http://www.newstarget.com/z021906.html

NewsTarget.com printable article
Originally published June 19 2007
Why Michael Moore's SiCKO is a health care documentary every American must
see
by Mike Adams

America's disastrous health care system is heaving the country head-first
into near-certain economic collapse. Just about everybody's either
financially strained or going broke due to spiraling health care costs: the
people, the employers, state governments and even the federal government.
Multinational corporations are fleeing the United States due to health care
costs, taking jobs and economic productivity with them. Meanwhile, 50
percent of personal bankruptcies in the U.S. are due to medical expenses.

But not everybody's doing badly. The drug companies, surgeons, medical
specialists, health insurance companies and private hospitals are making out
like bandits, raking in multi-million dollar CEO salaries and -- I'm not
making this up -- greater than 500,000% markups on prescription drugs. And
while the American people get sicker, the drug companies, insurance
companies and many health "care" providers (it's really more like "sick care
providers") are rolling in cash. Drug companies are now among the richest
corporations in the world, and they got there by inventing fictitious
diseases, then selling drugs to people who mostly don't need them. See my
CounterThink cartoon, Disease Mongers, Inc. to learn more about this topic.

Meanwhile, the American people are the most diseased people in the world
among advanced nations. We spend more on health care than anyone, we pay the
highest prices for medications, and we're constantly told that we have the
best medical technology in the world. But if our health care system is
really so good, why do 50 million Americans have no health insurance? Why
are hospitals literally dumping uninsured patients on the street, abandoning
the sick to protect profits while our politicians actually negotiate on
behalf of Big Pharma to make sure Americans keep paying the highest prices
in the world for medications? (Click here to see our CounterThink cartoon on
President Bush's price negotiations with drug companies.)

What's wrong with America's health care system?

SiCKO is a must-see documentary
SiCKO creator Michael Moore answers that all-important question in his best
documentary yet. Forget whatever criticism you may have heard about SiCKO --  
this is a Michael Moore masterpiece: A courageous, impactful and outrageous
documentary that exposes the arrogance of modern medicine and the utter
failure of America's corporate-controlled sick care system to provide decent
health care to the people. Watching this movie will leave you either
steaming mad or shedding tears (or both). It reveals the deep-rooted
corruption in America's health care system and explains why the whole system
was actually designed to deny health care to the American people.

I've been ranting about America's health care failures for years, and as
I've consistently stated to the amazement of some, the health care
corporations actually have a plan to keep people sick. There's no money in
preventing disease, especially in the cancer industry. Click here to read my
recent report on the American Cancer Society's refusal to help prevent 77%
of all cancers using affordable, scientifically-proven vitamin D
supplements.

In SiCKO, what Moore does very effectively is tells this story to a mass
audience, weaving together the emotionally-charged stories of American
citizens who lost husbands, daughters and other family members to
preventable disease, all thanks to intentional, well-planned payment denials
by health insurance companies. In one segment in the film, he features
archival footage of former President Nixon, who strongly approves of a new
1970's health care concept called the "HMO" where the more patients are
denied health care services, the more money the hospitals and health
insurance companies rake in!

In contrast to all this, Moore shows us the universal health care systems in
countries like Canada, the UK, France and even Cuba... all countries where
health care is free to everyone. It's called universal health care (or
"socialized medicine"), and it's a system followed by nearly every modern
nation in the world... and even some not-so-modern nations. Only America
practices medicine in the Dark Ages, tied to a hopelessly corrupt system of
financial exploitation and monopoly price controls, where Big Pharma gets
richer, the FDA gets more powerful, and the American people get the shaft.

See my CounterThink cartoon, The Disease Economy, for a visual
representation of this mess we're in, or read my book Natural Health
Solutions and the Conspiracy to Keep You From Knowing About Them to see just
how evil and corrupt our modern health care system really is.

Why Moore is being so vicious attacked
Moore, as usual, is being targeted by all sorts of critics who would like
nothing better than to see this guy disappear and stop rocking the Good 'ol
Boys boat that seems to be floating just fine in America (as long as you're
part of the wealthy elite, anyway). For starters, U.S. government officials
are investigating Moore for violating travel restrictions to Cuba. And why?
Because Moore gathered a dozen Americans who were denied health care in the
U.S. and brought them to Cuba where they received free, quality health care
in a modern Cuban hospital.

The message is hard to miss: Cuba takes better care of its citizens than
America does. In fact, Cuba is willing to take care of a few American
citizens that America abandoned! That kind of "in-yo-face" embarrassment to
U.S. officials isn't appreciated much in police-state America these days,
where practically anyone who dares question the wisdom of the government is
branded a terrorist. Moore is clearly being targeted not merely because he
took some 9/11 heroes to Cuba and got them health care, but because he dared
to make it all public. Humiliating the King is a quick way to find your head
on a chopping block. Just ask all the scientists who publicly disagree with
the Bush Administration's hopelessly politicized view on climate change...

Other critics of Moore are either the greedy, corrupt corporations impacted
by his film (drug companies, health insurance providers, hospitals and so
on) or juvenile stay-at-home back-seat Internet critics who don't like Moore
for the simple fact that he dares to stand up and say "The Emperor Has No
Clothes!" Nearly all the criticism leveled against Moore is without
substance. People attack Moore personally, but they won't dare debate what
he's presenting in the movie. Why? Because Michael Moore is right. America's
health care system is an embarrassment to the nation, and to the world. It's
so bad that most informed world citizens wouldn't be caught dead in this
country, unless of course they actually visit America and have an accident
that lands them in the U.S. health care system.

Personally, I opted out of the American health care system long ago. I'm a
holistic nutritionist, and I exercise, eat right, get lots of sunshine and
gorge on superfoods and raw berries. I have no need for a doctor, or a
pharmaceutical, or a health insurance policy. I don't get annual physical
exams, and I have zero risk of cancer, heart disease, diabetes or other
common health conditions. (I posted my health statistics at
www.HealthRanger.org if you want to see my blood workup.)

At the same time, I realize that not everybody is in such a fortunate health
position. Most people simply don't take care of their own health, and while
I could argue for days about the need for more patient responsibility
alongside corporate responsibility, the fact is that relentless advertising
from drug companies and food manufacturers has bred a mindset of disease,
junk food consumption, pharmaceutical dependence and patient victimization.
We have a health crisis in this country, and it's going to take genuinely
radical reforms to turn this around and save America from a financial
wipeout exacerbated by runaway health care spending.

What's missing from SiCKO
The material that's in SiCKO is hard-hitting, and it accomplishes what it
sets out to do. But there's something missing from the film: A serious
discussion about how a nation can prevent disease using nutrition, medicinal
herbs, sunshine, clean water, avoidance of toxic chemicals, smart dietary
choices, banning the advertising of junk foods and pharmaceuticals, and so
on. Of course, that's not really what SiCKO set out to do, and this topic
would require another film all by itself, but personally I wouldn't have
minded a stronger nod towards solving our nation's health care problems
through genuine prevention (rather than the current policy which is
basically centered around waiting for everybody to get sick and then
treating their symptoms while ignoring the true causes of their disease).

Of course, it might be tricky for Moore to argue for disease prevention
given that he is obviously not the poster boy for ideal physical health. But
he never claims to be. So the critics who attack Moore's own personal health
are missing the whole point of the film. Moore is simply pointing out what's
wrong with America's health care system, and he does so brilliantly and
convincingly, regardless of his own personal health status. And besides, if
you want to argue about the health of "experts," just walk into any hospital
and take a look at the health of all the people who work there. Many aren't
any healthier than Moore, and they work in the industry! The average
lifespan of a U.S. doctor is less than a Cuban peasant. That's not a joke.

Regardless of Moore's present physical fitness challenges, he's obviously
operating with a great degree of healthy skepticism about the way the U.S.
operates today. Moore is an independent thinker who simply refuses to follow
the crowd, and with this film, he's doing the job that the American people
should have been doing all along -- questioning the sanity of our health
care system. But sadly, the truth is that most Americans are sheeple who
just follow the herd and do what they're told. A recent poll revealed that
nearly 45% of Americans still trust the FDA! That's astounding, given that
I've solidly established the Food and Drug Administration is far more
dangerous to the health and safety of the American people than all the
terrorists in the world. To learn more, read my article The lawlessness of
the FDA, Big Pharma immunity, and crimes against humanity.

How will SiCKO play?
I think SiCKO's timing is perfect, and I think the movie will be a
significant factor in the upcoming 2008 elections. Those politicians who run
on a platform of radical health care reforms are likely to pick up a lot
more support than those unwise enough to try to defend the current system.

This is a tough call for Republicans, since most Republicans support Big
Pharma and the corporate control of modern medicine, usually at the expense
of the people. Democrats, though, are also on Big Pharma's payroll, as was
obvious with the recent voting record on the FDA Revitilization Act
co-sponsored by Sen. Edward Kennedy. The truth is, Big Pharma owns virtually
all the politicians in Washington (except Rep. Ron Paul, of course).

The movie will definitely get America talking about serious health care
reforms. But as I've pointed out in a previous article, Where's the Health
In Health Care Reform?, almost nobody is considering proposals that would
genuinely solve the health care problem in America today. You can't "treat"
your way out of a nation that has become so over-drugged, over-fed and
over-diseased that even the little children are now being put on speed (also
called "Ritalin"). Nearly 50 percent of American adults are now taking
pharmaceuticals, most of which are utterly unnecessary from a medical point
of view. Drug advertising has taken over the media, the FDA has suppressed
natural alternatives, and the American Medical Association continues to
peddle such health nonsense that it's amazing the AMA hasn't yet been
invited to join the Smithsonian's Museum of Outdated American History.

The American Cancer Society, in my opinion, is a supremely corrupt,
big-business front group that actually takes steps to ensure more cases of
future cancer by "preventing prevention," the American Diabetes Association
takes money from candy and soda manufacturers, and the American Psychiatric
Association is so steeped in Big Pharma money that they've practically
become inseparable. (Click here to see my CounterThink cartoon on this
topic.)

The future of America looks dim
Clearly, something has to change in this country if we're going to survive
as a nation. Under the current system of massive debt spending, widespread
political corruption, war mongering and health care failures, the United
States of America will simply not survive another generation. No nation that
abandons the health of its people can expect to have a future. As Moore
points out, however, there is a chance to save America, but only if we make
significant changes starting now.

Truly radical changes must be put into place. I've offered many suggestions
in a popular article, The health care reform legislation that Congress
should pass, but won't. Lawmakers, you see, have no interest in actually
saving America from financial demise. They're only concerned about the next
election, and raising campaign reelection funds means kow-towing to the
interests of the powerful corporations that really run Washington.

Personally, I don't see that meaningful reform is possible under the current
system of politics in America. The Big Business sick care industry has a
stranglehold on the American political system, and the whole ugly thing will
mostly likely have to collapse and be rebooted before we'll see significant
change.

And make no mistake: that's what's coming. I predict America will not
survive its health care crisis. It won't be the first empire to crumble from
arrogance and corruption. In fact, it will join a long (and growing) list of
civilizations that have risen and fallen, securing its place in the pages of
history as yet another imperialist nation that thought it could rule the
world while abandoning the needs of its own people.

The bottom line on SiCKO
It's a must-see documentary. It's surprisingly even-handed and well
grounded, never resorting to unsubstantiated claims merely to shock the
audience. In fact, as a person who has been writing about America's health
care problems for four years, I didn't detect a single false statement in
the film. It's all true, and it's pretty damn scary. Go see it. It opens on
June 29th.

And if, like one person featured in the film, I ever have to choose between
reconnective surgery for my middle finger at $60,000 vs. my ring finger at
$12,000, I'll choose to have my middle finger sewn on first just so I can
visually demonstrate to U.S. Senators precisely how I feel about America's
health care system today.