The hundred year haul - It is time to challenge the markets of health and wellness

Tuesday, February 15, 2011 by: Robert Kress RPh CCN
Tags: medical monopoly, history, health news

(NewsTarget) The S 510, Food Safety and Modernization Act recently approved by both the house and the senate shows to have more than a coincidental relationship to the Flexner Report of 1910, 100 years later.

In the early part of the Twentieth Century the medical landscape in America was ripe to be taken over, and the implementation of a takeover was in the works for some time. In 1904 the American Medical Association (AMA) created what was known as The Council of Medical Education (CME) whose objective was to restructure the American medical educational system.

The CME appointed Abraham Flexner to conduct a survey to assess the American medical educational system. The results of this survey were released in 1910: known as the Flexner Report.

One could argue that mainstream medicine at the time was in the need of reform much the same way as our current industrial food complex is in need of overhaul; the end result supported the industrial side of medicine. This created many challenges for the health of the consumer, a staunch similarity to the Food Modernization and Safety Act of today.

Abraham Flexner and the CME sought to eliminate a great number of medical schools as well as to limit the number of medical school graduates. They called for standardization of what medical schools taught and those not in accordance would have to merge or close their doors. Flexner recommended that medical schools appoint full-time clinical professors, who would basically fall under restrictions to how much income they could produce for themselves.

There were small proprietary schools of the day operating under a for-profit model. These schools stemmed from a tradition of folk-based medicine and allowed admittance of African Americans, women, and students of limited financial means. Proprietary schools did not fit into the Flexner formula and were recommended to close, leading to a profession predominately run by the white male elite.

Flexner clearly did not favor any form of medicine which did not advocate the use of treatments such as vaccinations and the rising chemical based patented medicine. Disciplines such as naturopathy and homeopathy opposed this agenda; the schools, which taught these disciplines, were told either to eliminate the courses from their curriculum or they would be forced to close their doors.

The impact of the Flexner report re-sculpted the practice of medicine in America. There became limited options of treatment and care; only chemical based patented medicine was taught and widely practiced, restraining and eliminating the disciplines of natural origin. This led to shortages of practitioners, less availability of care and increased costs. Many gifted individuals of medicine were unable to obtain a degree due to lack of financial backing, and the pool of teachers became limited to narrow focused professors, many of whom lacked any aspiration to think beyond the standards set in place.

Currently we are looking at similar ramifications to our food systems: imposed restrictions, increased regulations and costs for the producers and small farmers having to be passed off to consumers, not to mention possible food shortages.

Limitations on income on small farms are much like those on the original professors. There is an increased threat of chemically oriented produced foods, leading to a greater increase of disease states and food intolerances. There are stunning similarities to the increase of chemical based medication pushed by the pharmaceutical complex which have led to greater side effects, interactions and even deaths.

This increasing control and bureaucracy has proven in the past and will most likely prove in the future to be counterproductive to the benefits of a free market and the health of our nation.

Resources:

Flexner, Abraham (1910), Medical Education in the United States and Canada: A Report to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Bulletin No. 4, New York City: The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

Barr, Donald A., (2010) Questioning the Premedical Paradigm: Enhancing Diversity in the Medical Profession a Century after the Flexner Report.

Kessel, Reuben, 1958. "Price Discrimination in Medicine", Journal of Law and Economics 1 (Oct., 1958):.

Starr, Paul (1984) The Social Transformation of American Medicine: The rise ofa a sovereign profession and the making of a vast industry

About the author

Robert B Kress RPH CCN, The Renegade Pharmacist has been bucking the trend of Big Pharma since he graduated pharmacy school in 1994.
In additional to conventional pharmacy, Robert has acquired expertise in kinesiology, bio-identical hormonal therapy and is a board certified clinical nutritionist.
After owning his own Alternative Pharmacy with his wife Amy, an expert in Longevity Skin care, they now spend their time educating others on all measures of health, natural living as well as self-sufficiency in many aspects of life at their website, Aware, Prepare, and Prosper www.awareandprepare.com