Should Pharma Apologize to Navjyot Singh Siddhu?

When can we expect apologies?

Ex cricketer and politician Sri Navjyot Singh Siddhu has revealed on more than one platform how he has used research on cancer and nutrition to heal his wife afflicted with Stage 4 cancer that did not yield to chemo and radiation.

His wife, a gynecologist sitting by his side, lovingly looks at him and nods in agreement.

But the medical profession is up in arms against him and accuse him of spreading misinformation. They imply that Siddhu is lying.

Ms Siddhu is not the only case that has been helped by natural therapies. Doctors have written books on the subject. Dr Jeff Radiger's book CURED deals with the confounding fact that untreated cancer cases live longer and many are able to cure cancer by taking recourse to unconventional treatment that is considered quackery by oncologists.

Survivors too have written how they have stepped off the beaten track and recovered. The remedies range from change in diet and lifestyle to herbs, homeopathy, yoga, pranayam, and the emerging Panchagavya.

The track record of chemo + radiation is so dismal that oncologists are known to reject them when they themselves develop cancers.

Cases are considered cured if they survive 5 years post chemo and radiation ignoring the terrible quality of life they lead. And what is the survival percentage? It can be as low as 2.1%. What is more alarming is there is a large percentage that are misdiagnosed and subsequently poisoned for no reason.

That cancer is caused by toxins (carcinogens) is well known and acknowledged. But detoxification and nourishment is considered quackery. It is also very well known that chemo and radiation are intensely carcinogenic!

That is scientific medicine for you.

Hospitals invest crores in chemo and radiation units. The procedure generates tremendous revenue needed to recover the costs and profit. It is not feasible to expect naturopathic treatment from an oncologist.

But why deride and oppose people when they demonstrate cures through holistic methods? Why abandon ethics? Why stand in-between patients and cures?

Maybe because if they did not do that the pharma behemoth would not be a $ 13.1 trillion industry. The emphasis is on profits and not cures.

This is not a wild allegation. In an oncologists conference an oncologist who spoke about a method to cure cancer was opposed by pharma CEOs who argued that their business would be impacted by such findings.

Health is a simple common sense matter. The body knows how to heal itself. The physicians duty is to simply wait and supervise the healing process. The inputs of health are well researched and known as "basic determinants of health".

But the above knowledge is not a part of medical education. Surprising, is it not? Or maybe it is not surprising?

Profits are good. Livelihoods are fine. Business is practical. But should it come at the expense of health and well being? Should it lead to suffering and death? Should it be a cause for slipping into poverty?

It is time for the profession to stop mindlessly pursuing an agenda that goes against humanity. They should at least recognize the fact that they themselves are not healthy, and neither are their family members.

From the public viewpoint the situation is unacceptable. Maybe it is time to demand an apology. Maybe it is time to call a spade a spade.

Enough of suffering has been unleashed. We simply cannot inflict more on a population that struggles to stay alive.

That apology should come.