How Conventional Medicine Almost Killed My Father

This is the most emotional piece I have ever written on any subject. I have suffered great anguish that my own immediate family has now fallen to Big Pharma.

You see, my elderly and failing father recently slipped into a most unusual global encephalopathic disorder. He lost all responsiveness for three weeks, and could not swallow.

After the three weeks, when awake, he couldn't recognize my mother, his beloved wife of 62 years. And he was virtually unable to move his extremities. His sodium had dropped to a dangerous 128 (hyponatremia). That's a level that can cause dangerous fluid shifts and brain edema, especially in the elderly. The reason this happened will shock you. First a little background.

Last year, my father started taking the "blood thinner" Coumadin - against my wishes. His doctors pressured him into taking the drug, even though I had on occasion spoken with his doctors about alternatives. I also told them that neither I nor my colleagues had ever seen a clot, nor bleeding in hundreds of patients using these alternatives. Not only were they not interested, two doctors fired my dad as their patient for even suggesting an alternative to Coumadin. They wouldn't see him anymore.

My dad eventually gave in. But the doctors weren't happy with just one drug. They also treated him with the "blood-thinner" Plavix, even though I had repeatedly suggested alternatives. Plavix, like aspirin, wipes out your platelets' ability to coagulate. Coumadin thins out blood-clotting proteins. Together, he had a double whammy.

That would have been bad enough. But then one of his doctors gave him another drug. This one has a toxic profile that's greatly worsened by each of the blood thinners. The drug was the antidepressant drug Lexapro.

My father's doctor prescribed the drug while he was in a rehab center. He had complained of low energy and depression. So his internist prescribed the Lexapro without telling Dad the potential ramifications of the drug. And they didn't tell my mom anything.

We found out that he was getting the drug, thanks to a slip from one his physicians. I had traveled across country to see my dad and heard the doctor's slip. If I hadn't been there, my mom probably would have missed it. My physician sister, who was at his bedside as well, didn't hear the slip. When I told her, we both wanted to come unglued. But somehow we managed to stay calm.

I haven't practiced chemical medicine for years because I know the damage they cause. And the damage caused by mind-altering drugs is especially devastating on the elderly. Use of such drugs before trying safe alternatives should be a crime.

This drug, along with the other two, almost killed my father. While I was there he spontaneously developed life-threatening bleeding in his thigh. Even though he was on Coumadin, the doctors could not explain the bleeding because his INR (measure of blood thinning) was only 1.7. His blood was not especially thin. Lexapro stuck in my gut like a fishbone stuck in your throat.

Together, my sister and I looked at the first page of the official Lexapro website (www.lexapro.com). It sternly warns of hyponatremia (low blood sodium). It especially warns of bleeding complications, particularly in those on anticoagulant drugs. The website says very plainly:

"Lexapro (and similar drugs) are known to increase the risk of bleeding events. Concomitant use of warfarin (coumadin), aspirin and other anticoagulants may add to the risk. Patients should be cautioned about these risks. (Lexapro and similar drugs) have been associated with clinically significant hyponatremia. Elderly patients ... seem to be at greater risk."

After seeing the evidence, my sister said, "Robert, you were right about the Lexapro. It destroyed what was left of him."

The drugs turned this once functional human specimen into a physical jellyfish. And they didn't have to do it!

In this case, the doctors could have given CoQ10, omega-3 fatty acids, acetyl l-carnitine, and alpha lipoic acid. Today, there are over 20 clinical trials that suggest St. John's wort works better than a placebo and is as effective as antidepressants for mild to moderate depression. And with fewer side effects. In fact, some studies report that placebo itself is as effective as these modern serotonin-based petrochemicals. So why did they give my dad a dangerous drug?

The answer to that goes to the heart and soul of the evil in American medicine. As you can see clearly from my dad's case, we have a totally corrupt system. Nutritional alternatives to a dangerous chemical antidepressant were nonexistent as far as the hospital and board-certified internist knew. Since they are not FDA approved, both would be terrified to venture out of the chemical paradigm. And, they might stand in violation of hospital and government regulations.

Whatever their motive, one of the doctors gave a dangerous drug to a feeble elderly man. As a result, he developed the exact complications so warned on the drug's official site. A layman of average common sense would have said, "Heck, is there another way to do this that is less dangerous?" But hospital regulations, Medicare, insurance, medical dogma, medical societies and associations, the FDA, and other draconian agencies together have brought us to this awful scenario.

I maintain the ultimate source is the evil pervasiveness of Big Pharma. It has created and supported a government-protected monopoly to the detriment of all of society. Our legislators take millions in political contributions from this, the most generous of the lobbying industries. We are farmed for profit.

Ref: J Affect Disord, 2008 May 14, Expert Opin Investig Drugs, 2008; 17(6).