Pamela,
I too am filled with frustration and anger toward the medical community. I've been researching for 10 years now and it's so comforting to see posts like this. Hopefully, with so many becoming educated via the internet, some changes will take place in the near future. I pray for that.
I lost my first husband to lymphoma after he was "chemoed" to death. He was only 46 years old. I wish I knew then what I know now because he'd still be alive and playing with his grandchildren.
I remarried and my husband developed throat cancer. He went thru surgery, chemo & rad twice. He's still alive but can't speak and has to use a feeding tube to take nutrition. He lives on Ensure Plus and cannot even swallow his own saliva. The worst is that his neck is so necrotic his carotid arteries are like pretzels and he faints, gets blind spells and more. So you see? He survived the cancer (so far) but the drugs have ruined his quality of life and his remaining years have been miserable. Again, I wish I had been more educated about alternative medicine because he'd still have a life.
Another story...not related to cancer but relevant. I had a serious drug reaction that caused a brain stem stroke. I was near death for over 5 years. Seizures daily, drooling, stuttering, jerking, wetting the bed, failing kidneys, heart arrhythmias, deafness and double vision. Doctors would have nothing to do with me due to the nature of my "acquired" disorders. They refused to diagnose me and only prescribed more drugs to combat side effects of other drugs...and I was only getting worse. Not until I found a wonderful holistic doctor, who weaned me off drugs and put me on supplements, did I begin to heal. Of course prayer had to do with most of it.
I became involved with a group of advocates against pharmaceutical drug companies and we uncovered so much corruption it's unbelievable. We found that many of the head honchos with the FDA "held hands" with the drug companies, and together they did whatever it took to increase profits...at the expense of people's lives. We found hidden clinical trials that had never reported because too many people died. Money changed hands and they did "favors" for one another to get drugs approved. Doctors are still so intimidated by the pharma/FDA/AMA that they will go to any extent to avoid "getting involved." Most would rather see a patient die than to admit any patient was injured by a drug. If they DO admit it...then they stand to lose their practice...and their license.
I am in the process of writing a book called, "Brutal Medicine," which will probably take years to finish because so much new info continually comes up...especially now with cancer treatments. The conclusion is that this is nothing more than murder for the sake of profit.
You are right about clinical trials. The drug companies are "allowed" to kill a certain number of patients each year in these "experiments." If the number exceeds the allowed amount...it is covered up and will be approved anyway.
There...I said my piece.
Snetrem