By Dr. Joseph Mercola
    with Rachael Droege

Doctors give adequate care to their patients only about 50 percent of the time, according to a study in the New England Journal of Medicine. Sure, many doctors are pressed for time and many facilities don’t have access to updated technology that can look at a patient’s history or prescriptions more comprehensively than an average pair of eyes.

But can a lack of time and outdated technology really be blamed for the inadequacies of a failing medical system? Of course not. The biggest issue lies in what constitutes ‘adequate care’ to begin with. Drugs for acute and chronic illnesses, vaccinations and surgeries are often what come out of a doctor’s visit, and although drugs and surgeries do have their uses, they are grossly overused.

Consider that unnecessary surgery accounts for 12,000 deaths per year and non-error negative effects of drugs 106,000, and you will begin to get the picture of how out of whack our medical system truly is. In all, iatrogenic causes, which are defined as induced in a patient by a physician’s activity, manner or therapy, account for 250,000 deaths per year.

Yet currently the United States spends about 1.5 trillion dollars for health care, and the projections are that it will double in less than 10 years.

The sad tragedy is that we are spending all of this money on disease management focused on drugs and surgery, and our return on this investment is profoundly poor. More and more people do not have the energy they need to get through the day while millions of others are suffering with painful crippling diseases because they have violated basic health principles.

The bottom line is this: if you are ill and you go to the doctor expecting to receive a pill that will make you feel better, you will likely get just that. But the pill will not solve the underlying problem and you will inevitably need to go back to the doctor for more pills and maybe the next time, a surgery.

What can you do to stop this cycle? You can take control of your own health. As the study showed, you can’t rely on others, even doctors, to give you the necessary information. Following several basic principles, including eating a nutritious diet and avoiding grains and sugar, exercising, and addressing emotional challenges (I suggest EFT for this) will make remarkable changes in your health. My new book, The No-Grain Diet, delves into these principles and provides practical advice on how to make these changes a reality in your life.

As a patient, it’s important that you take an active part in your care. You can research your condition and become an expert of sorts before you ever visit the doctor. The Internet is a great resource for this--check out the search feature in the upper-right corner of this page as a start--and will give you access to unlimited information that you can use to make your own informed decisions about your health.

What are your thoughts on the state of health care in America? I encourage you to post your comments on this topic, by using the link found at the top or bottom of this page. Your comments will be added to Knowledge Filter postings so everyone has a chance to get involved in the discussion!

Drugs and Doctors May be the Leading Cause of Death in U.S.

Doctors Are The Third Leading Cause of Death in the US, Causing 250,000 Deaths Every Year

Health Care Spending Reaches Unprecedented Amount

U.S. Spends More on Health Care but Gets Little in Return

Experts Conclude Health Care System is in 'Danger of Collapse'

More Medicare Spending Does Not Mean Better Care