Richard Ruhling, an 83-year-old physician with board certification in Internal Medicine and a Master's in Public Health, asserts that what is commonly called healthcare is actually medical care focused on disease treatment with pharmaceuticals, which he claims are a leading cause of illness and death due to adverse drug reactions. Ruhling, who taught Health Science at Loma Linda University, references studies to support his position, including one from the Journal of the American Medical Association reporting 106,000 hospital deaths annually from adverse drug reactions defined as "properly prescribed and administered" as of April 15, 1998.
The Western Journal of Medicine in June 2000 reported 199,000 outpatient deaths from adverse drug events, combining to 305,000 deaths that would make medical care the third leading cause of death, according to Ruhling. He further cites the Archives of Internal Medicine for a study from 1998-2005 showing a 2.7-fold increase in such deaths, which would elevate medical care to the number one cause of death in the U.S., though he notes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does not include these figures in its annual top ten causes of death list. Ruhling attributes this omission to the pharmaceutical industry's influence, stating that pharma started calling medical care "healthcare" in the mid-1970s as an advertising strategy, and he claims media support for pharma ads perpetuates this view.
Ruhling points to Loma Linda University, which received $40 million from the National Institutes of Health to study why its community lives seven years longer than other non-smoking groups, as evidence for alternative approaches. He credits the longevity to the health writings of Ellen White, founder of Loma Linda University, whose advice on plant-based diets and warnings against tobacco and drugs he says were ahead of their time. White wrote in 1905 in The Ministry of Healing that "drugs do not cure disease" but often change its form and location, a view Ruhling endorses based on personal experience, including his wife's death from complications after antibiotic use.
Ruhling advocates for dietary changes, citing examples like Ellsworth Wareham, a cardiac surgeon who lived to 104 on a plant-based diet, and Dr. Lester Breslow of UCLA, who said healthy habits can add 11 years to life. He warns against habits like eating the main meal in the evening, which can lead to weight gain, and coffee consumption, linked in a 1981 New England Journal of Medicine study to pancreatic cancer. For those seeking more information, Ruhling's book, Health Happiness and Destiny, is available at https://HealthHappinessAndDestiny.com, with a bonus video included. Ruhling concludes that if people understood the risks of drugs, millions might adopt healthier diets, as he did decades ago, claiming excellent health at his age.
