Freedom of Speech:
only if you own the press
Over the years fighting in the medical war, I have written numerous letters to the editors of newspapers, radio, and television shows, including NPR and CNN. Since these two organizations are considered more liberal than most, I mistakenly thought I would get a response to my inquiries, but alas, once again the mainstream media disappoints.
In fact, after Dr. Sanjay Gupta at CNN failed to mention chiropractic care in his hour-long special, Deadly Dose, that covered deaths by medications, particularly opioid painkillers taken for back pain that killed the majority of the 38,000 who died in 2012, I wrote to him and to former President Bill Clinton who asked Gupta to do this show in behalf of a supporter whose son died from Oxycontin mixed with alcohol. I received a form letter back from Clinton’s people, but nothing from Gupta.
At that time my book publicist who once worked at CNN phoned the producer to ask why no response. To my amazement, he was told I had been “blackballed” at CNN for my “baseless accusations,” which were not mentioned exactly what they were.
This typifies the problem with health news where the chief medical officer is an MD. Trying to get chiropractic mentioned by these bigoted men is equivalent to FOX News allowing an Obama fan to speak honestly about issues that may embarrass conservative politicians.
In discussion with a film maker who has made documentaries in health care, I was informed that as long as the AMA controls the programming and Big Pharma sponsors these shows, any non-medical (CAM) information will never gain traction since drugs pay for these shows and that’s where the big bucks are.
Nonetheless, here are a few of the many letters I have written over the years.