Blind Spots: When Drugs Will get It Improper, and What It Means for Our Well being

Great Insight
Some amazing insights into how things become policy, beliefs and then sometimes cause damage taking a generation to get back on track.As a middle aged woman I feel much more informed about HRT and am going to speak to my GP about it on my next visit.I have had a 25 year career working with doctors and selling drugs or procedures and I have often questioned, what are we doing here and what is the root cause of this disease? I have now got a career where I can focus on the root cause of disease.Thanks you for such a great book, I would love to see something similar written for the Australian healthcare system where we have in the past had a good private public partnership. Now we have the two systems under pressure let’s hope some of those young and inspiring minds get their data published.

Incredible, Honest and will we ever learn?
I learned so much from this book, even in the first 27 pages. Definitely get it if you want to learn about your own health and the history of medical doctor stubbornness to stick to what they know and not switch to what is known, data proven. Most important take away: Ask questions, take charge of your own health, know what is going on, have a spine when the dr. talks to you, stand up for your health and body. Don’t cave to their wisdom when it doesn’t somehow make sense. Read the book. Enlightening!

Informative, sensible quick read
I love how the author backs is science with science and just group think. His common sense approach will speak to anyone who takes the time to read this book. I learned a lot in the pages of this book.

Eye opening!!! Definitely recommend this, especially healthcare workers.
Let me start with I am a nurse in labor and delivery. My husband never wants to listen to my work stories, but one day, I came home and he had all kinds of work related questions for me, I was floored. He had heard the author speaking on a radio show promoting this book. He had me listen and asked me about some of things discussed related to the babies being born section. I listened and then I ordered the book! I have seen first hand some of things he talked about. Others were before my time, but shocking none the less to read how long things took to change because the “establishment” didn’t want to believe. I used to be that person that went by the “literature.” I didnt realize how much literature was being suppressed. There have been many things I have seen in my career that I at one time didn’t believe in until I saw it firsthand. So I am aware the dogma exists to not believe, but after seeing it for myself, I now keep an open mind to new ideas. The section on skin to skin contact with mom is a perfect example. What sealed it for me was when I was caring for a mom whose baby had a congenital condition and birth defects that were incompatible with life, meaning the baby was going to die no matter what. Mom wanted to try to carry the baby to term, hopefully deliver a living baby, and hold him until he died in her arms. He was born and in doctors’ hands, not doing well. I put him skin to skin with mom, and he immediately started improving. He was breathing and pink and like any otherwise healthy baby. He did so well that mom decided to let other family members hold him. In their arms he would stop breathing and turn purple, they would panic and ask me what to do, i would take baby and put him skin to skin with mom, reminding them, mom wanted to hold him while he died. However, every time he went skin to skin, he started breathing again and turned pink without any medical intervention at all. This went back and forth for hours as the various family members took their turns. In the end, the baby lived for 12 hours and eventually died in mom’s arms as planned, but mom got 12 hours with her precious baby that she wouldn’t have had without skin to skin contact. I had seen doctors recommend certain treatments or procedures that parents have refused, and everything turns out fine, to the point of me thinking, “miracles do happen.” I now have changed my practice to side with patients and support whatever decisions they make. I stand up to doctors and routinely question the “why” when I dont agree. I share with them and my patients my experiences with “going against the norm.” In many cases, it has strengthened my relationship and trust with patients and doctors.This book really opened my eyes to the politics involved in research studies that i was never aware of. It actually angers me to see how closed-minded and set in their ways some of these doctors are. I, too, was fired from a job for standing up for what I believed in when I didn’t agree with how things were happening, and it turned into a blessing in disguise. I have very strong feelings on some healthcare concerns that are being politicized and just tried to “fly under the radar” and not share my thoughts with people with opposing views just to not rock the boat, but once i started opening up debate dialogue I found both sides have valid points. I agree with Dr. Makary that we need more studies. On any topic, there should be 2 independent studies to validate results. Politics has no place in scientific research. Doctors should be allowed to research what they want, and journals shouldn’t be able to quash legitimate articles just because they don’t like how the results turned out. Their job should be to review the methodology and statistics to ensure it was not an “altered outcome” but not reject it on topic alone. To think that so many people have died because of the politics involved in progressive doctors questioning the status quo and trying to make it better is appalling. As Dr Makary says, saying, ” I don’t know” is better than making something up or passing off opinion as fact. His discussion about studies being done or falsified just to push the agenda of an industry shows the bias in the medical community is not towards improving healthcare and looking for a better way to help people, but to uphold their own prior achievements. I grew up learning that the only thing constant is change. Things are constantly changing. It is ok for things to be one way and new discoveries to change those things multiple times. Hopefully those behind the scenes responsible for preventing good new research will read this and take the blinders off and open their eyes to new ideas, at least be open to legitimate debate and research to prove or disprove those ideas, and not just shut them down because they dont like the idea initially.

Not up to the standard of Dr Peter Gotzche or even Dr Ken Berry. Too careful of his reputation me thinks.