I rented a DVD over the weekend called Beautiful Truth. It caught my eye because it claimed to be the story of the Gerson Therapy for cancer, a treatment that has been in and out of favor in CAM practice for over 50 years.
Instead, the film turned into a grab bag of hot button issues in modern health - vaccines, amalgams, GMO foods, etc. Watching this stuff unfold on the same day as the march on Washington by opponents of the health care bill, I was struck by just how cynical Americans have become.
When I was growing up, scientists and doctors tended to be thought of (at least by those I knew and learned from) as people of high integrity. I no longer believe this to be the case. Among the points made in this film, with no rebuttal from academic or industry points of view:
- vaccines are widely known to be dangerous and toxic, and are routinely being used on our children as a way to fill the pockets of drug companies
- the Gerson Therapy is one of many (otherwise unnamed by the director) alternative therapies for cancer that were suppressed by the American Cancer Society to make sure physician and drug company profits stay strong
- dental amalgams give off more mercury vapor than the OSHA industrial standards would allow in the workplace
- the American Dental Association will strip licensure from any dentist who doesn’t recommend amalgam fillings for each filled surface
Now, there may be a kernal of science in some or all of the claims above (albiet a pretty small one), but taken together, the world view expressed is a downright paranoic one. We’ve clearly come a long way from the time when Salk and Sabin or Watkins and Crick were among the most trusted and admired of Americans.
Where did all of this mistrust come from? Can it still be undone? What is the role of the CAM provider in maintaining or undermining trust in the conventional medical community? If anybody can provide me a workable answer for one or more of these questions, I’ll feel better about paying $3 to rent a film that was frankly pretty disturbing.