Richard Ruhling, MD, MPH, an 83-year-old physician and former health science instructor at Loma Linda University, is sounding the alarm on a critical distinction that he says is often overlooked: the difference between medical care and healthcare. According to Ruhling, medical care—the diagnosis and treatment of disease with pharmaceuticals—is not healthcare but rather a system that contributes to hundreds of thousands of deaths annually due to adverse drug reactions.
Ruhling points to Loma Linda, a community featured in a National Geographic cover story on longevity, where residents live seven years longer than other non-smoking groups. He attributes this to the health teachings of Ellen White, founder of Loma Linda University, whose writings on diet and lifestyle were endorsed by Clive McCay, former Professor of Nutrition at Cornell University. White's advice, including a plant-based diet and avoidance of tobacco, was decades ahead of mainstream science.
A tragic personal experience underscores Ruhling's concerns. His wife died after taking an antibiotic for a bladder infection, which led to a severe reaction that ultimately caused her death despite aggressive medical intervention. Ruhling notes that the Journal of the American Medical Association reported 106,000 deaths in hospitals from adverse drug reactions in 1998, while the Western Journal of Medicine documented 199,000 outpatient deaths from similar causes. Combined, these figures make medical care the third leading cause of death at that time. A later study in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that such deaths increased 2.7-fold between 1998 and 2005, potentially making medical care the number one cause of death in the United States.
Ruhling criticizes the pharmaceutical industry for rebranding medical care as 'healthcare' in the mid-1970s, a marketing ploy that he says obscures the fact that true healthcare focuses on prevention through healthy habits. He cites Dr. Lester Breslow of UCLA, who found that adopting healthy habits can extend life by 11 years. Ruhling also notes that doctors are rarely trained in nutrition or herbal remedies, and drug companies cannot patent natural products for profit.
Efforts to bring these issues to the attention of lawmakers have been met with frustration. Ruhling recalls visiting U.S. Senate offices with medical journal articles, only to be told by one senator, 'You are wasting your time…they own us,' referring to pharmaceutical industry donations. He warns that if the trend of increasing adverse drug reactions continues, millions of Americans may be dying each year from properly prescribed medications.
Ruhling advocates for dietary changes, such as moving the main meal to earlier in the day to avoid weight gain and reducing consumption of coffee and other stimulants, which he links to various health problems. His book, Health Happiness and Destiny, available at HealthHappinessAndDestiny.com, offers guidance on adopting a healthier lifestyle. Ruhling, who himself adopted a plant-based diet 70 years ago, reports excellent health at age 83.
