Off Balance, The American Way of Health: A Pharmacist's Perspective on Why Drugs Don't Work

Introduction

Dr. Leyla Ali, PharmD

I didn’t know there were choices. I didn’t necessarily think that doctors and drugs were the best choice. I thought they were the only choice. I had never heard of alternative types of healthcare, at least not in a memorable way.

My father was a respected doctor and surgeon. Growing up, I experienced a prestigious and respected life thanks to his dedication to his patient’s health. I grew up in a big house on a golf course with a view, which impressed our friends and visitors. At home, we had a cabinet full of medications and my siblings and I didn’t have to wait long for a doctor’s appointment. Our doctors were all friends of my father, and they helped each other’s families with priority care.

My father ingrained in my two brothers, my sister and I that we would all go to college and become doctors. When I decided to go to pharmacy school, people told me it was a great idea and a good job, as I wanted to help people and work in healthcare.

From time to time I had heard that pharmacy is all just a business, but I discounted those comments as made by bitter and negative people. In fact, I decided I would make it a point to never become like them! It wasn’t until a few years after I graduated from pharmacy school that I fully understood what those people were talking about.

APPROVED BY DOCTORS AND PHARMACISTS EVERYWHERE

Over the past 15 years, aggressive advertising by drug companies has manipulated the evolution of healthcare.¹,² Today, doctors and drugs have become the standard, modern, superior, and even upscale response to any illness.

When I started school, my understanding of human health was pretty simple: if you’re sick, the medicine cabinet had a solution. You needed to listen to your doctor and take the pills as prescribed, since doctors knew best. Furthermore, I trusted the doctors and the drugs, and I was relieved to know that I would always have access to both.

Today, it’s not uncommon for patients to take a handful of medications on a regular basis.³,⁴ One pill for diabetes, one for high blood pressure, another for cholesterol, a pill to heighten the mood when you’re sad, and another to calm you down when you’re anxious, an energy pill to get you through your day, and another to help you sleep at night, as well as others that your doctor has prescribed to treat whatever symptoms you are experiencing.⁵

It wasn’t always this way.

In the 1930s there were many more choices available. Patients could see any type of practitioner, including medical doctors, herbalists, homeopathic practitioners, acupuncturists, and others. These alternative medicine providers were considered an equal but different option to doctors and drugs.⁶

However, their status decreased and their presence faded inversely as pharmaceutical companies lobbied legislators to outlaw alternative medicine. This was done by creating regulations that made it difficult, if not impossible, for these holistic healthcare providers to stay in business.⁷

Additionally, the 1940s saw the development of penicillin and sulfa drugs. These miracle drugs treated infections completely and provided pharmaceuticals with a new platform to establish their trust and authority.⁸

In the 1980s the wonder drug Prozac was created⁹ and in the 1990s, Viagra appeared on the market.¹⁰ Each and every time a modern or miraculous drug was created, the public was mesmerized by the potential for a quick cure. This empowered pharmaceutical companies. The rush of customers made pharmaceutical companies rich, allowing them to advertise more, create even more drugs and pass more laws to protect their businesses.

This is the world that my generation was born into.

The new medical norm had developed into a delicate balancing act of:

Providing cutting edge, new and exciting medications;

Aggressively and emotionally marketing drugs through commercials; and

Ensuring blind acceptance by the masses.

I am not denying that doctors or drugs provide great benefit. It is important to give credit where credit is due. Doctors and the medicine they prescribe have made amazing progress in many areas of healthcare, from fighting infections to life-altering surgery. There have been drugs discovered that have kept people alive and surgeries that have separated twins conjoined at the head.

But I firmly believe that the medical profession has overstepped their boundaries. The medical doctors do not learn the limitations of their own practice, and will call certain health conditions incurable and keep the patient sick or on medications, when in fact alternative therapies can better treat the condition. Most medical doctors do not recognize or acknowledge the benefits of these alternative therapies, and the patients are the ones who needlessly suffer.

The medical profession has degenerated from a healthcare system providing simple solutions into business system seeking profits. They now focus on treating the symptoms, not solving the medical problem. Treatments create long-term customers whose medical issues won’t be resolved. And, the medications patients are prescribed? Eventually they too will lead to more medical issues, complications and side effects.

After all, if a drug company has experts test a drug, and the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the drug, and there are smiling and happy people on commercials that have taken the drug, then it surely must be good? I think many would be surprised at how those steps do not guarantee much.

When I learned these truths, I felt I had been betrayed and duped; as if I had dedicated my life to a scam.

My generation has never known a different world.

There is one more player in this game that I must identify—the insurance company. Insurance companies select which medications or treatments are covered for their members. They choose which product will be available to their members at an affordable price, and which pharmaceutical company will profit from their patients.

For some, it’s easy to see that doctors and drugs are a system made for profits. For others like myself, it took a challenge and a journey before it became clear. Still, for most people, doctors and pharmacies are the only way.

They believe that it is the best, if not only, medical world that exists, so they accept the good and bad out of necessity.

Over the past several years, my perspective has shifted from a limited viewpoint as a pharmacist and doctor’s daughter, to an awareness of alternative healthcare and its possibilities for health and healing.

I wrote this book to help you, the reader, understand that there are four pertinent realities when it comes to maintaining the health and vibrancy of your body, your mind and your spirit:

1. Although doctors and drugs are currently the accepted standard of healthcare in our society, they should only be one piece of the puzzle. They should represent one option, of many, working alongside other types of holistic healthcare providers.

2. Products that are displayed in advertisements are able to produce high profits, but are not necessarily the optimal choices for your health.

3. True health isn’t a pill or cure waiting to be discovered. It entails going back to basics in terms of caring for your body, mind and spirit.

4. The realities and beliefs systems of our time have been molded by drug companies.

It’s time for a paradigm shift.

In this book, I will share with you the history of doctors and drugs and how we came to this point today. I will also explore different types of conditions and show how Western medicine’s approach is vastly different from that of alternative medicines. Each chapter concludes with an interview, and many interviewees are ones who have struggled with their health and then sought, and benefited from, an alternative healthcare method. Some of my interviewees are holistic or medical practitioners.

There are many choices when it comes to our healthcare. Although many of us will rely on doctors and drugs for our healthcare needs, there are a variety of alternative and natural healthcare options available.

The idea of this book is not to push you away from doctors and drugs, but rather to provide a realistic viewpoint on the possibilities and limitations of doctors and drugs. I am not promoting one type of healthcare over another, but rather I want to present a variety of healthcare options and choices so that you can own your decisions, based on an understanding of what’s best for you and your needs.

Dr. Leyla Ali, PharmD

2012

CHAPTER 1

MY JOURNEY

Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed on an equal or greater benefit. ~Napoleon Hill

Reflecting on my youth, I was motivated, energetic, optimistic—a dreamer. I imagined finishing school and doing something meaningful that would make a difference in the world. As frequently happens though, life had other plans for me.

My goal with this book is to share how I came to my point of view and shine the light on certain uncomfortable truths of American society. And, challenge you to test your own beliefs as it relates to the American medical system.

MY JOURNEY

I was going to make a difference in the world by becoming a pharmacist. Instead, I have been schooled on the business of healthcare. And yes, make no mistake, it is a business. In fact, I have met others along the way who have come to same conclusion, but as a result of chronic health issues that are never cured. They only become long term customers of the healthcare system and pharmaceutical companies.

In 1991, I finished my BA in Anthropology at University of California, Irvine. While I certainly enjoyed the experience, after graduation I was a bit lost. I worked as a part-time delivery person for a local pharmacy, while I figured out what my next step should be. Oddly enough, a career in pharmacy didn’t even register with me. Instead, I searched through graduate programs in Anthropology, thought about becoming a paralegal, and pondered the Peace Corps. But none of these felt quite right.

Then one morning, I awoke and I knew what I should do. I was going to become a pharmacist. It felt right. I signed up for two more years at the city college to round out my undergraduate education, and then applied to pharmacy school at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California. In the end, I graduated as a Doctor of Pharmacy, and then started earning what seemed like huge amount of money, yet with over $90,000 in student loans.

Full of hope and excitement I started my first job as Dr. Ali, pharmacist. On day one, I was too slow on the store’s computer system. On day two, I didn’t answer the phone within three rings. During days three to five? I spent my time learning how to respond to endless questions that had nothing to do with prescriptions:

Why doesn’t my insurance pay for this?

Why is my prescription taking so long to fill… don’t you just pour some pills in a bottle?

What’s the holdup?

I had a Doctor of Pharmacy degree, $90,000 in student loans to pay back and I was essentially working a retail job. Instead of helping sick people get better I was completely bored and forced to endure a time clock. On day six I decided that I would be out of pharmacy work in three years, and it didn’t matter what I did afterwards.

Restless, depressed and exhausted summed up this period of my life. It was my accountant, of all people, who helped me find meaning in my life again, when he off-handily recommended the book Rich Dad, Poor Dad¹¹ while reviewing my tax return.

I bought the book and was hooked. While reading it, I realized that I:

Had fallen right into the trap of swapping days for dollars;

Lost the hope to succeed financially or to gain true financial freedom;

Gave away my time, and was living an unsatisfying life;

Was using very little of my personal knowledge; and

Felt like I wasn’t really helping anyone anymore.

The book also sparked personal action—a lot of it.

Soon, I was involved in real estate, taking screenwriting classes, and learning about internet marketing. I was desperate to escape from retail pharmacy and find something personally and professionally motivating and rewarding. Unfortunately, I tended to shoot from the hip and jump into real estate deals before I was ready and with partners I hardly knew.

This sparked the next life lesson in my search for financial freedom and personal satisfaction, and it wasn’t pretty. Five years after I started working in retail pharmacy I now had to deal with the following issues:

• Multiple creditors calling me at work, seeking payment on debts totaling deep into six figures;

• Two home foreclosures and a short sale;

• A real estate partner under investigation by the FBI; and

• A stress level directly impacting my job performance.

I took a hard look at myself and my situation and made two decisions. I resigned from the pharmacy with my secure comfortable salary, and filed for bankruptcy.

It wasn’t until a few years later that everything clicked. I mentioned to a friend that I wanted to learn about cleansing and detoxification of the human body. My friend brought me a cleansing kit and explanatory book to read. I intended to only skim the contents quickly enough to get the main points. Instead I was captivated and read it cover to cover. Cleanse and Purify Thyself ¹² by Richard Anderson, was one of the most enlightening and eye-opening books I had ever read.

It claimed that nearly 99 percent of known human disease is caused by what we eat. I thought to myself, ridiculous! I am a Doctor of Pharmacy and of course I would know if this were true. So, I dusted off my text books from pharmacy school, specifically, the primary therapeutics book used during my years of study, Pharmacotherapy, A Pathophysiologic Approach.¹³ I skimmed through, researching various diseases and the prerequisite list of causes. A few items stood out:

• Ulcerative Colitis. "Although the exact etiology… is unknown… the major theories [include]… infectious or immunologic causes," (p. 733).

• Acne. "The causes of acne are multifactorial and are not completely understood," (p. 1816).

• Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease. "… is related to the complex balance between defense mechanisms and aggressive factors," (p. 31).

• Asthma. "Although a single underlying cellular defect has not yet been discovered… hyper-reactivity of the airways to physical, chemical, and pharmacologic stimuli is the hallmark of asthma," (p. 554).

• Alzheimer’s disease. "Alzheimer’s disease… is a type of progressive dementia for which no cause is known and no cure exists," (p. 1325).

• Rheumatoid Arthritis. "The factors that initiate the inflammatory process are unknown," (p. 1717).

For condition after condition, the causes in the text were listed as unknown. Yet the text presented calculations that identified populations where episodes of the disease may be prevalent. In other words, Western medicine, with all its research capabilities and technological advances, staked no claim in understanding causes. Rather, the solution was in detailing treatments and prescribing pills in order to sway the statistics. The answer lies, I realized, in treating the symptoms, not in discovering the cause of the illness and eliminating it.

All my years in pharmacy school had earned me the glamorous title of doctor, yet had not taught about cleansing and toxins.

After discovering the shortcomings of current practices of Western medicine, I started to research alternative methods of treatments that yielded better results. It eventually became very clear to me that many standard medical treatments are manufactured in order to:

Create long-term customers;

Provide patients with temporary comfort; and

Specifically, NOT treat the underlying cause.

This is because it is only when people become repeat customers that drug companies are able to create and enjoy great profits. In other words, IF A DRUG COMPANY CAN AFFORD TO ADVERTISE THEIR PILLS OR PRODUCTS ON TELEVISION, THEN THEY ARE ABLE TO CREATE LONG-TERM CUSTOMERS, AND BIGGER PROFITS!

Seven years beyond pharmacy school graduation, I’ve returned to the JOB (just over broke) scene. I was in bankruptcy from the results of bad partners and decisions in real estate. I still had $75,000 in student loans, and I was experiencing the ultimate insult—the awareness that I was trapped in a profession that I no longer believed in.

I had the wisdom and knowledge that I was not encouraged to share, and most pharmacy customers were not interested in anyways. Customers demanded their pills; they have no desire to hear about alternatives (which were seen as a bad word due to good advertising by drug companies). And, I was still filling prescriptions.

This brings me to the current moment in time with my desire to promote a better way of caring for one’s health.

My training as a doctor of pharmacy did not teach me about the holistic view of human health. I did not learn in school about the direct connection between what we put in our bodies, both voluntarily and involuntarily, and the diseases which plague our society. The so-called experts are still trying to figure it out, yet in the meantime, powerful forces are defining all the rules.

To sum it up in one statement: Relying on doctors and pharmacists for your complete healthcare is like relying on a pesticide expert to maintain your entire vegetable garden.

My goal is to create a new awareness of the pitfalls in American healthcare, while also providing solid solutions to health conditions and diseases by offering informed choices. Empowerment and truth-filled knowledge is the first step.

But isn’t Western medicine a good response to our fast-paced society? Americans are trained to seek a quick meal, a fast drink. Similarly, we need our medical solutions to be speedy, easy and miraculous. It’s a sad reality, but many people do not search for alternatives until their medical condition becomes uncomfortable or hopeless.

More importantly, we need to recognize and change bad living habits into better ones. This is the best prevention to sickness, and an area I will focus on extensively in later chapters.

As I was moving along my journey of discovery, I met several people along the way who found their relief with holistic and alternative medicine. At the end of each chapter throughout the book I have included interviews with a variety of individuals, many of whom struggled with a condition or disease for years and found no relief with Western medicine. When they discovered holistic health they were able to heal themselves. Several have changed the course of their lives to become holistic or alternative healthcare practitioners.

Many of us have grown up with strong faith in the medical system. It took me years to learn the disappointing truths that it doesn’t have all, or even most of the answers. And, now I join the many who aim to help people find better ways to maintain and manage their health.

Western medicine will always be present and available for those who seek the next miracle drug. For others, I hope they will look at lifestyle adjustments and alternative forms of healthcare long before their health is compromised.

I hope my readers come away from this book with a deeper understanding that good health is a matter of mind (thoughts, beliefs and attitude), body (what goes in, how it’s treated) and spirit (a desire to live happily, a connection to higher source), rather than the next pill.

And to remember, it’s a process. It takes small steps to change habits, but doing so can fill your life with happy and healthy moments and years.

CHAPTER 2

WHY WESTERN MEDICINE?

There are always two choices; two paths to take. One is easy. And its only reward is that it’s easy. ~author unknown

My father was a doctor and my mother a surgical nurse. We always had access to healthcare and drugs, which included a medicine cabinet filled with prescription bottles. In fact, for much of my young life, I thought that this was the only type of healthcare. A college course, entitled Medical Anthropology, was the first exposure I had to alternative forms of healthcare.

Have you ever wondered about the origins of United States’ system of medicine? After pharmacy school, I began to.

The American Medical System is considered the gold standard of healthcare; it is the envy of the world, and the standard response to illness or injury. American healing is based on the premise that your doctor or pharmacist are the experts and will tell you what to do.

But, we didn’t begin with this mindset, rather our society has evolved to the point where there seems to be a pharmacy located on every street corner. In fact, today, our medical industry has become a feeder system for pharmaceutical distribution.

Many simply accept this as the best way, and therefore, it must be the only way. The truth, however, is that our options for health and wellness management abound in this country. However, the alternative and natural healthcare modalities sit in the shadows of powerful doctors and drugs.

HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?

Why did our government choose this healthcare model? Was an exhaustive review and comparison of all the options completed? Why did naturopathic, homeopathic, and holistic procedures get shoved out of the way? When and why did they become alternative? Are pharmaceuticals, prescribed by doctors, the superior solution? Or, is this a direct result of our capitalist-based structure?

I wonder, is Western medicine—with doctors and drugs—the norm because it is most effective? Or, is it because it offers an easy fix, and quick profits? If that is the case, is it any wonder healthcare legislation is heavily lobbied by the profitable and powerful pharmaceutical companies? Alternative