The FDA only deemed 7 of those to be improvements over older competitors. 
10. The Jerry Lewis Telethon has raised over $1 billion for muscular dystrophy, yet more people have muscular dystrophy today than ever before.
11. Symptoms of SSRI and SNRI antidepressant withdrawal can include, but are not limited to suicide, impulsivity, aggression, anxiety, depression, crying spells, insomnia, dizziness, vertigo, nausea, vomiting, headaches, tremors, and electric "zap" sensations in the brain. 
12. Right now close to two-thirds of all advertising in America is for drugs.  It's estimated that well in excess of $10 billion a year is spent on advertising by the pharmaceutical industry.
13. "The thing that bugs me is that people think the FDA is protecting them. It isn't. What the FDA is doing and what people think it's doing are as different as night and day."  Herbert Lay, M.D.,Former FDA Commissioner

Obviously we are in need of a radical change in the American medical paradigm!  Caring doctors enter this system, but the system simply has scientific, philosophical, and ethical flaws--it just doesn't work. Fortunately, there are proven, safe, cost-effective natural health alternatives and thousands of people  are discovering them each day. Our mission here at SweetBasils.com is to help you in that discovery process.