June 2009
Vol. 8 Issue 6
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Discuss This Newsletter With Others Real Healthcare Reform Has Health As the Primary Goal In 1986, shortly after starting my 12-day live-in program at St. Helena Hospital, I had several meetings with representatives from major medical insurance companies with the intention of having my treatment, called The McDougall Program, paid for by a patient’s medical insurance. I prepared portfolios with scientific articles showing how a low-fat, starch-based diet worked better than traditional treatments for most chronic aliments. For example, I provided research on how diet would stop chest pain (angina) in people with coronary artery disease and reverse their underlying atherosclerosis. Also included were multiple studies demonstrating the failure of bypass surgery to save lives in the vast majority of people. The financial figures showed diet-therapy in our residential program would cost $5000 versus bypass surgery at $45,000 (if all went well). I expected a favorable response from the representatives of these companies. The first reply was from a claims manager, “We’re not interested; this is not the kind of program we can include in our coverage.” I asked, “Why?” He said, “In order to stop the chest pains by your methods you have to get the patients’ cooperation; patients must change their diets, and I don’t believe they will. For the bypass surgeon to stop the chest pains all he has to do is get the patient to lie down on the operating room table. No will power necessary.” I pressed on with my arguments. “But there are some patients who would much rather eat oatmeal, minestrone soup, and bean burritos and go for a daily walk, than expose the inside of their chest to stale operating room air, and risk death and brain damage. Don’t you think they should be given an option, especially with the savings for your company?” |MORE| Favorite Five Articles from Recent Medical Journals
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