An Interview with Dr. Earl Mindell

Dr. Mindell, in your book, Prescription Alternatives, you say that Americans have a pill-popping mindset. Do you think this is getting better as alternative therapies become more popular?

I’d say no, absolutely not. It’s 100 times worse than it was before, and it’s going to continue because the advertising of these prescription drugs is becoming more prolific.

So even though the health food stores are doing more business, and there’s more awareness, it’s not helping?

Just turn on the television any particular day or night, and see if the commercials you see are for health foods or drugs! If you look in any conventional magazine, such as Prevention, which is supposedly a health magazine, you’ll find 30 to 40 pages of drug ads in every single issue.

So even though there is more awareness, by and large the average American is getting inundated with the wrong knowledge?

That’s correct.

Do you think that drug companies have aligned themselves with HMO’s to push more drugs?

I think it’s the other way around. I think the country is completely controlled by the drug companies.

So what do you think we can do about it?

We can talk about it. Discuss it. Educate people. That’s why I have written 54 books, trying to tell people that there are alternatives. Instead of going directly to the new drugs that are under-tested and toxic, why not try some simpler...