Nurse Mark "Uncaring"? NOT!
A reader recently wrote to Dr. Myatt, taking her to task for allowing Nurse Mark to express certain opinions and point out a number of facts in recent blogs. It seems that Nurse Mark's writings have caused this reader no small amount of distress, and the reader wrote to complain that Nurse Mark was, among other things, "uncaring" for his use of humor and satire in pointing out some of the foibles of Big Government (in the form of the FDA), Big Surgery (in the form of bariatric surgery, which deals with "stomach stapling"), Big Drug Companies, Big Advertising, Big Agriculture (in the form of the USDA) and Big Food Processing Industry - all of whom as Nurse Mark points out, have and continue to perpetuate scams of monumental proportions upon the American people.
The reader went on to question whether Nurse Mark had perhaps "obtained his title for a few dollars on line," suggesting that he could not possibly be a "real nurse" if he were willing to write about such things without sugar coating them and making his opinions fit this reader's conception of kind and caring political correctness.
I thought, as did Dr. Myatt, that these were serious charges, so I asked Nurse Mark about them. Here's the "inside scoop" about Nurse Mark and the accusation of his being "uncaring":
Regarding Nurse Mark's credentials, he's as "real" as an R.N. gets. Mark graduated third in his class in 1983 from a Canadian hospital-based training program, and has worked as a Registered Nurse ever since, caring for patients in a wide variety of settings - E.R., surgical, urological, orthopedic, medical, oncology, and palliative (called "Hospice care" in the U.S.). He has delivered babies in airplanes, cared for injured soldiers in helicopters (as a Nurse in the Canadian military), managed cardiac arrests, held the hands of dying patients and comforted their families. Nurse Mark cares deeply about people and their health - all people. Perhaps that is why he is so adamant and outspoken in his opinions: he cares.
That's also why he writes strongly about some of the groups mentioned earlier.
According to Nurse Mark, "Uncaring" describes Big Government (in the form of the FDA) who, for example, will remove an effective and popular product from the marketplace and attempt to financially ruin the maker of that product not because the product is unsafe or ineffective, but because the maker dared to suggest in their description of the product that it would help in the treatment of certain conditions. "Uncaring" describes Medium Government, who along with Big Surgery and Big Insurance are promoting "stomach stapling" as a solution for the high costs of obesity despite the solid evidence that this is a very risky surgery, made even more dangerous when performed on the obese who are at especially high risk. (According to a recent news article, "Complications strike as many as 1 in 5 patients, and it is believed that for every 200 patients, 1 to 4 will die.") "Uncaring" describes the Big Drug Companies, who along with Big Advertising are marketing and promoting drugs with known problems and dangerous side effects - if they cared, would they continue to market antidepressants that can cause suicidal urges in children and teens? Or market a drug that can cause a potentially lethal muscle destroying disease as the answer to many of modern man's ills?
"Uncaring" describes the Big Agriculture and Big Food Processing Industry who, in their quest for profit have systematically stripped our food supply of nutritional value, pour pesticides, antibiotics, and hormones into our crops and animals, and promote "nutrient light" prepared food products as being "ideal for a modern, busy lifestyle." More alarming is that much of this promotion is aimed at people of "lower socioeconomic class" - the working poor - who can ill-afford to be malnourished by these addictive high-sugar, over-processed, nutritionally void offerings, but fall prey to marketing techniques that let a harried and exhausted working mother believe that she is providing a sound meal for her children because the label tells her that the product has been "fortified with essential vitamins and nutrients." If they cared, would these big lobby groups have pressured the U.S. delegation to the U.N. to successfully stall a U.N. plan that would have recommended "a lower intake of sugar, sodium and artery-clogging trans-fatty acids and suggests governments set taxation and subsidy policies to promote healthy eating habits" according to a recent news article?
So there it is - you decide who is "uncaring." For my money, I'm quite clear that it's not Nurse Mark.
Nurse Mark says he is going to continue to point out these things, and to use whatever means is necessary to persuade people to make healthier choices. He says that if his humor or satire makes even one person think and better yet, act, to make a positive change in their lives, then it is worth it, even if he has apparently offended the sensitivities of one reader.
Finally, this offended reader suggested that instead of allowing Nurse Mark to "rant and rave" in the "blog," Dr. Myatt should have me doing all writing for the Wellness Club. Well, you know, if I had the medical knowledge of Dr. Myatt and Nurse Mark, along with the daily stream of medical news and journal reports that they digest, I know I'd be "ranting and raving" too!
My bottom line (and the offended reader won't like it, I'm sure), is "You go, Nurse Mark - give 'em heck, hold their feet to the fire!" For all of us.
Jamie Jameson-White
Editor, HealthBeat Newsletter
P.S. From Dr. Myatt: It is impossible to be a "truth-talker" and not offend someone. One week the crowd hailed Him as Lord, the following Sunday they crucified Him. I can't expect to get off the hook any easier. We won't stop "talking the truth," pointing out problems that are difficult to hear just to be "politically correct." That sugar-coated version of reality is one of the reason we have so many health and social problems!
12:08:11 PM 
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