Choosing Less Expensive Treatments Over Big Pharma

Introduction

Author and patient advocate Julia Schopick knows the truth about Big Pharma vs. medical alternatives and her mission to bring awareness of this issue to the public has received a great deal of media attention, resulting in her being a featured guest on over one hundred radio shows nationwide.

Main Item

A quick search on the Internet will net examples of pharmaceutical companies raising drug prices to astronomic levels. A recent, extremely well publicized example:

Daraprim - a drug that is primarily used to treat a life-threatening parasitic infection - changed from $13.50 to $750 overnight. At these prices and given the current state of the economy, it's a good possibility that a drug like this may never find its way to the patients for whom it was intended. Even more disturbing, these costly (often toxic) drugs are frequently given precedence over safer, less expensive alternatives.

Sadly, this is not an isolated case and Julia Schopick, author of Honest Medicine: Effective, Time-Tested, Inexpensive Treatments for Life-Threatening Diseases , makes it clear that there are alternatives to succumbing to the Big Pharma-biased treatments doctors tend to prescribe first.

Schopick's journey began as a result of a very personal experience, when her husband was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor in 1990 at the age of 40. Upon receiving the diagnosis, along with his doctors' dire predictions of his expected lifespan, she set out to find innovative treatments not offered by his medical team, which she then used in addition to the treatments his doctors recommended. Her husband survived for fifteen years post-diagnosis and twelve years beyond his doctors' expectations. Both she and her husband felt this was due in great part to several innovative treatments she found.

"Educating patients about medical alternatives is critical," says Schopick. "My husband's doctors were not at all interested in prescribing any treatments beyond surgery, radiation and the expensive, often toxic drugs they learned about in medical school and in their journals. And they scoffed at learning about the non-toxic treatments I found through my research that actually ended up extending his life by so many years."

The heart of Schopick's book are the real-life patient stories that tell of the suffering these people endured by using "standard of care" drugs their doctors recommended but who finally - through their own research - found the treatments the author recommends in her book. These remarkable stories bring hope to those currently undergoing traditional treatments that there are medical alternatives available that can be used together with conventional treatments, or on their own, to help extend life - just as they did for Schopick's husband.

Through Schopick's research she has identified several treatments patients and their caregivers should become familiar with. These are the four treatments she profiles in her book.

• Silverlon - FDA-approved treatment for all non-healing wounds.
• Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) - Since the mid-1980s, LDN has been used by tens of thousands of patients worldwide to treat autoimmune diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, and Crohn's disease; also HIV/AIDS and some cancers.
• Intravenous Alpha Lipoic Acid - Since the mid-1970s, this has been used to treat terminal liver disease, and since the mid-1990s (with oral LDN) to treat some cancers.
• The Ketogenic Diet - This diet has been used since the 1920s at institutions such as Johns Hopkins and the Mayo Clinic to treat pediatric epilepsy. Today, thanks to one of the contributors to Honest Medicine, Hollywood writer Jim Abrahams ("Airplane," "Hot Shots"), there are now hundreds of hospitals worldwide that administer the diet.

Awards:

Honest Medicine won first place in the Alternative Medicine category in the National Indie Excellence Book Award, 2011.

Reviews:

• Ronald Hoffman, MD: "I predict that Honest Medicine will become an instant classic."
• Jacob Teitelbaum, MD: "When doctors tell you they can't help you, thank them for their honesty. And then read Julia Schopick's book!"
• David Brownstein, MD: "This book should be required reading for all physicians and patients searching for safe and effective therapies."
• Jeffrey Dach, MD: "A revolution is at hand, and Julia Schopick's new book, Honest Medicine, is leading the charge with banner held high. "
• Julian Whitaker, MD: "I commend Julia Schopick for spreading the word about these remarkable, yet overlooked therapies that can improve the lives of so many."

Julia Schopick is a best-selling author and seasoned radio talk show guest, appearing on more than one hundred shows. Through her writings and her blog, HonestMedicine.com, her goal is to empower patients to make the best health choices for themselves and their loved ones by teaching them about little-known but promising treatments their doctors may not know about.

Schopick's writings on health and medical topics have been featured in American Medical News (AMA), Alternative & Complementary Therapies, the British Medical Journal and the Chicago Sun-Times. She enjoys making presentations to large groups, both in person and remotely, via Skype.

Honest Medicine: Effective, Time-Tested, Inexpensive Treatments for Life-Threatening Diseases , By Julia Schopick. Innovative Health Publishing - Available at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble and other major online outlets.

Amazon.com ISBN-13: 978-0982969014
Amazon.com ISBN-10: 0982969015
BarnesAndNoble.com ISBN-13: 9780982969007
BarnesAndNoble.com ISBN-10: 0982969007

Attribution/Source(s):

This quality-reviewed publication was selected for publishing by the editors of Disabled World due to its significant relevance to the disability community. Originally authored by Ascot Media Group, and published on 2015/10/29 (Edit Update: 2020/12/09), the content may have been edited for style, clarity, or brevity. For further details or clarifications, Ascot Media Group can be contacted at HonestMedicine.com. NOTE: Disabled World does not provide any warranties or endorsements related to this article.

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Cite This Page (APA): Ascot Media Group. (2015, October 29 - Last revised: 2020, December 9). Choosing Less Expensive Treatments Over Big Pharma. Disabled World. Retrieved October 4, 2024 from www.disabled-world.com/disability/publications/pharma.php

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