Customer Reviews
The Medical Heretic Still "Rules"! 
2008-04-01
I loved this book when it first came out in 1979, and I still love it today -- perhaps even more. The sad part is that, except for the fact that lots of the actual procedures, tests and drugs Dr. Mendelsohn wrote about in this book have changed, almost everything else seems to have remained the same.
I must therefore disagree with those whose comments here suggest that things are not so bad today, and that Dr. Mendelsohn's book is therefore not as relevant as it was when it was written. For instance, one young resident wrote in his comment that "so many treatments which he [Mendelsohn] describes as ineffective or harmful have been replaced or improved." And he concludes that "thus, a lot of his criticisms are not applicable to today's medical practice." I'd like to remind people of Dr. Mendelsohn's famous quote (and my very favorite of his wonderful quotes): "Doctors don't let go of one medication until they find a more dangerous one to replace it." The same might apply to many medical procedures and diagnostic tests!
In his day, Dr. Mendelsohn was a "media darling," partly because of his controversial message, and partly because of his brilliant use of witty "sound bites." He was on talk shows all the time, and he actually made a difference in the way people viewed our medical system. I have the sad feeling that, had Dr. Mendelsohn lived, our healthcare system might be in better shape today!
Julia Schopick
www.HonestMedicine.com
Buy this book, it may save your life! 2008-02-06
This is an excellent book. The author totally exposes doctors for the ruthless, money hungry tirants they truely are. Doctors have been bought and sold by the very pharmecuetical companies they promote. Yet how many doctors take their own shots? You might be supried how few of them actually do.
Vacinations are unsafe and unproven to be effective. Vacinations along with amalgam, or "silver" fillings, combined create such levels of mercury exposure designed to debilitate and entrap our society. Rendering us completely dependent on the same groups of people who made us sick to aleviate our symptoms.
It is so much easier to say "no" while you have the chance then to go back and try to repair the damage of mercury poisoning. In some causes it is not possible to entirely treat, but there is some help with chelation therapy and bentonite clay.
If you have children, put this book at the top of your reading list. If you were given the oportunity to protect your children from autism, ADHD, Multiple Sclerosis, alzheimer's, dementia, and many other diseases, I'm sure you would take it in a heart beat. I know I have. This book has the information that can give you that chance!
Wow.... It's like meditrix... 2008-02-03
reading this book, it was such an engaging presentation of the idea that I read it in one sitting, was like taking the blue pill/or was it the red pill and taken for a ride in the journey that showed you the truth which was all around you in the first place.
Meditrix is all around us. It's in the Obstetrician that recommends C-section as a way to preserve your vaginal canal from stretching, it's in the Pediatrician who recommends you supplement your infant's diet with formula, it's in the Dr. who recommends mastectomy in a healthy young woman with family history of breast cancer as a preventative measure.
Seriously though, this book is really an eye-opener and importantly what it teaches you is how to protect yourself and your loved ones from the potential harms that doctors can afflict on you whether intentional or unintentional. It is still very applicable today because although Dr. have become better about thinking of the patient's well-being, they still got a long way to go.
great book from an insider 2008-01-27
Yes i agree its not a scientific study but its an eye opening read!!!!
its not for nothing hospitals are one of the most dangerous places in the modern world.
Insightful then, questionable now 
2007-12-06
Confessions of a Medical Heretic was written in the late 1970s, a time when medicine bordered on religion. Back then, Mendelsohn's opinion that doctors cause disease was an uncommon and daring heresy. But now, in 2007, it is quite typical to believe that allopathic medicine is a unnecessary evil. Case in point--the previous 5-star reviewer who notes that "Americans, by and large, dislike and distrust their doctors." And without the threat of ingenuous, worshipful patient trust in a corrupt system--what's left to complain about? The corrupt system? This may be the obvious answer, but the corruption is different these days. So much of health care has moved away from reckless overuse of technology and toward "complementary medicine" that an updated book would be necessary to tackle the new issues that healthcare faces in America.
For example: Mendelsohn complains of a health system corrupted by greedy, elitist doctors. In the 21st century, the culprit is more often the big health insurance company, not the lowly GP who usually earns less than a 6-figure salary and struggles to stay in business.
So how can this book be dangerous? An example from my personal experience: I suffered from rheumatic fever, a life-threatening condition that killed many people before the 20th century before it was practically eradicated by the use of antibiotics. Why? I was raised in a family where Mendelsohn's attitude was gospel: "Avoid modern drugs, they will kill you." So when I got a case of strep throat, I stayed home, stayed away from the evil doctor, and developed a damaged heart valve (a consequence of rheumatic fever). The well-documented near-eradication of rheumatic fever in developed countries since the introduction of antibiotics is one statistic that I doubt Mendelsohn would argue with. Strangely, Mendelsohn avoids mentioning these kinds of statistics--but he's happy to use statistics when they suggest that doctors cause disease.
With the caveat that Mendelsohn's blind distrust can be just as dangerous as the blind trust he rails against, Confessions of a Medical Heretic still offers a valuable insight regarding the treadmill effect: medical treatment can perpetuate itself unnecessarily. I would guess that up to 50% of the need for medical treatment could be avoided with better decisions on the part of providers. This does not in any way, however, invalidate "modern medicine" as a whole.
THE WHO'S WHO AT YOUR COMMUNITY HOSPITAL 2007-09-26
Covers issues from unnecessary surgeries and prescribed drugs to preventive medicine and home births.
Eye-opener 2007-06-06
Good book. A little outdated, but an excellent resource if you are beginning your research on alternative medicines. I recommend this book especially to those who are wondering if there really is another way besides the modern medical movement.
Dr. Mendelsohn is a champion of homebirth. I have had a homebirth and plan to have the rest of my children at home. He gives an excellent argument for the pros of this seemingly pioneer practice.
Great New Info 2007-04-12
I definitely disagree with all of those bad reviews. I agree 100% that the body has the ability to heal itself and that virtually nothing a doctor "sells" you can help your body heal itself. Let's face it, the medical and pharmaceutical industry is a business. They live off of people getting sick. Now that we know the truth, we can stop this monopoly once and for all.
Only Knowledge Will Save You 2006-01-27
This book is a must for everyone interested in promoting and preserving good health. Sadly, instead of educating the public in proper nutrition, focusing on disease prevention measures, and researching, studying and promoting the use of effective natural cures, the far removed from nature western medical establishment is indoctrinated into subscribing and relying entirely on pharmaceutical drugs, many of which are ineffective and produce debilitating, dangerous and sometimes lethal side effects.
The cruel reality is that the self serving pharmaceutical drug companies with the assistance of the FDA suppress information and access to healing herb remedies and natural cures in order to keep the public ignorant and completely dependent on their profitable patented drugs. Have cancer? They will make sure you have no other choice but to buy their highly expensive, minimally effective poisonous drugs combined with maiming medical surgical procedures.
The pharmaceutical industry will do everything possible to protect their profits and make us stay away from any natural cures such as the Alpha Omega Lab's "Cansema" herb combination treatment which effectively cured cancer in thousands of people including my mother.
Pharmaceutical companies and their well paid partner, the FDA, will promptly accuse those natural healers and God sent angels of quackery and will see to it that anyone who offers effective natural cures will face swift persecution and unjust prosecution. If interested, you can read the full story of the original Cansema and the unwarranted FDA raid of Alpha Omega Labs posted by Chris Gupta on the web.
There is no doubt there are quacks to watch out for in this world, but make no mistake, there is no quack larger than the pharmaceutical conglomerate. The suppressed and hidden truth is that the effective (and inexpensive) cures for ALL deceases are available out there in nature, right now. With a little ingenuity and persistence, open minded regular folks can do their own research and educate themselves with printed material available in libraries, bookstores and the internet.
Thank to the loving work of angels walking the earth - people of good will among us, anyone can find out about effective and inexpensive natural cures for cancers, degenerative diseases and chronic ailments. But be warned, don't expect your personal physician to support you on this life saving task. Most physicians although well intended are brainwashed. Many are so vested on pharmaceuticals they are completely unaware of and against natural healing substances and will understandably dismiss their effectiveness as quackery. A selected few are wise enough to break the binds of a hostile and intimidating system, but only the "holy and holistic" ones like Robert Mendelsohn are courageous enough to blow the whistle so that you and I can save ourselves and the people we love who will listen.
Learn about the battle going on 2005-10-27
"A hospital is like a war" Here you have it from a doctor who has been there and done that. As he describes the things that go on in a hospital it is amazing that anyone comes out alive. It does not surprise we when they are several people I personally know who have gotten very ill in a hospital from something COMPLETELY unrelated to why they entered. This book needs to be read by all.
