WHY PEOPLE CHOOSE HOMOEOPATHY AND NATURAL MEDICINE
Concerns about Adverse Drug Reactions and Orthodox Medicine
- The total number of adverse reactions to drugs in Australia from the 1999-2000 year (those resulting in hospital admission and those that did not) was 400,000 (Australian Journal of Pharmacy, 83, September 2002, 774)
- The reports of adverse reactions from natural medicine to the Australian Adverse Drug Reactions Advisory Committee (ADRAC) average 23 per year (Aust Journal of Pharmacy, 83, June 2002, 516-517)
- There are 140,000 hospital admissions in Australia every year because of misused pharmaceutical drugs (Australian Journal of Pharmacy, 83, September 2002, 774)
- In 1994 in Australia there were estimated to be 146,000 people who were accidentally or negligently injured by orthodox medical practices. (Independent Monthly, Oct 1994, 36-43)
- 25% of Australian hospital admissions are for iatrogenic (medically induced) or drug related diseases. (Current Therapeutics, July 2000, 76-79)
- In the US, doctors are the third leading cause of death, with iatrogenic disease accounting for 250,000 deaths every year (I2,000 from unnecessary surgery, 7,000 from medication errors in hospitals, 20,000 from other errors in hospitals, 80,000 from infections in hospitals, 106,000 from the negative effects of drugs) (Journal of the American Medical Association, 84, July 26, 2000)
- In 1992 it was found that 8 million of the 160 million orthodox drug prescriptions for that year in the US were incorrect. (Independent Monthly, Oct 1994, 36-43)
- 80% of diseases will either not improve (regardless of the treatment) or will heal naturally, regardless of the treatment given. (Independent Monthly, Oct 1994, 36-43)
- A large number of diseases are misdiagnosed by doctors. (Independent Monthly, Oct 1994, 36-43)
- Two thirds of the diagnostic medical tests conducted are useless- one study showed that of 200 patients subject to laboratory tests, only 3 of these patients were given correct advice. (Independent Monthly, Oct 1994, 36-43)
- Every year in Australia 1400 people die because of adverse drug effects (Independent Monthly, Oct 1994, 36-43)
- Every year in Australia 14,000 people die from medical errors in hospitals. (These figures from 1995) (The Australian, March 15, 1999, 17)
- 80,000 people in Australia every year are hospitalised because they've been given the wrong medicine or the incorrect dose of the medicine (5AA News Saturday 3/11/01)
- In the US over one- third of the patients were admitted for iatrogenic disease (Steele K, et.al., "Iatrogenic Illness on a General Medical Service at a University Hospital," New England Journal of Medicine, 304 (1981): 638-642)
- In the US between 4% and 18% of patients experience negative effects in outpatient hospital settings, resulting in 116 million extra physician visits, 77 million extra prescriptions, 17 million emergency department visits, 8 million hospitalisations, 3 million long-term admissions, 199,000 additional deaths, $77 billion in extra costs (British Medical Journal. 2000;320:774-777.)
- In the US up to one fifth of all new prescription drugs may ultimately be recalled or produce potentially harmful side effects. (Journal of the American Medical Association, 2002;287:2215-2220, 2273-2275)
- Natural medicines are seen as being much safer than drug based therapies. (Current Therapeutics, July 2000, 76-79)
- Only 15-40% of orthodox medical practices are evidence based. (Washington Post, January 18, 2000)
- Serious concerns about the ability of orthodox medicine to be able to deal with things like infectious diseases, and the failure of drugs such as antibiotics. (The Bulletin, January 30, 2001, 21-25)
- Drugs are 22 times more likely to cause an adverse health event than natural products (Natural Health Review May 2002 14-16)
- The New England Journal of Medicine has given up trying to find truly independent doctors to review journal articles, write journal articles and write editorials because of concerns that they cannot find a doctor who is not connected in some way with a drug company (ABC NEWS.com June 12, 2002)
- A clinical trial for depression using Zoloft, St John's Wort and placebo, found that St John's Wort cured 24% of patients, Zoloft cured 25% of patients and placebo cured 32% of patients (Washington Post, May 7, 2002)
- Only 10-20% of all standard medical procedures have been validated by controlled clinical trials (Complementary Medicine, July/ August 2002, 33-35)
- A major US study comparing regular keyhole surgery for osteoarthritis of the knee with the same surgery set up as a placebo (the same procedure was performed but without any actual surgery done on the affected area), the regular surgery produced the same results as the placebo (Sydney Morning Herald, Weekend Edition, August 17-18, 2002, 29)
- 103,000 deaths in US hospitals in 2000 were caused by infections acquired in the hospital (Chicago Herald Sun, 21 July 2002 A1 and A4)
- Up to 15% of hospital admissions in Europe are caused by adverse drug reactions (Australian Journal of Pharmacy, 83, November 2002, 885)