A Heartbreaking Look at Modern Medicine
I have been a "health nut" for years and wary of the medical establishment, but I always hoped that the mainstream approaches, though ineffective, were a result of ignorance or narrow mindedness.
In Reclaiming Our Health, John Robbins has exposed the greed and pride of a male-dominated medical community in bed with the pharmaceutical companies. Reading about the witch hunts (past and present) against alternative healing practices outrages me, but what hurts more is reading how modern medicine treats its patients. People, at their most vulnerable times, are trampled upon by doctors and nurses.
The section on how medicine has historically regarded women is eye opening (or would be if you had never dealt with a male obstetrician). Having just given birth to my son, accompanied by a midwife, and knowing what an amazing and challenging time that can be, I almost cried reading the horror stories of children's births.
John Robbins has written a phenomenal book. And as always, he has brought his caring, compassionate passion to an issue that is literally crippling our nation. Thank you, John.
Editorial Review
New Age Retailer, November/December 1996
Have you ever watched a friend or loved one die? Did you wonder why they had to endure so much, especially at the hands of those you had expected to help? Have you ever wondered why it is taking so long to find a cure for cancer or AIDS? Have you ever had a baby in this country? Have you every tried to tell your healthcare provider something and been told he or she know best and not to worry? I believe these questions would elicit at least one affirmative answer from just about everyone in our country.
The title is descriptive and, I believe, correct - we will feel an explosion from reading this book. People will be shocked and angered. I certainly was! John Robbins has let the cat out of the bag - the cat being the way Americans are manipulated by the American Medical Association, the tobacco industry, pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies, and by the multi-million dollar industry we call healthcare.
Robbins reveals the cover-ups, the scandals, and the greed that feed on the most vulnerable segments of our society: women, children, the elderly, and those who are already struggling with health issues. He exposes the ridicule and outright lies broadcast in an attempt to eliminate chiropractic and other alternative healing practices, not because they were not helping those who sought out alternative care, but because they were taking money from those who would rather line their pockets than cure millions of ill individuals.
Robbins outlines a practical approach using both conventional and alternative care so that we can benefit from the best of both resources. This book is well-written and researched. It has an extensive notes section that documents facts and a resource directory that give pertinent information about where to obtain more information on womens issues, parenting and children, healthy diet, alternative medicine, consumer rights, and much more. I would recommend this book to any adult, especially someone who is dealing with medical issues. Reclaiming Our Health is a must-read for any person who strives to be well-informed.
I thoroughly recommend this book
I read this book first in sections, but then decided to read the whole thing as my interest progressed.I already knew some of the persecution of the chiropractic industry by money-hungry conventional doctors, but some of the stuff totally shocked me. I've seen some of the statistics that chiropractors have come up with, extensive studies that show that it has extremely low health risks and helps a lot more with lower back pain than conventional "give me the pill" medicine. However, this book totally blew the cover off the...American Medical Association, an organization I once took for granted to be dedicated to my health and well-being.
If everyone in the waiting room of a doctor's clinic were to read this book, all health care in America would be for the better.
Furthermore, the interesting sections on women and fertility totally blew me away. I was furious at the stuff they were doing to hurt and control women who went to doctors for real health reasons, hoping to get better, only to be subjected to the standard system of running tests and being tied to one position. I myself was delivered by C-section, and having been abandoned by my mother, I can also attest to the ugly and disgusting nature of conventional birth documented so well by John Robbins. The persecution of midwives, who have near-flawless records for safe delivery of newborn babies was also shocking. I had no idea that women giving birth at home do better than in hospitals, in terms of mortality rates.
The final section is worth reading alone if you have cancer. It states very clearly using facts and actual experiences how deliberately and unfortunately the medical establishment has been "treating" people (if I may use that word) with cancer, without realizing that the only goal of a person with illness is wellness and wholeness, not merely to eradicate and destroy an organism that seems foreign and toxic. It also exposes the "fact" that there have been cancer treatments with possible cures, existing for decades, which have been blocked by the cancer establishment out of hope for conventional therapies, blind ignorance, or fear of malpractice suits (you can be sued for not using "technology" to treat an illness ... but what if you just want to get better?).
The beauty of John Robbins' words inspire me. It's hard not to be moved by good stories of good doctors helping to make things better. It's hard not to believe that things could also be better if we changed our current system. Always true to form, this book discusses ways in which to reform health care that would truly work, and at minimal cost.
If you're a nonbeliever of universal health care, low-cost medicine, or just out of luck with personal illness, I highly recommend this book.
Read This Book BEFORE You or Someone You Love Becomes Ill
Over the past thirty years I have read about 100 books on the subject of health. Among the very best of the books I have read are two of John Robbins' other books, Diet for a New America and The Food Revolution, but I don't feel the need to review these remarkable books; they have been well reviewed by others, and I recommend you check them both out in Amazon. However, I simply had to add my voice to the reviews of Reclaiming Our Health.This book is predominantly about the medical establishment, what has gone wrong with it, and what you can do to protect yourself and your loved ones (if you can get them to listen to you). It is not a condemnation of all things conventional nor an endorsement of all things alternative. Some of the greatest heroes of the book are M.D.'s practicing both conventional and alternative therapies. This book seeks to guide us to the best of both worlds while warning us about the dangers to be found in each. However, the worst dangers by far appear to be in the conventional medical establishment where the admonition "first, do no harm" seems to have been long forgotten.
This book made me cry. This book infuriated me. It is filled with one outrage after another. But wouldn't you rather read about them than be subjected to them (or watch your loved ones be subjected to them) by not being informed beforehand? I know I would.
This is one of those rare books that is truly empowering. That's what John Robbins does so well. He does the intensive research that most of us neither would nor could do. We are blessed by his enormous contribution to mankind.
And my fellow women, you will be shocked to read some of the material in this book on how women have been treated in society and how this has influenced the way we have been treated by much of the medical community. I have shared a bit of the information with co-workers and have actually seen jaws drop open. We have not been told the complete story of how dreadfully many women have been treated in our history. It is an abomination. (Written with apologies to all of the sincerely wonderful men out there.)
Rest assured that among the very bad news of this book is a good deal of hopeful news about prevention and treatments that are out there now, but this information will probably be a long time coming to the general public. It is only through leaders like John Robbins that we are blessed to know about it now.
Read this book before you or someone you love becomes ill. Read it and pass it on.
10 stars Articulate accurate and timely
Since I own and have read other books the author has written I was curious to see what he would share in this book on a subject that is so important to me and many Americans. And he certainly hasn't let me down.The parts or chapters I liked so much and thank the author for, from the bottom of my heart are Part Two where he goes into great detail about the patriarchal medical system. It is worth the price of the book alone. I also like Part Three where he starts out with a quote from a signer of the Declaration of Independence (Dr Benjamin Rush) who said "Unless we put medical freedom into the Constitution, the time will come when medicine will organize itself into an undercover dictatorship". And he offers so much documentation of where and how the big boys of the AMA (American Medical Association) have even gone after their own members who dared not walk the party line. On page 185 he shares how from homeopaths, to midwives, and other nontraditional medical forms, the AMA has been the bully boys who wanted their monopoly and none others. On page 1996 onward he describes once again how the feminine professions which nursing was up until the 1970's, were main targets of the male member run AMA.
Now I was aware that one way the male physicians made midwifery which had been the norm well into the 1900's, illegal was to accuse the women delivering babies of being everything from witches, pagans and even communists. Yet delivering babies in the safe and secure environment had been good enough for Moses, Jesus, George Washington and most heroes and heroines but because the AMA had discovered there was big buck in babies they did everything in their power to make their way the only way to deliver babies and feather their nest along the way. And as the author notes on page 322 that while birthing centers and midwives are persecuted by the AMA the actual cesarean rate here in the United States is outrageous and is a procedure that the rest of the civilized world shuns.
On page 327 onward the author skillfully lays out documentation that shows that many of the plagues the world has suffered have not been cured by AMA style medicine but by common sense approaches like clean water and sanitary toilet system. Washing hands and handling food in a clean manner. And that malaria is kept at bay with more preventive means than medical ones.
I could go on, but I would prefer that you buy the book and if possible buy a copy for your local library if it does not have a copy. That is how important this book is.
