Originally published June 25 2005
Doctor diagnoses market-based system as biggest ill for U.S. healthcare
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Dr. John Abramson, author of the book "Overdosed America: The Broken Promise of American Medicine," says in an article in the Vermont Guardian that a focus on commercial values, rather than health values, is the primary failing of the troubled U.S. healthcare system.
The U.S. health care system is in a state of emergency due its focus on commercial, rather than health, values according to a former family doctor turned activist.
Dr. John Abramson, author of the book Overdosed America: The Broken Promise of American Medicine, spoke in Brattleboro Thursday evening at an event sponsored by Vermont Citizens Campaign for Health.
He's providing some very defensible arguments and information for moving to universal health care, and moving to a system that actually keeps people healthy.
One of Abramson's arguments is that medical spending has little to do with actual quality of care, and may even have an inverse relationship.
In a graph of 22 industrialized countries, Abramson showed that Japan spends among the least on health care per person, and has the highest rate of life expectancy.
Twenty other countries cluster around the middle, and the United States, in the opposite corner by itself, has the most expensive health care, and the lowest life expectancy.
He concedes that Canada does need more money in its health care system, but says that's because the country made a political decision to cap it, not because the system is flawed.
He pointed to 1980, the onset of the Reagan era, when university medical researchers began accepting funding from drug companies for their work, as funding from the National Institutes of Health dropped.
One poll, for WCAX-TV, found that 67 percent of Vermonters favored a publicly-funded health care system, and a recent Vermont Public Radio poll found that 42 percent of Vermonters favored such a system.
Despite the veto, the state's 2006 spending plan does include funding for a commission to evaluate various approaches to providing publicly-funded universal health coverage.
All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. Truth Publishing LLC takes sole responsibility for all content. Truth Publishing sells no hard products and earns no money from the recommendation of products. NaturalNews.com is presented for educational and commentary purposes only and should not be construed as professional advice from any licensed practitioner. Truth Publishing assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. For the full terms of usage of this material, visit www.NaturalNews.com/terms.shtml