Before I begin my little diatribe, I would like to communicate to you that I, in no way, am denying that the medical industry has been at fault in the past. Quite the contrary. If you look at my earlier shows, such as "Snake Oil Salesmen" and "The Myth of the Good Old Days", you will find that I have covered the slip ups of the medical industry just as well as any other podcaster or journalist. I have no corporate sponsors. I am not being paid to tell you any of this. Instead, I am speaking to you honestly as someone who was once so swayed by the argument that big pharma is completely evil that I stopped taking my seizure medication. Contrary to what you may hear in the news, no one attacked me after I made this very stupid, arrogant and ignorant decision. No police officers came to my door for a wellness check. No doctors called me to see where I was. I was never sent to a therapist, counselor or specialist. Nor did any "Marxist" intellectuals bang down my door to "reprogram" me. I never lost my job while I was not medicated. My friends did not try to stop me; they respected my wishes. My family offered me advice initially, but soon gave that up when they saw how stubborn I was being. I was entirely free to do as I pleased. Yet I still felt as if big pharma was to blame every time I had a seizure. No matter how many poor decisions I personally made (self-medicating with supplements, trying to pray for healing, aroma therapy, taking fluoride out of my diet, fasting, meditation, etc.) I still always would point the finger at the medical industry. It was their fault and nothing, not even the broken bones and deep cuts from the hundreds of seizures I had during this little experiment, could tell me otherwise. Big pharma is a politically charged term that is meant to communicate an intense distrust of the medical community. Though it is quite true that Big Pharma has some explaining to do about their lobbying in Congress (Big Pharma was essentially bribed to the tune of 76 billion dollars to pass Obama Care for example; I support Obama Care by the way, but facts are facts and Big Pharma certainly cashed in on the passage of that bill big time) as well as their promotion of deadly substances like cigarettes, cocaine and heroin as "cures", the medical industry is also responsible for doing a large amount of good in society. They have cured diseases. They have trained service dogs for the blind. They have helped us appreciate the medical benefits of cannabis (the negative studies on cannabis were performed by the American military, while big pharma has remained pretty objective on the topic). They have helped us beat back vile myths about homosexuality. They have furthered our understanding of the brain. They have shown us that sickness is not demon possession. There are many things this industry has done that are good for society, yet they get nothing but vicious attacks from the very society they help. We must remember that our attacks on industry should never take away from the truth, but add to it. We also must remember that the vast majority of people who work within industries are not plotting against us. They are normal people with families like you and me. Do you really think that your attacks on big pharma will amount to punishment for those actually committing the problems? Or are our various fantasies about hidden cures for cancer and vaccines with chip implants destroying the people who are not in charge, the hardworking people who cure our diseases? And, more importantly, how much longer will the health professionals who are concerned about our well-being continue to put up with our lies about them?