According to this article, the only things that kill more people than doctors are cancer and heart disease.  Each year, iatrogenic (doctor-induced) health care problems kill patients in these proportions:

 12,000 -----unnecessary surgery
   7,000 -----medication errors in hospitals
 20,000 ----other errors in hospitals
 80,000 ----infections in hospitals
106,000 ---non-error, negative effects of drugs

Some people feel this situation might be tolerable if it meant that the majority of the rest of the people were getting better care.  However, this is not the case. According to Dr. Mercola, in a recent comparison of the health care capabilities of 13 countries, the United States ranked 12th (second from the bottom) in regards to 16 health indicators.  The United States ranked:

13th (last) for low-birth-weight percentages
13th for neonatal mortality and infant mortality overall 14
11th for postneonatal mortality
13th for years of potential life lost (excluding external causes)
11th for life expectancy at 1 year for females, 12th for males
10th for life expectancy at 15 years for females, 12th for males
10th for life expectancy at 40 years for females, 9th for males
 7th for life expectancy at 65 years for females, 7th for males
 3rd for life expectancy at 80 years for females, 3rd for males
 10th for age-adjusted mortality (1).
 

According to Milap C. Nahata, Professor of Pharmacy and Pediatrics,  Colleges of Pharmacy and Medicine, Ohio State University, "Unfortunately the vast majority of drugs currently approved by the US Food and Drug Administation (FDA) for adults have not been approved for children...Even commonly used drugs in paediatric practice; eg: salbutamol, captopril, cisapride, enalapril, dopamine, lorazepam, midazolam, morphine, ranitidine and warfarin do not contain information for use in paediatric patients. Use of medicines without knowledge about their optimal dosage guidelines may lead to toxicity or inadequate efficacy" (2).

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, "Three fourths of the prescription drugs currently marketed in the United States lack full pediatric approval and are labeled with such disclaimers" (3).  However, they do NOT feel that unapproved use implies IMPROPER use.  "The word unapproved is used merely to indicate lack of approval, not to imply disapproval or contraindication."  To me, this is just a mincing of words.  If you have NOT approved something, then it is disapproved.  It's like saying that witholding the truth is not the same as a lie.  They have created this gray area in limbo, where they do not have to be responsible for something.

In fact, they specifically state that "a physician could be subject to a claim of malpractice if he or she denied a patient potentially the best treatment solely because the use was not included in the official labeling of the drug."

In other words, physicians have wide latitude to do what they want, as long as they claim it was potentially the best treatment for that particular condition.

However, we have SEEN THE LIGHT!  Physicians have wide latitude in choosing treatments, but we also have wide latitude in treating ourselves!  If a physician can choose a drug which is not approved for that specific use, just because in their opinion it is the best option, then they also have the latitude to choose a vitamin, mineral, herb, amino acid, enzyme, or any other natural option if they so choose.  But they don't.....they'd rather choose dangerous and expensive drugs.  Guess what?  We can choose not to be exposed to their dangerous and unnecessary care.

According to a National Survey, 65% of Primary Care Doctors say that routine checkups are unnecessary, but nearly 90% of them still perform the exams!
The poll, conducted in 2002 by Dr. Allan Prochazka and colleagues at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, appears in the Archives of Internal Medicine.  The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force declared there is insufficient evidence of any benefit from many of the tests often given with yearly checkups, including many urine tests, blood sugar tests for diabetes, and thyroid tests.

As far as preventing and self-treating chronic or infectious diseases, such as anthrax, SARS, HIV, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio, measles, mumps, rubella, candida yeast, hepatitis, chicken pox, intestinal disorders, allergies, and many more............

For more on how to protect yourself, and why our country has this hysteria about germs, see Infectious Disease - Why the Hysteria?

For more on how to heal degenerative diseases, see  Calcium:  Don't Leave Home Without It.

For a more comprehensive listing of self-care information, see our Emancipated Healthcare website, Removing Obstacles to a Healthy Body and Mind

For more about unhindered, do-it-yourself pregnancy and childbirth, see our comprehensive  Online Childbirth Class
 

References:

(1)  Doctors Are The Third Leading Cause of Death in the US, Causing 250,000 Deaths Every Year.  (2001).
       Available online:  [http://www.mercola.com/2000/jul/30/doctors_death.htm].

(2)  Nahata, Milhap C.  (1997).  Licensing of Medicines for Children in the USA.  Paediatric and Perinatal Drug Therapy.  Available online:  [http://www.priory.com/pharmol/lomfcitu.htm].

(3)  American Academy of Pediatrics.  (1996).  Unapproved Uses of Approved Drugs: The Physician, the Package Insert, and the Food and Drug Administration: Subject Review (RE9622).  Policy Statement.  Pediatrics, Volume 98, Number 1.  July, 1996, pp.143-145.