Dr. Mercola says that the solution to the current health care disaster is to go back to natural healing that treats the causes of disease, not the symptoms (italics added)

The problem with this whole discussion of Sicko is that everyone is focusing on the symptoms of the health care crisis (e.g. astronomical costs, poor coverage, low quality care) and ignoring the causes of the health care crisis.  This is a mirror-image of the problems with the modalities themselves.

It is widely observed that in genuine free markets, costs go down and quality improves over time.  Why is this not happening in our health care market?  Because massive and ever-escalating government interventions have not allowed market forces to work their magic.  Why have we had these interventions?  Because powerful special interests have devised ways for them to make more money at the patient's expense.  For all who cares about our health care system (and I think this would be most Mercola readers), you must educate yourself as to the causes of our health care crisis, beyond your direct experience.  In this regard, I have 2 recommendations:

1) Rent "Hoxsey: How Healing Becomes a Crime" via netflix or blockbuster online, for a quick education.

2) Read the essay I have linked to below:

http://www.fff.org/freedom/fd0409g.asp

Gupta is a puppet of Big Pharma commercial sponsors on CNN, just like Rosenfeld is on Fox with Sunday Morning House Calls who knowingly, or unknowingly, LIED about the safety of Viagra, and when presemted irrefutable evidence to the contrary did nothing to publicly correct his assertions.

If you look at Mr. Moore's intention, rather then ripping every little mistake he has made, perhaps you will see that, this may be the begining of a very good thing for health freedom.

He is also open to new information and education.  Wouldn't it be great if we emailed Mr. Moore and  offered him some new insights?  Web address's, names, new information, etc.  I bet he will jump to this  new opportunity. 

This will be great for health freedom.

So, what do all of you think?

I have not seen the movie, but saw him on the Oprah show.  I do not agree, with the solution.  Its all about the money!!!!!!!!
   Prevention is not a priority!  Just ask the Agriculture, Big Pharma, Cancer research, Drug research ???????????   If they found a cure they would be out of business, Gov Grants, all donations would dry up.
    The sad part is the solution has been there all the time.  Dating back to the roman times, the diets were all natural, they predicted the when the life style of the Affluent became dominate, society would collapse.
    There nunneries valid studies which connect our life style to Cancer, Heart Disease, Obesity, Diabetes and numerous other problematic afflictions. 
      NATURAL WHOLE FOODS and or Wlhole food sublimis are a key to our Health problems. only change can save us, our society, and the people who contole the Food chain, are not going to let that happen.
   The mind is like a Parachute, it works best when OPEN.!
1. Read Dr M's articles on prevention.
2. Be able to think out side the box.
3. Get and read a book called "The China Study" by T Colin Campbell Phd.... If you can read this book and not be upset as to who is contolling the food chain, thats ok, at least, you had the forciet to be open to a diffent Life Style.

We have public health care in NZ which means our taxes pay the bulk of the convential health care bill. Adults have to pay about $30 to see a doctor, although less if they are on a benefit (receiving welfare), which by the way includes everyone over 65, and a reasonably small charge for each prescription item. Hospitals are free. Even though I agree that drugs are not the answer to chronic health problems, and that if I am diagnosed with cancer I'll be off to Mexico and none of the taxes I've paid will be given back - I am so pleased to be living in a country where no one is ever kicked out of a hospital due to lack of money and people do not become bankrupt because they have accident or a sick child, and everyone who needs treatment gets it. Also, people will not take control of their own health if they are poor, stressed, sick or hopeless.

While I might not agree with the way Michael Moore does things, he definitely brings issues to the forefront and this is one that needs to be fixed.  Maybe not the way he is thinking, but at least he is making people take a look at it.

Mary

Here is a list of the medical care received by my immediate family in the past 20 years. All free, including diagnosis and drugs for the elderly or welfare recipients.  Father: heart, triple by-pass surgery, ten years of costly hormone treatment for prostate cancer, lots of pills. Uncle and aunt: surgeries and chemo for colorectal cancer, heart angioplasty. Sister: 10 years of broad spectrum treatment for MS. Husband: 2 knee replacements, 1 hip replacement, auto crash treatment. Sister: drugs and diagnostic tests for artheriosclerosis and depression. Sister: surgery for endometriosis, psychiatric counselling.  Brother: diagnostics for MS. There was no great waiting times.

Wow! This is my first post, though I've been visiting mercola.com for 10 years. Everyone seems to be forgetting that no matter how healthy you think you can become by changing your actions, we live in a fallen and polluted world.  The water, air and yes, even organic food is laced with chemicals that will be here long after we are all worm food.  Best intentions are the best that we can do, but don't think that you can definitely avoid contracting cancer, etc from the environment that we live in!  We'll all die eventually, and most of us will not die "naturally in our sleep".  Our organic food is watered with this polluted water, is planted in the polluted soil and is constantly exposed to the oodles of chemicals that are in our air.  No, I'm not a pessimist.  I'm a realist.  I have been studying to get a degree in Holistic Nutrition for 2 years.  I have since learned that the science of health is just like every other science.  It's just someone's best guess as to what is best.  Don't kid yourself into believing that you will ever achieve perfect health in this lifetime.  It's just simply not a reality. We can all do our best, but there is a place for conventional medicine, also.  I take no medications, don't immunize my kids, and we eat as much organic food as we can afford.  We are all very healthy and I shop for organic food, yes even at the local farmers market.  Feeding a grown man, three growing boys and myself all organic costs us well over $1200 a month!  Are you kidding!? I refuse to spend that much on food, so we've settled for organic, or natural and some conventional, when the cost is not practical.  Yet I feel no guilt and I will lose no sleep over my choices.  I feel great about it.  I am so glad to live in a country where I have so many choices.