The Medical Cartel

	Book review on Natural cures 'they' don't want you to know about by Kevin Trudeau (2004) Reviewed by David Lorimer, 2011 published in Network Review No 106
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In 2006 I reviewed an important book on diet and health, The China Study by Thomas Campbell, where it was apparent that China was experiencing a nutrition transition from diseases characterising undernourishment to the classic diseases of civilisation endemic in advanced countries. The third part of that book detailed the political intrigue that surrounds the food industry and food regulation in the United States, with revolving doors between political office, lobby groups and high-level positions within the industry. In other words, a high degree of corruption was involved. Kevin Trudeau was initially unable to get this book published, with many publishers claiming that it was too long and would never sell. So he published it himself and it became a bestseller, clocking up over 20 million copies. Because he has become a well-known whistleblower with respect to the food and pharmaceutical industries, he has been at the receiving end of a negative publicity campaign designed to discredit him and his work. As someone observed, people only shoot up, they don't shoot down - if one puts one's head above the parapet, one must expect to be shot at.

The book begins with an account of Kevin's personal experience of a severe mitral valve prolapse in his heart. He was recommended experimental drugs and surgery, and told that he had short life expectancy his researches led him to a Dr. Tang who was able to treat him by natural methods for this condition. Nevertheless, because this treatment had not been authorised by the FDA, the condition remains officially incurable in the United States. After returning to the medical doctors who originally diagnosed his heart problem, he was told that he must have received a misdiagnosis, and the examining doctor showed no interest in the cure he had undertaken. Kevin reached the conclusion that the medical establishment systematically deny and debunk natural cures, which means that many people continue to suffer and die unnecessarily. The reason for this is that the medical system is dominated by large pharmaceutical companies who also fund much of the research and support medical schools. Doctors are therefore trained to think that drugs cure diseases and know little or nothing about the natural cures detailed in this book. Because of the law, no claims can be made about such treatments, while medically treated illnesses resulted in 250,000 deaths in the United States every year. Paradoxically, more and more people in United States are sick in spite of recent medical advances.

This situation is detailed early in the book, and the reason for the failure of drugs and surgery to prevent illness is that they do not address the cause, even if modern medicine works extremely well in emergency crisis situations. Only the body can cure itself, and natural methods support the healing process. The people referred to as "they" in the title bar the pharmaceutical companies, food companies, trade associations, medical charities and foundations, lobbyists and government agencies. None of these groups have an interest in the development of natural cures; indeed they seek to suppress them at every opportunity. The tactics used by the FDA and the FTC are explained, with the underlying agenda of showing that drugs are effective and safe and that natural treatments are ineffective and dangerous. Kevin has first-hand experience of underhand FTC tactics which often results in the silencing of individuals in his case or the shutting down of businesses. In addition, this cartel seeks to control vitamins and supplements through the Codex Alimentarius, playing on alleged safety concerns in the name of protecting the public. The bottom line is the huge amount of money generated by drugs, which results in attempts to maintain and extend a monopolistic power.

Kevin explains the overall naturopathic philosophy and the role of toxins and the undermining of the immune system. He sees four principal reasons for disease, namely excessive toxins, nutritional deficiencies, exposure to electromagnetic chaos, and mental and emotional stress. One of the principal toxins is the drugs themselves, along with many other chemicals and additives in our food. Toxins will tend to make the body more acidic and therefore correspondingly more susceptible to disease. He goes on to discuss the importance of proper food, exercise, rest and the need for a positive mental attitude. The next chapter explains how to maintain one's health, with a great deal of a specific and useful advice, which any holistic practitioner will recognise as sound. A very long chapter is entitled "Not Convinced?" and contains great deal more data to back up the earlier claims in the book. This is followed by frequently asked questions and a further chapter of bibliography under the various headings and questions plus some analysis of natural cures for specific diseases. So readers are thoroughly informed by the time they reach this point in the book. There is then some information about www.naturalcures.com, further material from newsletters and an extensive appendix on the way in which the FDA treated a producer of some special bread.

The battle over health continues, and this book is a significant contribution to the arguments for an approach based on natural cures. Eventually, governments will come to understand that there are cheaper ways of promoting and maintaining health than the current system, these costs are set to increase inexorably. As many people have pointed out, we actually have a disease service rather than a health service. This is complicated by the complex web of financial interests that maintain the present system, but the costs of ill-health will eventually force a reconsideration of the food we eat and the ways in which it is produced. We need a food and agriculture that promotes both the health of the individual and the health of the planet; our present system does neither and is therefore inherently destructive. Just as Colin Tudge argues in his book reviewed later in this issue, we need biological efficiency rather than cash efficiency, recognising that good health is in fact an important component of overall wealth.

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