Poll about cancer "cure"

[Monica]

Dietary supplements are no small business, but it's true they are eclipsed by pharmaceutical sales!

Very true! Nutritional supplements/health foods industry is big business, no doubt about it. And certainly there is much room for greed and abuse, poor quality products being hyped, etc. But, overall, I see that growth of the health foods industry as a good thing, because it's showing that more and more people are questioning the medical establishment and seeking out alternatives. There is some bad along with the good, but overall I think it's a good thing that they are rising in popularity.

And, as you said, they have a looooooonnnnng way to go to even come close to the massive drug industry!

I remember reading that if you look at the top 10 pharmaceutical corporations in the Fortune 500. their combined profits exceeds that of the remaining 490 corporations put together!!!

That's mind-blowing! Especially when you consider that the remaining 490 includes all of Big Oil!

A new study funded by the Natural Products Foundation has found the total economic contribution of the dietary supplement industry to the U.S. economy is more than three times annual consumer sales, or $61 billion dollars per year.

Do you have the numbers handy for Big Pharma? mercola would probably have the figures somewhere.

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I make money off of the supplements I recommend. However, I use a distributor that carries thousands of products so it's not like I am restricting my recommendations to one or two brands for profit motives. I actually review comparable products to see what represents the best value for the quality. Plus- if people want to buy stuff on their own that is no skin off of my nose.

I'm very glad to hear that! I've met a lot of alternative practitioners who sell only certain brands, and automatically promote all the products from their chosen company. I don't respect that. Those practitioners also tend to be very closed-minded about anything new.

It is a sign of integrity to seek out the best products for that particular patient, regardless of brand or how much profit the practitioner makes, instead of fitting the patient into a mold. Nice to meet a practitioner with integrity!

For example, did you know that the cash price for lab tests is often half of what would be billed to insurance for the exact same thing?

Yes, very true. I learned that when I was trying to sell health insurance. (I say "trying" because I was miserably bad at it! I can't sell something I'm not passionate about.) People who have the cash can negotiate with doctors and hospitals and get the costs drastically cut. Most people aren't aware of this!

I don't think anything is going to really change until the masses move past the stage of authoritarian value memes. So long as patients are looking for somebody to "tell me what to do" there will be practitioners telling them that X is "the one true way."

Agreed! Same with religion.

These memes transcend any dualistic characterizations at play. There are both patients and practitioners that subscribe to authoritarianism. And there are both conventional and alternative practitioners that do so.

Yup! I just think it's more prevalent in conventional, because virtually all conventional doctors subscribe to that mentality - it's how they were taught - whereas there are many, many alternative practitioners who don't.