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Myths of Modern Medicine:

Were pharmaceutical drugs and vaccines responsible for the modern increase in human lifespan? No, they weren't:

Advertising & corporate-sponsored education leads us to believe that our longevity is due to pharmaceutical drugs & vaccination. However, many studies show that the impact of these drugs and vaccines were in fact minimal, almost non-existent, on the decrease of infectious disease, the decrease in mortality and on the increase in human lifespan (in the industrialised countries during the 19th and 20th centuries).

For instance, "Researchers John & Sonya McKinlay ...showed that medical intervention only accounted for between 1 & 3.5 per cent of the increase in the average lifespan in the United States since 1900." (1)

Similarly, in the words of Dr. R. Taylor, in Australia "almost 80 per cent of the reduction in infant mortality between the 1880s & the 1970s occurred prior to the 1930s." (2)

That is, the death rates for infants decreased and was in steep decline long before the widespread use of pharmaceutical drugs or vaccines designed to combat infectious diseases. Extensive vaccination did not begin in Australia until the mid-1930s & for many diseases did not commence until the 1950s & 1960s. This pattern was repeated across the industrialised world.

In fact, medical historians unanimously agree that the decline of infectious disease was not due to commercial drugs & vaccines. It was in fact due to improvements in hygiene, public sanitation, nutrition, housing and general living conditions ie. social reforms that particularly benefitted the poor. (3)

In summary, the pharmaceutical industry has stolen the credit for benefits which came from social and political reforms.

References:

(1) the Pharmaceutical Drug Racket Part 1, Jon Lesso, CAFMR, 1993 p.7, a two part 40-page booklet that exposes the myths about the drug industry, fully referenced. See http://www.pnc.com.au/~cafmr for the full text.

(2) Medicine out of Control, Dr. R. Taylor, 1979 p.9, Sun books.

(3) the Pharmaceutical Drug Racket Part 1, Jon Lesso, CAFMR, 1993 p.7, a two part 40-page booklet that exposes the myths about the drug industry, fully referenced. See http://www.pnc.com.au/~cafmr for the full text.

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Recommended Organisations:

Info on Vaccine damages, myths & alternatives:

• Australian Vaccination Network - http://www.avn.org.au

• What Doctors Don't Tell You - http://www.wddty.co.uk/

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