God's most highly favored prophet in the history of Christiandom and the greatest and most quoted scientist in human history has another article up today decrying the cost of pharmaceuticals and the industry that makes them.
The Great Bwana to Africa and peddler of homeopathic/naturopathic "vitamins" and "nutritional" products has this graphic posted along with his headline for the article:
While not everything he posted is bad, he has to stick his self-righteous chest out and proclaim he is more enlightened than any of them are:
"Well, not all of us have been duped by this as I have long promoted non-medical ways to aid with mood issues. But yes, there are a lot of lies associated with medications. False hopes pushed a lot like false religion."
"Pharmaceutical drugs, artificial medicines, are not the answer for many health issues. FWIW, it has been several decades since I personally took any medications (I do take nutritional supplements, which I do not consider to be in the same category)."
"Yes, many in the pharmaceutical industry are drug pushers. And yes, money influences a lot of “medical” decisions.
As far as opioids go, the reality is that many people have physical and spiritual pain and they reach out to drugs for relief. This tends to be addictive."
The Pill Pushing Great Bwana ends with this:
Notice something the Apostle Paul was inspired to write:
19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
As God inspired Jeremiah to write:
11 In vain you will use many medicines; You shall not be cured. (Jeremiah 46:11)
Bwana Bob, almost arrested for being a Bob, has no problem decrying the cost of medicines while making a living peddling homeopathic/naturopathic concoctions and pills.
These are just a sample of the prices the Great Bwana, the Elisha that no one recognizes, is charging his "patients" customers. See the complete list here: Doctors Research - All Products
All of these pills keep the Great Bwana in his office where his god sends him prophetic visions so he can lead the Church of God into eternal bliss with a stopover in Petra when it is the right time to flee.
(from a reader here)
Well Bobby boy, I used ‘natural’ remedies for the 3 decades I was in wwcog.
ReplyDeleteNone worked. And a hell of a lot of money was spent in this endless and ultimately hopeless pursuit.
That was the culture within the church at the time, so I willingly followed the rest of the flock.
Going to the doctor was a heck of a lot cheaper, the ‘meds’ were a heck of a lot cheaper also.
And they WORKED.
All I can say to you Dr Thiel is quack quack.
If Bob had a humble bone in his scrawny body people might actually listen to him. The problem is he doesn't. He constantly has to try and show off that he is more intelligent than everyone else around him. He is the best Dr. the best historian, the best theologian, the best speaker, the best COG leader, the best prophet, the best Elisha, the best Amos, and the best animation maker ever.
ReplyDeleteBob is nothing more than. walking clown show.
Homeopathy us a placebo at best and is as mythic as his prophetic prowess. But there is good money in it for those so inclined.
ReplyDeleteI do believe the "you have a serotonin deficiency", as the reason for depression and such has been oversold and is not true. It's taken 25 years to come to that conclusion. Depression seems anchored more in anger one has over past experiences that one either feels they have no right to express or the cost of doing so is way too high, in many cases. Our anxiety is based in future worries and "what's going to happen to me?" common to all living on the planet I suspect.
20 years ago a doctor wanted to put me on Statins, which he considered a wonder drug for cholesterol control "and should be put in the water" as he said. I said no. Evidently, I never needed them in the first place as last month the doc said looking at the blood test that whatever I was doing, keep doing it, as "these numbers are stellar".
Drugs a big biz but so are "Natural Vitamins'" and homeopathy. The vast majority of drugs for specific needs do their job well. Homeopathy does not. It's voodoo and woo woo. IMHO
My BP got a bit too high and for the first time in my life I agreed to take Lisinopril, a common BP med. Whoa! It worked its magic very well. The first week I got dizzy during a massage session as my BP dropped. I'm sure my client thought the tight grip on the calf was part of the muscle work, but I was simply trying not to hit the floor and stay standing until the moment passed! Lisinopril blocks the stuff that keeps the arteries from expanding as they should as we age, and thus the benefit to BP. I think it genius discovery.
Coffee is a similar genius discovery! :)
I live in Portland. Getting shot is more likely. LOL
Heh, at one point I was on BP drugs too (though since I changed my diet, I havent needed them). One day I was forgetful and accidentally took it twice. Turned into jelly for the day!
DeletePS
ReplyDeleteWhile naturopathic "medicine" is more a philosophy of health maintenance and the use of "natural" vitamins for support, homeopathy is simply woo woo and bunk. I do not know if Dr Thiel promotes homeopathy as opposed to naturopathy which is his profession.
Portland has a large Naturopath College and one of my housemates was taking his schooling there and used me for some of his muscle testing skills with other students he was teaching. He would do the standard muscle test, smell this, test again and show the strength or weakness effect by pushing down on my extended arm etc. It was obvious to me that he pushed much harder when he needed my arm to go weak. I successfully resisted him and yet he told the class, "See how much weaker that arm has become". It had not. But he needed to believe that as per his education and approach to this way of testing products and such. I did not go along with his testing to get along. He was imagining his results.
This is a nice explanation of the problems with homeopathy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yMoh0d42X4
Youre right. Muscle testing is absurd and an embarrassment. Naturopathic schools that "train" NDs are a joke. NMDs are a different story tho. NMDs can prescribe drugs and sew you up but are only licensed in a few states. Only a couple schools in the country offer those programs for that reason.
DeleteHomeopathy is overrated. Altho there are a couple that work wonderfully it is not the case of the majority imo. Interestingly in most parts of Europe legally only medical practitioners can prescribe it. I think if that was happening here you and I would have a better opinion as the recommendations would be more sound.
Herbs however are part of the pharmacopeia of md's in virtually every nation in the world. Most places overseas they would be confused if you separated herb from drug and many herbs are given with added drug ingredients. Overseas in first to third world countries they think nothing of combining drugs and herbs together as compounds. Often this approach is even preferred not just for the sake of efficacy but the lessened side effects of such compounds. The entourage effect of the combination can heighten a positive outcome while lessening the side effect of the drug as the dose is often lower. The US is fairly unique there is a separation of drug vs herb in that way. I think in years to come this will change tho.
The rest of the cornucopia lumped into "naturopathy" is quite the mishmash. I would find hard to generalize as not science driven tho. The science or lack thereof exists both ways if one looks. Therapeutic vitamin and mineral therapys are sold all thru drug stores by prescription. I could give you dozens of examples. Vit d, zinc, coq10, fish oil, all the b vitamins, vitamin a, calcium, magnesium, iron etc etc etc etc..... all sold not only over the counter but prescription versions as well. If the science is strong enough to get a drug classification for virtually every vitamin or mineral in prescription form its hard to condemn it as "unproven".
Finally lets not forget that 1/3 of all chemical drugs come from plant research on the actives. That research exists for virtually every plant on the planet you might use now so if you take the plants themselves its pretty easy to determine efficacy reading just the research alone. What works, or doesnt work isnt much of an opinion unless its an opinion directly FROM the science . Discussions like that on herbs are talking place all over the world just the way they are on drugs.....in universities and clinics. Plainly theres probably a double blind placebo study or peer reviewed article published on just about anything you could find in an american health food store these days. Id say reading that kind of information would be a pretty good start on whether youd want to try it yourself. Id avoid the opinion of the internet ad or the freshly hired Vitamin Shoppe employee however. Unfortunately thats how most consumers get their info and obviously if you were choosing drugs that way youd have a poor opinion/outcome as well.
Hucksters promoting miracles, oddball modalities, and goofball ways to diagnose like muscle testing or iridology or whatever else often negates the real, but perhaps milder, benefits and effects of competent suggestions by those that know what they are doing. Id encourage all not to forget this. In this country the issue is more to do with how drs are trained and where you get your information and then the quality of the supplements themselves. Virtually all the vitamin and herb products sold in the US would not be allowed overseas for quality reasons alone.
Ok Dennis I could ramble for days on this topic but Ill stop now :)
RSK said...
ReplyDeleteHeh, at one point I was on BP drugs too (though since I changed my diet, I haven't needed them). One day I was forgetful and accidentally took it twice. Turned into jelly for the day!
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I get that! My pharmacist client said that I'd be shocked to know just how little actual med is in the rather small pill to begin with. When I asked if it worked well, she said 'Ohhhhhhhhh, yeah........."
I wont say it wasnt relaxing lol. Though when I had a round of surprise pancreatitis, the nurses took a liking to me and made sure to keep me floating on a massive dose of dilaudid for days. When they finally lessened the dose after a few days, I felt like a new man. Kind of recommend a near-coma every once in a while. :)
DeleteIn my WCG days, we had individuals and niche groups with their various recommendations and practices regarding health. One member tried to convince me about a certain diet I must use; in his sermon the minister spoke against members with their health "cures". After the service, the member was still pushing his special diet, dismissing the minister's rebuke.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was very young and had a poison ivy rash, my mother took me to see someone who sold her some little pills. The rash went away, but I don't know if the pills did anything. Like Granny's cold cure (Beverly Hillbillies) which made the front page of the Razorback Hog Breeders Gazette. Granny's medicine would cure your cold in seven days - without it, the cold may last for a whole week...
Well, there was this thing in WCGland... HWA himself, if you dug deep, really liked to talk about principles of good diet, and I dont mean clean and unclean meats. He'd been fascinated by a nutritionist entrepreneur in his youth. And the 60s and 70s were definitely a heyday for "health food", so that dovetailed together and you had many members espousing this or that idea about what we'd now call alternative medicine. I had an uncle that was a nut on the subject.
DeleteIn some places a natural path is required to get a PHD in medicine. Then the go on to study for a few more years to become a natural path. So the claim that it is anti-science seems to be nonsense.
ReplyDelete7.27 AM
DeleteIn my country, to become a doctor one must first complete a three year science degree, then do a four year medical degree. This results in a Doctor of Medicine (MD). The doctor part is a honorary title rather than a "real" university doctorate.
Thiel--- Naturopathic, Homeopathic , Sociopathic ???
ReplyDeleteThe old saying about the baby and the bath water applies to vitamin supplements just as surely as it does many other things in life. It's just that we've all seen that it does not apply to Armstrongism, because there never was any baby in the bath water in the first place. So, we tend to think that any tangent or offshoot from our past "training", anything that HWA endorsed, is bogus and expendable.
ReplyDeleteThere are certain supplements which actually work, and are worth the investment. If you happen to pursue physical fitness, as an example, I can demonstrate for you that creatine builds muscle mass. It is also a fact that echinacea builds your resistance and wards off colds. I've played with this, and have gone through years without a single cold, stopped taking it and contracted a cold, and then made the cold go away within 24 hours by dosing myself with echinacea. I've also taken L-glutamine for years for its many benefits. It definitely enhances memory, protects brain cells, and helps maintain muscle mass.
There have been other supplements I've taken which produced negligible results. Either they did not work in my specific body type and chemistry, or they were of no value and possibly scam items. I do know that the human body, if it is working properly, naturally regulates the levels of certain elements, and will expel what is not needed or is in surplus. An exception is fat-based or oil-based supplements. One must be careful with those, because they are stored in the fatty tissues of our bodies, and can reach toxic levels as opposed to excesses being expelled in urine.
I'm 74, and in preparing this comment, thought back upon how many times in my life I had been to the doctor. I can remember 14 times, although there might be some additional times during childhood that I don't recall because I was so young. At this point, it's been twenty five years since my last visit to a doctor's office if you don't count getting Covid immunization at the county-run site at one of our local stadiums.
Diet: Steam corn, carrot, potato, beet at times, butternut squash (the 5 food groups-joke) for 20 minutes together. With at times salmon, leanest beef, fruits, rx bars, salad, plain yogurt, home made ice cream to avoid the damn sugar/chemicals, nonalcoholic wine/beer, coffee, eggs, oatmeal. No meds/pills almost all of the time. So far not bad. Age 78.
ReplyDeletePills aside, Bob has "opened a new door" in his presentation, by having Steve Dupuis (sp?) introduce him and ask questions on his Bible News Prophecy Channel.
ReplyDeletePreaching a message, while selling supplements.
ReplyDeleteDr. Thiel is not that far from Alex Jones.
I have been on Lisinopril for years. I was able to bring my dose down from 10mg to 2.5mg - find I still need it o stay in healthy range - especially in cold weather.
ReplyDeleteAlso have a healthy balanced diet with daily exercise.
Have had 3 Pfizer Covid shots without ill effects.
It appears Covid is here to stay.
I have been studying immunology - the textbooks are filled with words we do not use - challenging to read.
We have more microbe cells than human cells. Our bodies make great hosts for the microbe world - most of them good for us.
Bob could sell his supplements for a hundred years and still not make the money a Pfizer executive wastes in a weekend at the Bahamas.
ReplyDeleteI know everyone has an opinion, but if you're really searching for answers about health, science, or spirituality, don't come to this site! Reads too much like Rational Wiki!
Preaching a message, while selling supplements.
ReplyDeleteDoes Bob tell the IRS that his church is tax exempt? It's unseemly how he mixes his supplements business with his prophlet business. Proof? Look at what he has on his "church" website:
CCOG.ORG_Food_Research_Product_Catalog
He even admits in his "church" letters that he's sending supplements (free samples? paid products?) to his "church" members, and he is using other CCOG members as labor to distribute the supplements (in this case, Canadian members bringing supplements to Haiti):
CCOG.ORG_6-27-2019_letter
Now that the IRS is hiring lots of new employees, I prophesy that Bob will need to start being a lot more careful about mixing his business and his religion.
I believe that products can be sold by a 501c3 for profit, but must be reported as income.
ReplyDeleteJon Brisby of the Church of God eternal says anyone who goes to the doctors have a demon. You aren't supposed to use vitamin's either. If you have cancer, then just suffer, no pain meds allowed. And he says don't blame the church for this teaching but whose mouth does this comes out of, it is his.
ReplyDeleteSomething tells me thatll reverse as soon as he develops a condition.
DeleteTrue that! But, these guys only reverse it for themselves. They never open it up for the rest of the brethren.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first attended WCG services in 1970 or so in Charleston, WVA, the elder quoted from Dr. Jarvis' book on the benefits of apple cider vinegar, an old fold medicine. The elder was a graduate of AC and I think had poor critical thinking skills.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous at 9:11:00 AM PDT used anecdotal evidence to support his claims. Randomized double blind studies, replicated and peer reviewed is the "gold standard" in research, not "my experience has been . . ."
ReplyDeleteSounds like the Sundown Kid is employed by the Sacklers family!
ReplyDelete