Can AB1478 Save Lives and the California Economy at the same time?

San Francisco Vegan Chiropractor Comments:

There is currently a bill in commitee at the California assembly that has the potential to save lives and stop the state of California from going into bankruptcy at the same time.

AB1478 simply requires that physicians treating heart disease and diabetes (non-emergency) provide their patients with the option of pursuing intensive dietary and lifestyle modifications/therapies as opposed to mostly dangerous, costly, and ineffective drug therapies which only suppress symptoms and lead to other health problems. These two dreaded diseases are epidemic.

Here is an excerpt on The Diabetes Epidemic from the McDougall Newsletter. Dr. John McDougall, who I consider the nations leader on nutrition based therapy has helped author AB1478:

The Diabetes Epidemic

According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 2007 a total of 23.5 million, or 10.7 percent, of all people aged 20 years or older in the US have diabetes at a cost of $174 billion.^1a  The vast majority of this diabetes is type-2 diabetes, caused by over-nutrition from the rich Western diet, and the associated weight gain. Eighty-four percent of diabetics are on medications (insulin and/or oral).^1a Born in the year 2000, a male child’s lifetime risk of developing type-2 diabetes is nearly 33%, and a female’s risk will be 39% when following the Western diet.² The escalating incidence of type-2 diabetes clearly indicates that current efforts at prevention and treatment are failing. The reason for this failure is the almost exclusive emphasis on drug therapies, and the lack of efforts to address the dietary and lifestyle causes and treatments of type-2 diabetes.

When you consider that California spends $20 Billion on Diabetes treatment alone, and another $28.5 Billion on Obesity treatments, a side effect of Diabetes...that's a total of $48.5 Billion Dollars per year...that is for the most part wasted when these diseases can be reversed with diet and nutrition...and that's a scientific fact. The cost savings of wastefully trying to treat these diseases with drugs would go a long way towards balancing our budget.

Please read this open letter to Governor Schwarzenegger on AB1478 from James Henderson, Esq. who co-authored AB1478 with Dr. John McDougall, MD.

I think we are reaching an inflection point here...I mean after-all 70% of America is overweight or obese. We are literally getting ready to blow...yet we don't address the cause.

Diet is the medicine of the future...and the future is NOW!

Dr. Eben Davis is a San Francisco Chiropractorand has been a follower of Dr. John McDougall for 20 years.He lectures extensively on the benefits of plant based nutrition and lifestyle therapy. He can be reached at ebendavis@yahoo.com.