On the occasion of his retirement, Robert S. Dotson, MD, an opthalmologist, wrote “Reflections on a Medical Career.” It’s online, appended to a short piece Dotson wrote with Paul Craig Roberts about the collapse of the so-called healthcare system in the United States. Dotson recommends 17 “simple, common-sense things will add healthy years to a person’s life and help one avoid most medical encounters during his or her allotted time on earth:”
- avoid excessive use of tobacco or alcohol or, for that matter, caffeine;
- avoid poisons like fluoride, aspartame, high fructose corn syrup, and addictive drugs (legal or illicit);
- avoid unnecessary and potentially lethal imaging studies (TSA’s radiation pornbooths, excessive mammography, repetitive CT scans – exposure to all significantly increases cancer risk);
- avoid excessive cell phone use and exposure to other forms of EMR pollution where possible (the NSA is recording everything you say and text anyway);
- avoid daily fast food use and abuse (remember: pink slime and silicone) ;
- avoid untested GM foods (do you really want to become “Roundup Ready?”):
- avoid most vaccinations and pharmaceutical agents promoted by the establishment;
- avoid risky behaviors (and we do not need a bunch of Nanny State bureaucrats to define and police these);
- exercise moderately;
- get plenty of sleep;
- drink plenty of good quality water (buy a decent water filter to remove fluoride, chloride, and heavy metals);
- wear protective gear at work and play where appropriate (helmets, eye-shields, knee and elbow pads, etc.)
- seek out locally-grown, whole, organic foods and support your local food producers;
- take appropriate nutritional supplements (multi-vitamins, Vitamin C, Vitamin D3);
- switch off the TV and the mainstream media it represents;
- educate yourself while you can;
And, lastly…- QUESTION AUTHORITY!
Dotson concludes:
“Finally, we have a responsibility to our neighbors and our families. We need to reach out to those around us – talk to them, listen to them – sympathize and empathize. Take time especially to listen to those who are in pain and are suffering and to help them by being humane. If you do this, you will discover that we have more in common with each other than the ruling elite wants us to believe. Governments obtain power and control by taking advantage of divisions along religious, ethnic, class, economic, ideological, and nationalistic lines. We must awaken to this fact if the 99% are to prevail against the 1%.
“As for me, I was finally forced to close my practice earlier this year. Nearly two years of consulting with multiple attorneys, accountants, practice management consultants, and bankers, and expending most of my resources in a vain effort to keep operating, were simply not enough. It seemed only poetic that April Fool’s Day 2012 should be chosen for turning out the lights and ringing down the curtain. Patients and employees and suppliers were notified of the end. Many had been with me for my entire career and leaving them was and remains painful. More than nine thousand active charts were transferred to the care of a younger ophthalmologist still trying to stay afloat.
“I share the heartache of many physicians forced out of medicine by the high cost of practicing it. As the health system is stripped of medical care in behalf of corporate profits, its exploitative character will become clear to all. In the meantime, don’t give in or give up. Plan for something better on the other side of chaos.”
