Richardson decries role of doctors in U.S. healthcare

December 24, 2007

Slowly but surely, Bill Richardson’s campaign has made it more and more difficult to respect his agenda. As if his frequent talk about a silly Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution weren’t annoying enough, over the weekend, Richardson endorsed “holistic and spiritual” medicine in his healthcare plan.

Responding to a question Saturday at a living-room gathering in snowy Des Moines, the first-tier-wannabe candidate touted his state’s expertise with nontraditional methods of healing.

“In my state, New Mexico, we’ve got more holistic healing than you do. I appreciate that kind of medical care. I appreciate dietary supplements. I appreciate oriental medicine. I think we have to open up health care delivery and access. You know how the doctors are. They want to keep it to themselves,” he said. Under a Richardson administration, government health programs would pay for alternative therapies, he said.

So, to hear the governor tell it, part of the problem with healthcare in the United States is that we rely too much on doctors? Richardson believes we have the resources to invest in reality-based healthcare and an alternate system of “spiritual” medicine that isn’t peer reviewed, isn’t subjected to scientific testing, and isn’t backed up by evidence?

I can appreciate the fact that Richardson wants to help differentiate himself from the top-tier candidates, all of whom emphasize their own universal healthcare plans.

But this really isn’t the way to do it.

I’m surprised to see this assessment of alternative healing modalities here on a progressive web-blog. You have to give some credence to plant-based and holistic based medicine and healing in light of the discoveries of how pharmaceuticals are over prescribed and result in worsening patients’ health. One example is Vioxx and it is not alone- Prozac is another. I would think some one posting on this site would remember the fact that insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies have a lot of doctors and researchers bought and paid for. Western medicine has its place that is true, but denying that things such as supplements, yoga, massage and meditation are healthful, and that people need help gaining access to them, is absurd. The benefits of all of these alternative treatments are being discussed on Oprah, in NYT, on MSNBC and are being recommended by doctors- because they are tested and proven to increase wellness.

  • I’m a bit torn on this one. I’m all for peer-reviewed science. But I’ll bet Richardson isn’t saying we should fund alternative therapies that have never been examined scientifically. If he is aying that, then he’s an idiot. That said, a LOT of things that fall under the banner “alternative medicine” aren’t examined scientifically because of the way we fund those examinations. If a natural remedy can’t be patented, there’s almost no funding available to study it, and that really needs to change. The government needs to spend a lot of money studying these “wacky” alternatives, because no one else is going to do it, and a lot of people really believe (for good reason IMO) that these “wacky” solutions are often a lot better than the ones that can be patented.

  • Shannon: your argument is a lovely example of a contrived duality. Because traditional medicine has had problems (you cite Vioxx and Prozac and you could cite 100 other examples), this does not imply that alternative medicine has value. Nor does it imply that alternative medicine has no value. It says nothing about alternative medicine.

    RacerX: the government has no responsibility to fund studies on “wacky” alternatives. That seems to me to be a waste of money. In fact, most studies done show no value to most alternative medical treatments. With a record like that, I oppose putting more government money into alternative medical treatments.

    I applaud the original post for demanding that any medical treatments be proven to have value. Too much of “alternative medicine” is unproven and when controlled scientific double-blind testing has been done, it performs at the same level as a placebo (or worse if there are side effects).

  • In California a number of healthcare plans already include things like acupuncture and chiropractics as covered benefits along with dental and optical coverage. So “alternative” treatments are a part of our healthcare system anyway, at least at local levels, and the universe hasn’t fallen apart so far. And having made use of both of those myself, I can testify to their effectiveness for certain conditions that Western medicine simply has no answer for.

    No quack remedies or unproven methodologies need apply, but those that have already shown themselves to be safe and effective should be acknowledged on the national level as they are already at the state level. It’s just the sensible way to go.

    Bottom line: No one should have to suffer just because a given treatment isn’t backed by the corporate medical-industrial complex. If it works, use it.

  • Allopathic medicine has a brutally won monopoly. Drug companies control it. Expensive treatments are its specialty.

    I think there is definitely a place for alternative healing methods.

  • I just finished reading a book about life in Puritan Massachusetts. It was not uncommon then for a woman to get pregnant 8-12 times over her lifetime. If two or three of the kids survived past the age of 5, that was considered a good average. Grown men and women would drop dead from ailments that we’ve long since conquered. Women often died during childbirth. The human life span has more than doubled since then, many diseases are no longer fatal. Most children grow to become adults, and childbirth is no longer life threatening. We owe this to Western medicine, not witchdoctors who babble on about “energy fields,” “chi” and other forces that have never been proven to exist.

    By all means, let “alternative medicine” make its case. Just like the creationists, if the practitioners of this system have something to bring to the table, I want to hear them out. The forum is call peer-reviewed medical journals. If these therapies work, their practitioners should be able to do double-blind studies and get the results published. But it has to be a real study. I am not impressed by anecdotal claims. Many people get relief from questionable therapies due to the placebo affect.

    Once alternative medicine has met the same standard as modern medicine, it will no longer be “alternative.” It will be mainstream. Its practitioners know what they have to do to cross this barrier. Why aren’t they doing it?

  • Sounds to me like you’re afraid of alternative medicine, and not because it hasn’t been pper reviewed in all the best journals. So why?

    I used to live in Iowa: My medical doctor there, acknowledging there was nothing he could do for me, recommended I see a practitioner of alternative medicine whom he thought could help. The doctor was right — and much to be admired for not “wanting to keep it to themselves.”

    I now live in New Mexico, Richardson’s home state, where, as he says, alternative medicine is much more available. People decide whether they want to try any of its many forms, or stick with western medicine, or use both. Which is exactly as it should be.

    And yes, it should be paid for.

  • I am of the opinion that standard medical practice can work hand-in-hand with homeopathy. The ultimate obligation of physicians is to help people– no, to HEAL people. And as far as that’s concerned, healing should be achieved by any and all available means. And I agree that it should be paid for.

    With that being said, however, it was a grave error for Richardson to have said, “You know how the doctors are. They want to keep it to themselves.” Campaigning against doctors is a mistake. It’s not the doctors who are the “bad guys.” It’s the pharmaceutical companies and insurance companies– in other words, the big corporations. The doctors are the good guys, improving the quality of life for individual citizens on a daily basis. The fact that they are prevented from treating certain patients on the basis of insurance plans, or that they only have certain options in terms of what to prescribe because of the dominance of big pharma, is not their fault, and a campaign against doctors is destined to fail.

    What I don’t understand is how someone as adept at negotiating hostage situations as Bill Richardson could be so incredibly inept on the stump!

  • Western medicine had made enormous strides in saving lives. No one disputes that. Pain is one condition that western medicine has difficulties with. It’s about killing the symptoms, not the cause. Oriental medical systems have been around longer than the western approach and have been effective on some ailments, less so others. Pain relief is one of those successes. So why not use both systems as appropriate?

    Not too many years ago everyone pooh poohed the benefits of yoga and meditation. You’d really have to look hard to find anyone now who thinks that actively reducing stress doesn’t help improve health. It takes time to move from alternative to mainstream, in medicine as in other professions.

  • A couple of points, CB in the post “doctors?” does this mean we must never question western trained MD’s and by implication never question the science they base their recomendations on? There are any number of conditions and diseases that are still undergoing scientific study and MD’s are using incomplete info and still making rec’s. Medical science is an ongoing field of study and as such does not have all the answers to all conditions.

  • I am not a supporter of Richardson at all but this view is entirely credible and it’s about time that someone challenged the AMA practices of saying that their way is the only way. Herbal medicine has proven results and most certainly dietary treatment is the best preventive medicine around. Ins. cos will not support diet therapy, hypnosis, or acupuncture. My god man, Tibetan Buddhists have recently released their herbology gathered from centuries of study and it isn’t even studied here. You must know that Medical practice and training in this country is in partnership with big pharm. My brother who is a MD told me he only had a couple hours of nutrition and health in med school. I worked for years as a nurse and have seen the influence of drug companies as compared to “natural health” healing and know the latter certainly has a place in maintaining the health of an individual. Holistic healing and wellness is the future whereas right now medical practice is more concerned with treating “symptoms”.

    I too am surprised you would treat Richardson’s statements with such disdain. I say it’s about time this issue was addressed and included in discussions of national health care instead of just being treated with such a condescending attitude. I suggest you watch “What the Bleep Do We Know: Further Down the Rabbit Whole” to get a good view of how a holistic approach at a molecular level can affect our whole being and certainly our health. Even the structure of water can be affected by our thoughts as they demonstrate in the film.

    What surprises me is that someone in politics had the courage to mention a Holistic approach to health care as it was certain to be met with scorn as ‘new wave’ like you know, hypnosis, acupuncture, or global warming was 10 yrs ago.

  • I’ve yet to read the other comments here, but your assessment of the alternative medicinal therapies and treatments is absolutely wrong-headed. Much of the important body of ideas in holistic-style medicine is peer-reviewed. Chinese medicine happens to have the benefit of thousands of years of such review. Most (if not all) states require alternative medical practitioners to be licensed. Alternative therapies are legit when prescribed by qualified individuals. Also, you are missing an important point. Western medicine is great for fixing things once they are broken. Eastern medicine is good for preventing problems. One of the most viable options for lowering health care costs in this country is to find a good balance.

  • Medical Science is indeed an ongoing field of study and does not have all the answers for many questions. In fact the “science” (which is overly corporate or “product’ based these days) is only as good as the question asked or the answer sought. In other words: There are a hellovallotta questions (studies) that are never run because no one stands to make a “profit”.

    In addition, the “evidence based medicine” that came into vogue in this realm of HMO’s ensures that front line practice is approx 10 years behind leading edge medicine. I.E.: it took more than 10 years for physicians to accept that ulcers were caused by a bacteria….and the physician who discovered this was laughed out of the journals and meetings. Peer pressure plays a big role in the hideabound world of medicine.

    Having said all that I don’t think that the laying on of hands should be made the equivalent of medical science…despite its imperfections and susceptability to fall prey to greed other little human attributes.

  • >Even the structure of water can be affected by our thoughts as they demonstrate in the film.

    It’s sad to see progressives, many of whom disdain the absurd beliefs of fundamentalist Christians, flock to this New Age nonsense. “What the Bleep” was produced by followers of J.Z. Knight, a guru who claims to channel a 35,000-year-old warrior from ancient Lemuria named Ramtha. It’s the usual bunkum produced by credulous Hollywood actors. See more here:

    http://www.csicop.org/si/2004-09/review.html

  • I don’t particularly like Richardson but here is one time I agree with him, based on direct experience.

    I have a bad back. It’s been “bad” for as long as I can remember going back to childhood, and other than prescribing pain pills that ultimately made me sick and suggesting I wear a brace, western medicine was never able to do anything to help. A chiropractor I went to told me – after examining the extensive x-rays he took of my back and pelvis – that were I a child he would have to report my parents to the authorities for abuse. It turns out my “fantasy memories” as Good Ol’ Mom used to call them, of my being thrown against walls as a toddler, were true. That’s where the deep, unhealed bone bruising came from. After 18 months of treatment (paid for, BTW, through the Writer’s Guild health insurance I had at the time) my back was healed and you could see it in the x-rays. Had I not done that 10 years ago, it’s likely I’d be in a wheelchair now. Oh, and the treatment to keep it in remission? Learn to sleep in the fetal position, something Mom had actively discouraged when I was young because a doctor told her it would ruin my posture.

    Then there’s diet. Having cut out meat and gone mostly vegan 7 years ago, it was very nice to go in for my VA health exam when I entered that system (which employs both chiropractors and acupuncturists, btw) and find that I had BP of 134/72, cholesterol of 166, and the same weight I had when I graduated high school. All by diet and taking the advice to go walking regularly.

    I do appreciate the advice a western medicine doctor gave me 20 years ago to stop smoking while I only had “incipient emphysema” and to western medicine for proving that taking that advice had indeed resulted in “things will never go away but it won’t get worse if you stop today.” And I am glad they found out I don’t have prostate cancer.

    Is this a diatribe against “western medicine”? No, but it is a statement that they don’t Know It All, despite the brainwashing they get in Med School that they’re God. I won’t go to a western doctor who doesn’t understand and agree with the validity of what I tell him of my above medical history.

  • richardson, who sometimes has difficulty articulating his ideas (and i like the guy well enough)… not to put words in his mouth, but i wish he would have replaced ‘holistic’ (as loaded a term as God) with ‘preventative’, and leave any argument about methodology (traditional AND so-called alternative) out of it.

    industrialized nations promote consumerism to their economic benefit, and really don’t do a very good job disclosing the ramifications of what’s consumed. let’s face it — a great deal of the growth of our pharma and heathcare infrastructure is based on treating illnesses caused by the “Conspiracy Drugs,” the ones that america got rich off of, like tobacco, caffeine, white sugar, distilled alcohol, and television.

    karma — cause & effect — IS science. unfortunately, politics & money usually isn’t. richardson and huckabee are on the right track, and the rest are ‘old school’ on this one.

  • racerX said: a LOT of things that fall under the banner “alternative medicine” aren’t examined scientifically because of the way we fund those examinations.

    i’d like to expand on racerX’s comment by way of example:

    shortly after the discovery of LSD (whose revolution came in the form of more or less synthesizing a chemical structure that had been around thousands of years in various other organic, yet hard to find, plants, and thus made it readily available) clinical applications abounded with tremendous positive results on people with deep psychological problems and additions. when, however, LSD became the recreational drug of choice (not unlike many prescription drugs of today), it was quickly outlawed in the so called War on Drugs. so much potential for good so quickly discarded; the baby right out with the bathwater. many therapists went underground — for anyone interested an excellent documentation is at :

    http://www.maps.org/secretchief/sctoc.html

    fortunately, thru the hard work of a dedicated few, some trials are re-emerging and there’s hope that these powerful agents of change can find their rightful place in the healing arts & sciences.

  • I am surprised that you would take such a dim view of Alternative medicine. It has been used throughout the world for thousands of years, with many good results. Many native remidies are used today, aspirin, for example. Richardson has brought many good ideas to the table, this being one.

  • I think it’s important for the government to study ‘wacky’ solutions as well as profitable ones: In our current medical industry there’s no reason to study anything that doesn’t involve a direct profit.

    They don’t pay for studies that improve our health by spending money or effort on methods and procedures that aren’t directly billable.

    It doesn’t have anything to do with doctors, but instead the industry, the insurers, big pharma…

  • Alternative medicine is somewhat mainstream. It has its own division within the National Institutes of Health.

    Now if the case were Alternative Health Care Providers…I believe the stats are something like 80% of the most commonly seen conditions are treatable by the likes of Nurse Practitioners and Physicians’ Assistants.

    So the doctors’ guild is at some risk on that account as costs are taken into account.

  • …Also, doesn’t the government have a responsibility to protect us from the guys with the ozone deployers or dietary supplement of the month or the intestine jelly…

  • I didn’t see anything wrong with what Richardson is saying – it’s fairly mainstream. A quick look at almost any hospital urgent care waiting room will tell you traditional medicine doesn’t know much about the basics of getting someone feeling better – horrible hash lighing, uncomfortable seating, non-soothing colors. Is it ‘wacky’ to think these things matter? And my wife had two unassisted homesbirths because she hated the experience of hospital birth so much.

  • “So, to hear the governor tell it, part of the problem with healthcare in the United States is that we rely too much on doctors? ”

    Well … yeah. He’s right. And I have found tai chi, chi qong, rolfing, Alexander, Feldenkreis, chiropractic, and Trager all quite helpful, some of them in ways that have made quite a difference to my life. And all of it was paid for out of my pocket, not that I’m complaining. I received value for money. If Richardson can figure a way for the government to pay, I’ll be even happier.

    Reading Mr. Benen’s post, I get the feeling that I’m supposed to fall over laughing at the absurdity of Richardson’s views. Instead I’m reminded that everyone has their little beliefs that they think never need to be examined. Mr. Benen is such a freethinker that, on some subjects, he is free of thinking.

  • How depressing to watch so many presumably smart people fall for such New Age crap. From now on, be careful when smirking at the fundies. Hipocrisy is so ugly.

  • As someone pointed out above, there is already a dept of alternative medicine at the NIH.

    I would support spending money on double-blind tests of alternative therapies. Not because I think many of them would pan out, but because Americans now spend billions every year on this stuff, and it would be helpful to be able to tell people that, no, that just doesn’t work, and we’ve proven it.

    I think that the medical establishment’s position here–i.e., don’t test “quack remedies” because that just lends credence to the idea that they have value–is wrong. If they are tested and found to be worthless, won’t that persuade some, at least, to stop wasting their money? By simply ignoring alternative medicine, we tacitly agree to its use.

    The first step, though, will be to repeal the law (instigated by Orrin Hatch) that prevents the govt from regulating dietary supplements.

  • Nancy says “The first step, though, will be to repeal the law (instigated by Orrin Hatch) that prevents the govt from regulating dietary supplements.”

    if we’re going to introduce govt regulation (and the special interests of e.g. the AMA) into this equation shouldn’t we start by regulating killers such as sugar, a proven cause of obesity and diabetes, of which the american taxpayer and insurance policy holders bear the brunt of the costs?

    and by regulating dietary supplements, would St. Johns Wort be pulled as a proven low cost alternative to anti-depressants such as Prozac?

    what’s the worst that usually happens with dietary supplements — a placebo effect? i’ve a friend whose daughter is being weaned off of one of these prescription anti-depressant marvels, and her withdrawal symptoms are akin to that of a junkie.

    let’s keep the govt out of it — they’ve proven less is more.

  • Many of the holistic practices are studied but not here in the US where the pharmacutical companies are so strong. In Europe-( especially Germany) herbs are used a great deal more than here. There is actually studies done by a German Commision on herbs and their proper uses and side effects etc. There isn’t the money in the US for the large scale studies on herbs and homeopathics and supplements. Just because the supplements aren’t tested by the FDA doesn’t mean they aren’t tested here. A good, reputable company belongs to organizations and allows for the indepentant testing of their products ie: antiarthritis supplements etc so the consumer knows that the product they are buying is actually in that bottle.
    Also, we are now finding that medications approved by the FDA aren’t always safe and the FDA is a politicalized entity. Just note the amount of medications that are recalled because of patient harm. Check the PDRs and see all the side-effects of these chemical medications.

  • As an aside- a few years ago one of the drug companies went to court to block the sale of a supplement that was for high cholesterol. They weren’t arguing that it might not be safe–they were upset because if came from nature and was almost identical to one of their medications. ( and it worked in both the non- and the prescriptions form). But one can’t get a patent for a natural substance. So they went to court to block it’s sale even arguing that NATURE had immitated their product. The item is still on sale in health food store.
    Not all of the products out there in these health food stores are unsafe or don’t work. You have to be educated as to what is true and what is seller’s hype.

  • Monzie – Nurses, Nurse Practitioners, Physicians Assistants are not Alternative Health Care Providers. They are all mainstrean Health Care providers. The Alternative Health Care Providers are the accupuncturists, herbalists, naturopathics, and homeopathics

  • I think it’s sad to see something dismissed as ‘new age crap’ or nonsense when it’s nothing of the kind. This isn’t a reason vs. faith issue. Yes, there’s wacky stuff calling itself alternative medicine but there’s wacky stuff in ‘normal’ medicine, too.

    Insults don’t lead to understanding. I’m commenting on what Richardson was quoted as saying; nothing about it offended me.

  • I, too have mixed feelings on this. Medicine protocols should be based on peer-reviewd research. But many alternative protocols either have some peer-reviewed research behind them, or are based on what is known from peer-reviews research. The problem is, there is no financial incentive to support peer-reviewed research on anything that cannot be patented. So we will have a difficult time learning, for example, whether white willow bark can bring us benefits similar to aspirin while lessening the stomach damage.

    Another example: A government agency has suggested that tart cherry is beneficial for arthritis and gout. Yet, when a company tried to sell concentrated tart cherry juice and use this research as a selling point, they were sued by the US government. Because if you claim a health benefit for your product, you are now calling it a “drug” and as such it now must be subjected to FDA trials. For cherries! You cannot repeat the findings of the governments own published research, else the government will sue you!

  • There is one drug that tests positive for results for all diseases. It is the placebo. If it were a real drug it would be THE wonder drug.

  • Here’s the way I see it: If an “alternative treatment” can pass a double-blind there’s nothing alternative about it. It’s medicine, plain and simple.

    The problem isn’t when an alternative “medicine” can’t pass a trial, it’s when anti-mainstream-medicine people flock to it because they think there’s some sort of conspiracy to silence opponents.

    For everyone here who’s touting the benefits of this berry or that bark or whatever homeopathic BS (no really, homeopathy is nothing but water) I suggest you read the journals on your “wonder drug”. Drugs are extremely dosage depandant. Pumping your system full of pharmacologically active foods is one of the surest ways out there to overdose.

    I personally don’t give a rip if you OD on yohimbe because you’re trying to please your woman… just don’t expect the government to fund your anti-mainstream crusade.

  • At my local Advocate Healthcare hospital in suburban Chicago they have a Ronald MacDonald statue sitting on a bench between the ER and the cafeteria. McDonalds evidently sponsors the kids’ wing or something. This hospital claims it holds the record for getting you in the OR and under the knife (59 mins) when you come in complaining of chest pains. There’s a sign outside the OR that says “All sales reps and other visitors much check in at the front desk before entering the OR.”.

    That is seriously effed up. I could go on and on about this institution but my dad is currently in their care and I have enough problems with them as it is.

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