Wonderful overlooked fact about Obamacare--it will curtail mandatory alternative medicine coverage!

[Patiod]

312. Just because Big Pharma needs strict policing doesn't mean Big Snake Oil is OK

As someone whose living depends on Big Pharma, I probably know better than most people about all the crappy things they have done. Ignoring research they don't like, pushing drugs for conditions they aren't indicated for (thank you, Perdue, for the scourge of Oxycontin addiction in America), and bribing doctors. These people need STRICT supervision, and the FDA is stepping in and doing their job - not perfectly, but enough that it has Big Pharma execs cursing and crying on a regular basis. God bless the FDA, with all their flaws, for all the pain and reform they are bringing on Big Pharma.

But just because Big Pharma has done some shady stuff and needs policing, that doesn't mean that alternative medicine makers have a single thread to hang their load of crap on. Homeopathy is a crock of baloney. Chiropractic might make your back feel better, but it's dangerous for your neck, and can't cure anything, period. Megavitamins are useless at best and dangerous at worst.

Unless I see good long term data and replicated studies (and I know what good data and replicated studies look like) I'm not believing anybody's woo-woo. I wish the FDA were allowed to strictly supervise "alternative medicines" as tightly as they are allowed to police traditional pharmaceuticals, but there's too much industry pressure from Big Snake Oil for that.

Personally, I believe that a good diet, regular exercise and good sleeping habits (with PT when necessary) can handle most of the common complaints that send people running to standard or alternative medicines.

And when it's Something Big, I'll trust Big Pharma and Western Medicine any day before I'll trust Big Snake Oil.

Maybe Steve Jobs would still be alive if he had done the same.