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Madison Hodrick

Dr. Angela Mitchell

UWRT 1103-003

30 March 2018

Alternative Treatments and the War on Cancer

We have all been there- when you are sick enough, you are willing to try pretty much

anything to feel better. From eating raw onions to ease a cold to wearing wet socks to fight the

flu- the treatments are truly endless. While these holistic remedies may sound outrageous, some

of them can be surprisingly effective according to ​Reader’s Digest​ (Aguirre). And what if they

know this and are trying to suppress alternative treatments?

First, we must examine who “they” are. “They” could potentially mean a couple different

entities, one example being the government. In a nationally representative online survey

conducted by the Internet market research company YouGov in August and September 2013,

reported by ​JAMA Internal Medicine​, 1351 adults were asked about medical conspiracism in

America (Oliver, Wood). A staggering thirty-seven percent of the sample agreed that the Food

and Drug Administration is suppressing natural cures for cancer due to pressure from

pharmaceutical companies (Oliver, Wood). This survey also allows us to draw some conclusions

worth considering about the American people as patients and consumers. According to the

survey results, people who use more alternative treatments and prefer to avoid traditional

treatments are more inclined to believe in these conspiracy theories; they are more likely to get

their fruits from local produce stands, not vaccinate their children, and skip annual visits to the
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doctor (Oliver, Wood). What does this mean, and why is this information relevant? It means that

signing the people who believe in these conspiracies off as crazy, paranoid, communist, or

whatever else is not going to work. YouGov’s survey implies that conspiracies concerning the

medical field are “widely known, broadly endorsed, and highly predictive of many common

health behaviors” (Oliver, Wood). These are normal people that believe these conspiracies.

There could actually be some legitimacy to their claims and these conspiracies have a very real

impact on a variety of health behaviors.

Now, let us say “they” is not the government. Who else could it be? Big Pharma, maybe?

Drugwatch​ describes the Big Pharma conspiracy as pharmaceutical companies, even the medical

establishment in general, serving an ulterior motive and working against the public good

(Llamas). This conspiracy theory is particularly compelling because they claim that the

pharmaceutical industry is all about the money. According to ​WIRED,​ there is even a developing

“war” on overpriced drugs (Ferry). Big Pharma does not care about you, me, or really anyone for

that matter- unless, of course, you are willing to pay them an arm and a leg. Take a look at the

immunomodulatory drug Revlimid. In ten years time, the cost of the life-saving drug jumped

from $78,000 to $156,000 per year, meaning the median myeloma patient covered by Medicare,

a form of insurance which is intended to shield patients from outrageous drug prices, paid

$11,538 out of pocket per year for their prescription (Ferry). This is literally unaffordable for the

majority of American families. Moreover, since its release in 2006, Revlimid has generated more

than $20 billion in revenue for Big Pharma (Ferry). They defend their prices by claiming that

“you get what you pay for” (Ferry). Big Pharma does in fact seem to have an ulterior motive

which contradicts their ability to effectively serve the public good: money. Their primary
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objective is to reap the greatest profit possible, no matter the expense. One could go so far as to

say they value the size of their paycheck over human lives. If this was not the case, why would

they charge such an exorbitant amount for their medications, making them financially

debilitating or, worse yet, inaccessible to the American people who they are supposed to serve?

Big Pharma’s start and history is worth examining as well. Until the middle of the

nineteenth century, homeopathy was a thriving practice. ​The Beginner’s Guide to Natural Living

informs that when the American Medical Association (AMA) was founded in 1847, they made it

unlawful for any member to consult with a homeopath (Cook). Conditions for natural healers

were further worsened when Abraham Flexner, hired by the AMA, published the ​Flexner Report

in 1910, which denounced homeopathy in favor of pharmaceuticals (Cook). This prompted

Congress to grant the AMA the power to de-certify any medical school in the nation that failed

to meet their standards, resulting in the number of medical schools plummeting from six hundred

to fifty in a fifteen year period (Cook). Were these measures necessary for the improvement and

forward progression of medicine? Or did these measures inhibit such advancement by

discrediting alternative treatments?

Controversies and debates concerning the suppression of alternative treatments almost

always come back to one of the hottest topics in modern-day America: curing cancer. I know I

am not alone in saying that cancer has had a tremendous impact on my life personally. I know I

am also not alone in saying that I have seen conspirators argue there is already a cure for cancer,

but it is being kept secret from the public. Who would hide a cure for cancer, and why? As for

the “who”, again, we naturally turn to either the government or the pharmaceutical industry. In

this case, the “why” is more complicated.

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Because of its nature as an aggressive disease that touches almost every family in

America at some point or another, people are inherently passionate about finding a cure for

cancer. Generally, people are usually more willing to invest or contribute towards causes in

which they believe. What does that mean for the cancer industry? These same hopeful people

provide ample resources and dollars in a sincere effort to support the researchers who are willing

to dedicate their time and life’s work to the cause. This is no small sum of money either.

According to ​THRIVE: What on Earth Will It Take?​, over $200 billion in tax dollars, donations,

and private equity has been spent for the sole purpose of curing cancer since President Nixon

launched the “War on Cancer” in 1971 (Gamble). What is a cure is found? Where does that

money go? Is that the dilemma which scares the bejeezus out of Big Pharma? Cynically, this is a

great incentive to ​not ​find a cure.

Conversely, government-funded research is expensive; ​Cancer Treatment Watch

contends that the opportunity cost of hospitals’ resources, both time and money, far outweighs

any benefits the government would gain by suppressing a cure (Higgins). Privately-funded

research is perhaps motivated to look for a more profitable cure, likely something

pharmaceutical. However, rather than suppressing treatments, this just complements research

already being done- chemical or natural, a cure is a cure (Higgins).

Before you can draw any conclusions of your own, there is one very important detail to

understand about cancer that people, conspirators included, tend to neglect. As defined by

HuffPost​, “cancer” is not a disease, but rather a collective term used to describe hundreds of

complex diseases, each one requiring its own unique plan of treatment (Johannson). This

requires resources to be allocated to a lot of different types of cancer- the time and money
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divided amongst such a broad spectrum potentially inhibits meaningful progress in any particular

direction. Cancer is also unique in that there is no bacteria or virus to attack, therefore it is hard

to devise a treatment which isolates and attacks the cancer cells without doing too much damage

to the body’s healthy cells (Johannson). ​Live Science ​attributes that cancer can even vary from

cell to cell within the same person; it is incredibly unpredictable, making treatment that much

more complicated (Wanjek). Because cancer comes from the body’s own cells, treatments affect

each patiently differently- there will never be a treatment which works universally (Johannson).

Despite the conspiracism, we have made tremendous progress towards improving

mortality rates and the quality of life for people suffering from cancer (Wanjek). Although the

progress may not be proportional to the resources spent, it is progress nonetheless. We have

come from a time where cancer was most assuredly a death sentence upon infliction to a time

where cancer survivors have the privilege of living with their progeny rather than surviving as a

memory. No longer must we choose between pharmaceuticals and homeopathy, but instead we

devise treatment plans composed of both methods. Whether this leads you to believe that

someone is hiding something, or that cancer is simply that difficult to successfully research and

develop a cure for, there are arguments to support both sides.

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Works Cited

Cook, Larry. “Natural Medicine: Help Your Body Heal Itself”. ​The Beginner’s Guide to Natural

Living. ​Larry D. Cook, 2005-2016. ​www.thenaturalguide.com​. Accessed 20 February

2018.

Ferry, David. “The New War on (Overpriced) Drugs”. ​WIRED​. Wired, 2017. www.wired.com.

Accessed 21 March 2018.

Gamble, Forest. “Suppression of Natural Remedies”. ​THRIVE: What on Earth Will It Take?

Clear Compass Media, 2011-2018. ​www.thrivemovement.com​. Accessed 19 February

2018.

Higgins, Michael. “Is There Really a Conspiracy to Suppress Cancer Cures?” ​Cancer Treatment

Watch. ​Cancer Treatment Watch, 2007. ​www.cancertreatmentwatch.org​. Accessed

February 23, 2018.

Johansson, Anna. “Why Don’t We Have the Technology to Cure Cancer Yet?” ​HuffPost​. Oath

Inc., 2018. ​www.huffingtonpost.com​. Accessed 22 February 2018.

Morella, Aguirre. “7 unusual cold remedies”. ​Best Health Magazine. ​Reader’s Digest Magazine

Canada Limited, 2018. ​www.besthealthmag.ca​. Accessed 21 March 2018.

Oliver JE, Wood T. “Medical Conspiracy Theories and Health Behaviors in the United States”.

JAMA Intern Med. ​JAMA Network, ​2014. jamainternmed.com.. Accessed 26 March

2018.

Wanjek, Christopher. “40 Years After Moon Landing: Why Can’t We Cure Cancer?” ​Live

Science​. Purch, 2018. ​www.livescience.com​. Accessed 23 February 2018.

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Llamas, Michelle. “Big Pharma and Medical Device Manufacturers”. ​Drugwatch​.

Drugwatch.com, 2018. www.drugwatch.com. Accessed 21 March 2018.