Kaplan 1

Savannah Kaplan
Professor Padgett
ENGL 102
March 21, 2016
Annotated Bibliography
Inquiry: How would peoples health be benefited by seeking out additional options in heath care
besides the primarily thought path of traditional medicine?
Proposed Thesis: There is potential corruption and greed involved in conventional treatment
that can be avoided by pursuing complementary and alternative medicines.
Barnes, Patricia M., Barbra Bloom, Division of Health Interview Statistics, National Center for
Health Statistics, Richard L. Nahin, National Center for Complementary and Alternative
Medicine, and National Institutes of Health. "National Center for Health Statistics."
Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use Among Adults and Children:United State
43.12 (2008): n. pag. DHHS, 10 Dec. 2008. Web. 5 Feb. 2016.
The terms complementary and alternative medicine are not well known terms in most
peoples vocabulary. It is important that within this research paper, the terms complementary and
alternative medicine are defined, addressed, and understood. Therefore, in this article, Barnes
goes into great depth describing what complementary and alternative medicine is, the medicines
strengths and limitations, the different conditions treated in adults and children, and the practices
of these medicines. Barnes describes complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) as, a
heterogeneous spectrum of ancient to new-age approaches that purport to prevent or treat
disease. By definition, CAM practices are not part of conventional medicine because there is
insufficient proof that they are safe and effective. Individually described, complementary

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medicine is, used together with conventional treatments, whereas alternative interventions are
used instead of conventional medicine (Barnes). The research projects and statistics the doctors
and scientists report in this article will be very beneficial in my paper to present the importance
of CAM to my audience. Some of the credentials listed of the authors of this article are a M.A.,
M.P.A., Ph.D., M.P.H. Each author has had many years of schooling and has spent a great deal
of time and research on this topic. Having such credible people write this article is important
because the information they are presenting to the reader pertains to the peoples health,
therefore, the authors need to be extremely accurate and convincing.
Healthy Living - Integris Products and Online Health Forum Where Lives Are Changed
Powerfully for the Better." Healthy Living - Integris Products and Online Health Forum
Where Lives Are Changed Powerfully for the Better. Healthy-Living.org, n.d. Web. 13
Nov. 2013.
In this article, the category of Biologically based therapies of CAM is presented.
Biologically based therapies are the use of substances found in nature such as herbs, foods, and
vitamins. For example, because many vitamins become deficient under certain conditions, they
are needed at elevated concentrations when the body is stressed. There is a great deal of
scientific evidence documenting the essential health roles of Vitamin D, showing that ill health
corresponds to low levels of Vitamin D: Medical scientists and researchers have found that
serum Vitamin D levels are low in 90% of people with degenerative disease such as heart
disease, cancer and autoimmune disease (Healthy Living). Vitamin D is very inexpensive,
if not free, and promotes maximal health in biologically based therapies. The article was written
by a doctor who has had many years of schooling, therefore is very experienced in the field of

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alternative medicine. The website this article is posted on states that Healthy Living" has been
cited and used for its data multiple times by other articles in PubMed Central (PMC).

Lamb, Robyn L. "Ivy League Medical School Seeks Help in Md. for Alternative Medicine."
(n.d.): n. pag. The Dailey Record. The Daily Record, 5 Apr. 2005. Web. 8 Feb. 2016.
In this article, it tells a story of how even after presenting the new idea of alternative
medicine, and how this practice of medicine has been proven beneficial, a doctor claimed he
couldn't afford to learn about alternative medicine. Knowing about it, the doctor said, would
mean he would have to understand it, and that would make him liable (Lamb). A story like this
is a perfect example of the relationship some western doctors have with complementary
medicine. I find it important to incorporate a story into this research paper for the audience to
relate to, to prove that conventional medicine may be beneficial to some peoples lifestyles, but
there is a mixture of greed and corruption in the medical and pharmaceutical industries that go on
behind the scenes. Therefore, posing the argument that conventional medicine may not always be
the healthiest choice when in comes to health. Lamb works as a Daily Record Business Writer
and her work has been published and reviewed many times.
Mercola, Joseph. How Corrupted Drug Companies Deceive and Manipulate Your Doctor."
mercola.com. Copyright 1997-2013 Dr. Joseph Mercola, 18 May 2010. Web. 10 Sept.
2013.
In this article, the author describes corruption that goes on behind the scenes in the
pharmaceutical and medical industry. People are not as aware of this corruption that Mercola
exposes, for example, concerns have been repeatedly expressed about the tendency of
pharmaceutical companies to meddle with the interpretation of the clinical trials. According to

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Dr. Golomb, an Associate Professor of Medicine, Big pharmaceutical companies now spend
$18.5 billion per year promoting their drugs (qtd. in Mercola). These companies will spend
billions of dollars on promotion, so long as profits are possible. If a study does not have any
findings that are favorable to its product, it is unlikely the study will ever be published since
most the time drug companies only publish the funded studies that promote their drug
(Mercola). When scientific studies find results that would cast doubt on the effectiveness of the
drug, company officials often will convert these negative findings into positive ones. Even if the
companies funding the research cannot make the results look good, they can often find a way to
twist the conclusions so that their drug appears favorable and more doctors and patients will buy
it, and these are a couple examples of the findings I would like to expose to my audience in my
paper. Mercola has had a very successful past. Mercola works for himself as a doctor and
surgeon, and has recieved many writing awards including authoring three New York Times
Bestsellers.
MP Challenges Corrupt Practices of Pharmaceutical Companies. fairwhistleblower.ca. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 10 Sept. 2013.
In this article, the author exposes the facts that every day billions of people consume
prescription medicines produced by pharmaceutical companies in which these companies are
treated by society with great respect due to the companies carefully crafted corporate image for
creating jobs, helping citizens, and investing in research dedicated to saving lives. When in
reality, their incentives are likely much less honorable. The article, MP Challenges Corrupt,
states that, The big pharmaceutical companies are, in fact, the most sophisticated marketing
machines in history, selling billions of dollars in products that often do not work to tens of
millions of people who do not need them, leading to millions of hospitalizations in North

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America every year and is the fourth leading cause of death in North America. People are not as
much aware of the corruption and greed going on throughout the medical and pharmaceutical
industries. The astonishing growth of pharmaceutical advertising and its impact on consumers is
quickly becoming a serious consumer issue. The article does not give a single person that it is
written by, but it states that lab fellows from the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard
University present findings from their in-depth, multi-disciplinary investigations of corruption in
pharmaceutical policy, and propose methods to mitigate these critical problems (MP Challenges
Corrupt).
Lake, Stephanie. "Evidence- Based Medicine and the Growing Popularity of Complementary
and Alternative Treatments." UBC Medical Journal, 1 July 2015. Web. 27 Feb. 2016.
In this article, Stephanie Lake talks about the new and upcoming effects of CAM. CAM
has grown dramatically over the past decades, slowly becoming the more popular route to take
when in comes to medicine, but what is particularly interesting that this article brings up is the
major concern that, despite the unconventional nature of CAM interventions, their extensive
promotion through mainstream outlets blurs the lines between what is and is not scientifically
accepted (Lake). The quote means that despite the major positive results CAM shows, doctors
have to be careful cause they might get in trouble suggesting these alternatives due to the lack of
scientific evidence CAM has behind it. Lake gave the example of this situation posing a problem
with Dr. Oz, and how he got in trouble with the U.S. Senate for encouraging patients to use
certain complementary and alternative medicines, but he had a lack of scientific evidence support
behind him. The lack of scientific evidence is a fault in CAM, therefore, by adding this
knowledge in my research paper it will support my research question in the way that CAM might
not be the direct route to take. CAM works, but it is so new that there are logistics that still need

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to be worked out. Consequently, it is becoming increasingly important for physicians to be

aware of the evidence base surrounding different CAM options in order to develop a safe and
effective treatment plan for their CAMusing patients (Lake). Lake is a PhD Candidate of 2018
who attended the School of Population and Public Health and Faculty of Medicine. She not only
expresses credibility through her educational background, but she references twenty-six other
sources to back up her research and argument.