True healing is wonderful for the patient — but not always for business. It raises an uncomfortable question: does the U.S. “health care” system truly aim to create health, or has it become a sick‑care industry? How is it that Americans spend more on medicine than any other nation, yet rank 42nd in life expectancy according to the World Health Organization?
A recent Forbes article, Is the Profit Motive Ruining American Healthcare?, explores this very issue. In his book Too Big to Succeed?, neurosurgeon Russell Andrews writes that American medicine has shifted “from a function of humanitarian society into a revenue stream for health care profits for drug and medical device companies, hospitals, and insurance companies.” In his view, the system has transformed into an industry whose primary goal is profit.
CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta highlights another alarming reality: “Someone dies in the U.S. every 19 minutes from a prescription drug overdose, mostly accidental.” Every 19 minutes. Yet this crisis receives far less attention than it deserves. Consider the landscape: medicine is the second‑largest industry in the U.S., pharmaceuticals are the fastest‑growing, nine of the ten highest‑paid professions are in health care, and the average American takes 13 medications per year. As Medical News Today dryly noted, “Yes, I’m sure the drug industry is popping champagne corks.” Follow the money.
If true health is achieved, business slows. Healthy patients don’t need frequent doctor visits. It’s common sense: the healthier the population, the less revenue the system generates. Historically, patients sought out Chinese Medicine practitioners at the first sign of imbalance — when sleep, appetite, digestion, or urination shifted. They didn’t wait for illness to escalate. Preventive visits were also common at seasonal transitions, when the body naturally undergoes physiological changes. Ancient practitioners understood that living in harmony with nature’s rhythms was the foundation of lasting health. An ounce of prevention truly is worth a pound of cure.
All forms of medicine have value. Western medicine excels in emergencies, diagnostics, and acute care. Its technology is remarkable. Chinese Medicine, by contrast, shines in prevention, restoration, and longevity. It is humble, grounded in thousands of years of safe, time‑tested practice. Chinese herbs and lifestyle adjustments work to rebuild the body’s internal systems, while acupuncture accelerates healing. Skilled practitioners teach patients how to cultivate health — and as patients improve, they require fewer visits.
The most powerful approach combines the strengths of both systems: the high‑tech precision of Western medicine with the ancient wisdom of Chinese Medicine. Each has its place. Each offers something essential. We are fortunate to have access to world‑class acute care in the U.S., and equally fortunate that Traditional Chinese Medicine provides a pathway for prevention, balance, and long‑term wellness — even if it means less business.
