Well Being Journal Magazine Jan/Feb 2018 Back Issue

Questioning vaccine policies is an example of responsibly challenging the status quo. Certainly, some vaccines, such as the oral poliovirus vaccine, have been useful and continue to be so; however, many in the healthcare field express doubts concerning vaccine safety in general, and advocate for full disclosure from pharmaceutical companies as well as for informed consent. Richard Moskowitz, MD’s new book Vaccines: A Reappraisal presents a wise perspective on a controversial topic in medicine. His article/excerpt herein is part of an incisive insight into unresolved vaccine issues.
Walter Ling, MD, asks a pertinent question in his article, “Why Do People Take Drugs?” He writes of addiction, which tends to occur as a result of people seeking external sources of happiness. What many don’t know, Ling writes, is there’s a more effective and long-term solution to achieving health, happiness, and wellbeing. I won’t spoil your experience of discovering it for yourself as you read his prescription.
Justin Smith’s new book, Statin Nation: The Ill-Founded War on Cholesterol, What Really Causes Heart Disease, and the Truth About the Most Overprescribed Drug in the World, addresses the reliance of medical journal publishers on pharmaceutical advertising and commercial media publishing industry-funded reporting, rather than well-researched and unbiased data on new and potentially unsafe prescription drugs on the market.
What’s the good news? Challenging the status quo to ensure a healthier life for all! Halee Fischer-Wright, MD, offers a prescription to fix healthcare. She writes in her feature article that the average physician spends two hours on paperwork for every hour spent with patients. As a result, patients who don’t feel valued or understood stop trusting their physicians. She argues for more simplicity and better patient-physician relationships, suggesting five key ways to improve medicine for all.