A “Frontline” program on alternative medicine, which aired on PBS stations two weeks ago, took a hard look at supplements, herbs and homeopathic remedies. Much was made of the fact that supplements aren’t approved by the FDA and don’t require the rigorous testing required of drugs. This, of course, is why they are relatively cheap.
Most MDs admit they have no clue how homeopathics work, and believe that any benefit is solely from the placebo effect. Nevertheless, more pharmacies are carrying them and people are buying them, particularly combinations like Cold Calm and Oscillococcinum for colds and flu, respectively.
I use homeopathic remedies and can attest to their efficacy and complete lack of side effects. However, my evidence is purely anecdotal. I first learned of these gems from an acupuncturist who treated my horses for injuries. Arnica, I discovered, was a miracle, but only for bruises and muscle strains. Hypericum was equally miraculous, but only for nerve pain. Homeopathics are symptom specific. You have to take the right one or you get no result. Hence the difficulty in quantifying results.
What’s for sure is that horses don’t know from the placebo effect. What you see is what you get. You run your hands over a horse’s sore back and he almost drops to his knees. You apply arnica lotion to his back, press the muscles and he doesn’t bat an eye. The first time I used it on myself, I had four jump poles dropped on my instep and was in such pain I couldn’t walk. I propped my foot up with an ice pack, no relief. Desperate, I swathed my foot in arnica lotion and placed six arnica pellets under my tongue. The pain disappeared within minutes and I walked to dinner. I repeated the treatment before bed and was able to work the next day. Sold me.
Anyway, last week, PBS aired another “Frontline” program about prescription drugs and I was really, really glad I don’t use those. I mean, what’s heartburn or hay fever compared to liver failure? Many years ago, after a series of bizarre reactions to several medications, my MD said I had the drug tolerance of a cat and I should find some other way to deal with injuries. I think he also wished I would find some other doctor. Alternative medicine wasn’t his bag, but it was made for me.
So I haven’t been overly concerned about the great “prescription drug benefit” that may or may not ever get attached to Medicare. After the Senate talkathon, which proved only that politicians are incurably windy and can stay up all night without benefit of NoDoz as long as they can keep talking, they turned their attention to “reforming Medicare.” I’m not sure I want my Medicare reformed. They’ve couched this bill in language so turgid, nobody sees they want to privatize the whole thing in order to pay for the drug benefit. The bill is still being massaged in a House-Senate conference committee, but AARP (the organization representing 35 million folks older than 50) may have given the pols an offer they can’t refuse: Produce a compromise bill they can support and they’ll spend bazillions on advertising and lobbying to promote passage of a Medicare reform bill this year. Fail to pass a Medicare bill, and AARP threatens “consequences” against those incumbents seeking reelection next year. I guess that’ll get their attention.
Meanwhile, in an effort to clear a bunch of spending bills before Turkey Day recess, Congress has already voted for some real turkeys.
Buried in the “must-pass” defense bill is a gem that exempts the military from core provisions of the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act. The Natural Resources Defense Council, which recently won a federal court judgment to bar the Navy from deploying its Low Frequency Active sonar system (blamed for mass strandings and die-offs of whales), mobilized thousands of activists to fight the exemptions. But they were no match for White House pressure, NRDC President John Adams wrote in an e-mail to members. Just when we thought dolphins and whales were finally safe from this brutal harassment.
And then there’s the abomination euphemistically called the energy bill. The most disgusting give-away of taxpayer money to private oil, gas and coal producers ever. No policy for fuel efficiency, scarcely a nod to conservation and sustainable energy sources, just a big fat paycheck for business as usual. If that’s not enough, manufacturers of MTBE, the gasoline additive that polluted water wells all over California, would have limited liability for damages and would get $2 billion (that’s a capital B) in federal aid to retool their plants for other gasoline products. MTBE will be banned in California by the end of the year, but can be sold nationally until 2015.
Even more insidious is a provision to streamline the approval process for drilling and mining on federal land. There goes Montana’s Cabinet Mountains Wilderness. It seems the only good thing about this bill is what it doesn’t contain: drilling in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge.
With any luck at all, Congress could be so busy with the AARP and prescription drug benefits that time and energy would both run out. Maybe they could start over next year with subsidies for alternative energy development, a real energy policy. Sure.
Meanwhile, I’m stocking up on my alternative headache remedy.