F.A.C.T. is a non-profit educational organization that supports non-toxic, biologically sound approaches to cancer prevention and treatment.
More About F.A.C.T.

More Prescription Drugs As We Get Older?

By Dr. Bruce West

It has been shown that the healthiest and longest-living Americans are Senior Citizens who take little or no prescription drugs. This is not just a statement made by folks who believe in alternative therapies. It is from a study quoted in the prestigious Journal of the American Medical Association which was done at Harvard Medical School. The study confirms what observant, knowledgeable researchers and doctors have maintained for years about drugs: that too many physicians are recommending that patients take powerful medicines about which we know little, to fight diseases about which we know even less, into their bodies about which we know next to nothing. The startling proof that prescription drugs are maiming and killing our older citizens by the thousands came from the above-mentioned study, and here are some of the main points Many Americans over 65 were given drugs that are never appropriate to be prescribed for Senior Citizens.

• At least twenty such drugs that should never be prescribed for those over 65, under any circumstances, are routinely and repeatedly prescribed.
• Doctors need to be alerted in a major way about their prescribing of dangerous drugs that are ineffective and should not have been prescribed at all, and about safe alternatives.
• Drugs are causing ten million or more people into fainting spells, dizziness, balance problems, severe falls, memory loss, addictions, ulcers, heart attacks, and more.
• The study on seniors was done on many thousands of people, none of whom were in nursing homes. There is no doubt that those in most nursing homes fare much worse!
• When some of today's leading medical doctors, who really care, had read the report, they were quoted as follows:
  • "This is but the tip of the iceberg."
  • "I see this every day."
  • "The study should serve as a wake-up call to America's doctors."
  • "If a patient loses memory or loses balance, their doctor assumes it's due to old age."
  • Older patients themselves are used to shrugging off the side effects of powerful drugs, attributing them to the effect of old age.
• This study grossly underestimates the problem. The reason this is true is that only the most dangerous 20 drugs were even considered in the study. Not taken into account were interactions of drugs, drugs taken for too long, drugs given at the wrong dose, and human mistakes (patients taking the wrong pills, by mistake). If these were taken into account, fully half of all older patients would probably be suffering from drug or iatrogenic (doctor-induced) disease.
• In the study, no one considered what drugs might not be given if alternative health care methods were instituted. The fact that close to 99% of all medical doctors are totally unaware of any therapies except drugs, radiation, and surgery is sad.

It's a sad but true fact of life that medical doctors simply can't keep up on all the latest information about all the drugs they prescribe. They shouldn't imply or outright state that their decisions about the prescription drugs you take are to be completely accepted? And they shouldn't lead the patients to believe that the doctor is to be implicitly trusted in all matters concerning prescriptions. . It is wise indeed if the patient assumes responsibility for his/her own health. If you haven't already, now is the time to take responsibility for your own health care. A life with a minimal amount of prescription drugs, or none at all, is something I hope you will truly consider. It is a viable alternative. And one thing is sure: many medical doctors are totally resistant to change, and many will not even read this Harvard study. Many will continue prescribing as usual, with pharmaceutical companies continuing to make profits off the suffering from side effects that you or other patients may experience. Be sure to keep these facts in mind when travelling down your health care road It's much better to travel the safe road first. Reserve the dangerous path of drugs and surgery as last resorts. I firmly believe that your travels through life will be much healthier and happier for it.

Sorry to say, politics and money are behind all this medical hoopla. Whether or not it is in the forefront of your MD's mind, this fact remains: Drug companies profit from your suffering as well as from your health. If you doubt this plays any role in the decisions your doctor arrives at regarding your health care, consider the following. This important, revealing Harvard Medical School study was conducted back in 1987; it was not published until 1994, fully seven years later! Do you wonder why?

• Film
• Trailer
• The Patients
• The Physicians
• The Filmmakers
• Press Kit

• Resources
• Articles
• Research
• Audio Presentations
• The Book
• Practitioner Directory
• Recipes

• News
• What's New?
• Press
• Foods of the Week

• About
• About Bio-Repair
• About F.A.C.T.
• About Ruth Sackman