DeepSummary
The episode discusses the history of medicine and how it evolved from ancient healers using herbs to modern practices like vaccines, antibiotics, and organ transplants. However, medicine also became a profitable industry. The host questions whether making illness profitable means there will always be illness, as happened with the military-industrial complex making war profitable.
The story of Royal Raymond Rife, who claimed to have discovered the cure for cancer using frequencies to destroy microorganisms, is explored. Despite successful trials, the American Medical Association (AMA) allegedly sabotaged his work and labeled him a quack, driven by profit motives and the interests of the pharmaceutical industry.
The episode delves into the origins of the AMA as a trade union formed to eliminate competition from alternative healers and make the medical profession more lucrative. It highlights cases of the AMA suppressing natural cures and alternative medicine through character assassination, legal pressure, and shielding the profits of pharmaceutical companies.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- The medical industry has become highly profitable, which may incentivize perpetuating illness over finding cures.
- The American Medical Association (AMA) has a history of suppressing alternative medicine and natural cures in favor of pharmaceutical drugs.
- Pharmaceutical companies allegedly exerted undue influence over medical education and drug approvals by the AMA through financial means.
- Stories of alleged cure suppressions like that of Royal Raymond Rife's frequency treatment highlight a purported profit motive behind marginalizing non-mainstream approaches.
- Regulatory bodies are accused of setting unrealistic standards for approving natural remedies that cannot be patented for profit.
- While conspiracies of active cure suppression are disputed, concerns are raised over financial conflicts perpetuating the for-profit illness industry.
- The episode encourages an open-minded, evidence-based approach to exploring innovative treatments outside mainstream medicine's rigid institutional thinking.
- Despite the criticisms, the episode acknowledges legitimate medical progress and does not accuse all individuals, only highlighting systemic profit-driven pressures.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.“ by Unknown
- “If you make illness profitable, will you always have illness?“ by Unknown
- “If you were a drug company and wanted to get into the journal of the AMA, you had to pay. That was it. The AMA didn't test drugs for safety or efficacy. They had no labs or researchers. The AMA just collected money.“ by Unknown
Entities
Company
Person
Organization
Concept
Product
Book
Tv show
Episode Information
The Why Files: Operation Podcast
The Why Files: Operation Podcast
6/10/24
Hippocrates, the father of medicine, laid the foundation for modern medical practice: observation, diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment. His work set the stage for centuries of medical progress.
In the 19th century, Edward Jenner created a smallpox vaccine, and Louis Pasteur proved microorganisms caused disease. The 20th century brought antibiotics, medical imaging, and organ transplants. In the past 400 years, the human lifespan has doubled.
But something happened to medicine along the way. It became an industry. A profitable one.
President Eisenhower warned against creating a "military-industrial complex" because if you make war profitable, you'll always have war. He was right.
So, here's a cynical question: If you make illness profitable, will you always have illness?
In recent years, trillions have been spent on cancer research and therapies. That's a lot of people getting rich from a disease that's already been cured.