Confessions of a Medical Heretic

by Robert S. Mendelsohn

Covers issues from unnecessary surgeries and prescribed drugs to preventive medicine and home births.

Genres: Health, Nonfiction, Medical, Medicine, Science, Psychology, Parenting

197 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

Reviews

[☘Misericordia☘ ⚡ϟ⚡⛈⚡☁ ❇️❤❣ · Rating 5 out of 5]

The courage this guy demonstrated by addressing the issues of contemporary medical practices is astonishing!

The popular grievance on this book is that 'the info is dated'... Seriously? Children were born with conditions due to their mothers being prescribed drugs. People were misdiagnosed, had undergone all kinds of procedures leading to no improvements of their health (and in many cases to new illnesses). How can this suffering be dated?

Another thing is: just how imaginably can a person get info on what kind of havoc is going on today, if to understand what's going on, decades might be needed? What's clear is that with this kind of track, there definitely are bound to be issues in this industry.

The bonus point is: if the doctors are right, then questioning their verdicts should do no harm. Of course, many people will always say that patients with questions are the worst - well, they should change professions, then. A doctor has to be articulate enough to explain things. A patient needs to get informed and stay informed.

[Sharon Garnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book when my children were small, and I think in may have saved my oldest son's life. I questioned one of my pediatrician's suggestions and he scoffed. So I found another doctor who assured me that my intuition was based on sound medicine. Dr. Mendelsohn empowered me to question established medical practice.

Those of us who are baby boomers need this book more than ever. Even though "Confessions of a Medical Heretic" is more than twenty years old, it is relevant reading for any of us who are faced with chronic medical conditions and frequent doctor visits.

Reading "Confessions of a Medicat Heretic" will save you money, time, and may even save your life!

I'm going to read it again.

[Dr Goon Taco Supreme · Rating 5 out of 5]

In "Confessions of a Medical Heretic," a wayward doctor goes rogue and sticks it to the man.
Dr Mendelsohn is blunt, sarcastic and at times shockingly funny.
He is also honest, which is refreshing and wonderful. This book was published in 1979, and much of what was written still holds true to this very day. What's more is that Dr. Mendelsohn was right about many of his most passionately held medical beliefs. So right, in fact that many of his beliefs have become a part of the mainstream. His ideas have stood the test of time and this book is a most valuable read. There is no doubt that Dr Mendelsohn wished to promote the best interests of all people. He was not afraid to call out corruption where he saw it, and to empower his fellow human beings to reclaim their own good health.
This is a great book--no, it is a wonderful book. It's a fantastic book! This book is a book worth reading!

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author, really hits the medical profession and hospitals hard as real demons who basically cause a lot of unnecessary suffering for their patients. The book was written in 1979 so hopefully doctors and hospitals have become more humane in treating people. However, I observed how some doctors and hospital staffs have treated their patients as if they were dumb animals and they (the doctors and staff) should "never be questioned" as to their methods and procedures. So I can relate to what the author says about the "high and mighty" attitude of the medical profession. I know that probably most doctors are not like that, but as a patient we have the right to question their methods. There is a reason doctors call their business a "pratice". They don't have all the answers. So it is ok to ask, "what are you doing and why?". If the doctor/staff has any bedside manners and common sense, they will honestly tell what they know. I think the author has some good points, but I am hoping that he may have gone over the top bad mouthing doctors in order to get them to clean up some problems with the medical industry.

[Joey Camen · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books ever written on how the medical profession lies and makes fools of us all. This is a must read if you'd like to become more aware of what goes on behind your back and what the powers that be, who run it all don't want you to know. It may have been originally written many years ago and medical technologies have changed, but the greed of man and doctors (as Dr. Mendelsohn points out) is here to stay. I loved this book.

[Sigrid Aronsson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought I knew so much about natural living and herbal medicine and about fake allopathic medicine, so I was just going to read this as a side thing.
My good was I mistaken!?! I am so happy I got this book. It is incredible and it teaches me a lot and confirms what I know even better. It really is a great aid.
I simply love it - and did I laugh many times!?! And it only gets better and better by the page.
I can see that what he wrote is not at all outdated but holds true even more today.
Every family should have a copy of this book and read it. It is really an important book for everyone who wishes to stay healthy and be able to help others in this. There are also a couple of funny YouTube videos of Robert Mendelsohn I can recommend.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author, though a doctor himself, is fiercely critical of the modern medical system. Throughout the book, he compares it to a religion, wherein patients blindly trust doctors, the "priests", and consume drugs like communion. Some parts of the text seemed repetitive, but they were consistent; Dr. Mendelsohn is adamant in his opinion. Though this book is somewhat dated and extremist, it is worth reading, because it encourages one to consider and question medical procedures today. Doing so can prevent unnecessary harm to your health, and perhaps even save a life.

[Sylvester (Taking a break in 2023) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this man. A book stuffed so full of common sense it made me laugh out loud.
First published in 1979, it still holds true, in fact, more so than ever. Mendelsohn's bottom line - get to know yourself, you are the expert in you, ask questions of your doctor and refuse medications that have not been proved to be healing and not harming.

"What they're counting on is that people will be lulled into feeling that the hospital really is the place for them, that the Temple really can save them. Of course, it can't. The Temple has nothing to do with health. There are no facilities in hospitals for health or for any of the things commonly recognized as contributing to health. The food is as bad as you'd find in the worst fast food drive-in. There are no facilities for exercise. All the personal factors that can make you well or keep you healthy are removed - family, friends, and sense of self. In no uncertain terms, when you walk into a hospital, you are surrendering - "Here I am, totally unable to help myself. You must save me. I am without power. All power is yours."

[Adungo’si Ikol · Rating 4 out of 5]

I cant believe this book was written in 1979. A lot has surely changed in the industry today because of increased regulation, but some of the general attitudes remain the same. This is a great read for anyone who wants to approach modern medicine with a degree of skepticism. However I’m concerned about some of the strategies that he outlines that may actually end up complicating the patient’s own diagnosis and treatment.

[Yuriy.bylinkin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Прекрасная книга. Если вы не любите врачей и медицину вообще так же, как я - она подойдет и вам.
Мендельсон сравнивает современную медицину с религией. Закрытая от непосвященных, больницы - церкви, врачи - священники, пациенты - прихожане. Аналогия очень четкая. Множество примеров.
Цитаты можно брать из любого места и они будут в тему:
"Теперь я не верю в Современную Медицину.
Зато я верю, что, несмотря на все новейшие технологии, несмотря на то, что пациента снаряжают как астронавта, отправляющегося в полет на Луну, — самую большую опасность на вашем пути к здоровью представляет собой доктор Современной Медицины.
Я верю, что лечение методами Современной Медицины редко бывает эффективным, но зачастую опаснее болезни, против которой оно нацелено.
Я верю, что эта опасность усугубляется еще и тем, что вредные процедуры применяются там, где вообще не требуется медицинского вмешательства.
Я верю также, что если более девяноста процентов врачей, больниц, лекарств и медицинских приборов исчезнут с лица земли, это тут же положительно скажется на нашем здоровье.
Я уверен, что Современная Медицина зашла слишком далеко, применяя в повседневной практике методы, разработанные для экстремальных ситуаций."
Читать всем!

[Chelita Lundell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just adore this doctor's heart. His words always encourage me to follow that step ladder of care and to start with the most natural and non-evasive treatments first and then move on if they don't help. If you want to have a healthy life without an expanded pocket book or useless pain, listen to this man, and take his words to heart.

[Jennifer Margulis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read Robert S. Mendelsohn, M.D.'s "How to Raise a Healthy Child ... In Spite of Your Doctor" twice from cover to cover and used it as a reference book for years. I'd been meaning to read his other books but hadn't. Now I am sorry I waited so long. I would give this book 100 stars if I could. Though written in 1979, it is still in print and still very relevant today. It has sold over 300,000 copies. It's not a memoir about Mendelsohn's life, which is what I was expecting, but instead a treatise on and critique of modern day medicine. Mendelsohn describes himself as a heretic, an unbeliever, and he unapologetically wants to make the reader one too.

This book is very philosophical and provocative. Mendelsohn's basic tenets are ones that will appeal to anyone questioning mainstream medicine. He believes that life and death should happen at home--he's a proponent of home birth and an advocate of home death. He believes that if we provide the human body with healthy food, love, and family, many modern day illnesses will disappear. He gives example after example of how doctors cause harm by intervening unnecessarily and doing too much. He urges you to get a second opinion and to go to the library and educate yourself as much as you can if you are diagnosed with a disease.

He is also a champion of whatever healing works. He says that it does not matter HOW a person is healed, what matters is that the person is healed. He sees no reason for mud-slinging or name-calling. He welcomes being called a "quack." The method of healing is not important -- be it nutritional, chiropractic, Chinese -- what matters is that we make people well.

Mendelsohn is right. If his ideas were put into widespread practice we would be a nation of healthy people. And most doctors -- upwards of 90 percent -- would find themselves out of a job.

He also refreshingly celebrates pregnancy (though your doctor will treat it as a disease), having lots of children (though your doctor will push birth control on you), older moms (though your doctor will say advanced maternal age is dangerous to the mom and baby), old age (he believes people should lead long, healthy, multi-generational lives), and the importance of family (urging parents to keep in touch with their college-aged and adult children). Mendelsohn believes having family and community are the keys to health and wellbeing, **NOT** going to the doctor.

Some of what he says is shocking, even to someone who is well versed in counter cultural ideas about medicine. Some of what he says will make you laugh out loud. At one point he describes being involved in a scientific study that found no ill side effects of antibiotics. Of course we didn't, he writes, because we did not test for them. At another point he advises any student in medical school to pick the most interventionist option on a test, because that is the one the testers are looking for. So if a patient comes in with a pimple do you do nothing or cut his head off his neck, re-route his blood, and excise the pimple? The second answer will get you through medical school. The first answer will get you thrown out.

Since Dr. Mendelsohn wrote the book, Americans' health has taken a nosedive. We are in a crisis of poor health outcomes--from having the HIGHEST maternal mortality rate of any industrialized country to being plagued with allergies, asthma, and other autoimmune disorders. One in 45 children today has autism, and more and more medication is being prescribed to younger and younger kids.

What Mendelsohn's book shows us is that these health problems are largely iatrogenic (that is, caused by doctors). As bogus scientific study after bogus scientific study is published trying to find ways to blame parents for autism, we know that the cause is environmental. The two most likely culprits are prenatal overexposure to ultrasound and acetaminophen given at the same time as vaccines--both interventions advertised by the mainstream medical establishment as essential. The toxic dosing of aluminum when infants are given several vaccines at once may also be responsible for the epidemic of brain damage among America's children.

This book should be required reading for every medical school student. It's a gem.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

While there is a lot I agreed with and was grateful to the author for - he writes with such a sharp sword it would be a little difficult to get someone who was on the fence about his points on board with him. He also doesn’t give a lot of hard evidence. His argument it seems to me is pretty common sense and sound. His advice is well worth thinking about if not following. His opinions on issues of sexuality and sexual activity seem to not bear the same type of thoughtfulness and common sense that other parts of what he is writing do. That he was a practioner of medicine in the way he encourages is important and helpful. I’m glad I read it.

[Oksana73 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Начала читать эту книгу, сидючи в очереди к врачу. Ждала долго, часа 2, прочитала треть книги и когда все же зашла к специалисту, получила, что называется "а теперь все прочитанное проходим на практике":) повторное чтение анализов, сильно отличающееся от предыдущего (2 дня назад!), такое же изменение лечения и прочая и прочая:) Что могу сказать: с автором согласна не во всем, он слегка перегибает палку, имхо. Но в основном, он абсолютно прав.

[Fishface · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good overview of what the author considers wrong with the medical system. A biting indictment of doctors in particular, written from the POV of one in a position to know exactly what they are up to. I suddenly notice that I've never heard of a book like this about nurses or phlebotomists. What's up with that? I would re-read this one, but loaned it out and naturally it was never returned. That's one of the marks of a good book.

[Ietrio · Rating 1 out of 5]

The irony is in the pompous names big publishing houses choose for their divisions. This is a book from the "Eduational", yet it is all about the fear and superstitions of an old man.

Back in 1979, when science was dealt to most people only through state owned schools, probably this form of fear mongering would have been scary and the MD pimped on the cover would have made the predictions even scarier. Today I can only see it useful for confirmation bias of the already converted primitivist.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though this book was written over 30 years ago, it is good to read. I think we have made a lot of advancements in how family and patients are treated since then. It is good to note that many of his complaints have been addressed by hospitals today. But it is always good to question and be assertive. The patient (or family) needs to remember they are always the patient's best advocate.

[Bethk · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book, even if it is a bit dated now.

He describes the types of things done by the medical industry to unsuspecting patients (consumers) to defraud them, mess up their whole set of family dynamics by inserting themselves in the middle. More importantly are tips on avoiding getting into such things and getting out if you have.

[Adrienne Carmack · Rating 5 out of 5]

The courage demonstrated by Dr. Mendelsohn in this book inspired me as a new mother and young physician to not be afraid to keep questioning and to trust my instincts as they told me something was wrong with the medical profession.

The truth shared in this book is presented clearly and accurately. A great read for questioners!

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was life changing for me. I started paying attention to my health and took responsibility for my health care. He is why we get a print out with any prescription today.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great book! I love his analogy.

[David Collins · Rating 4 out of 5]

In my opinion he over-emphasizes the importance of the family and its relevance to health a little. He also hints at a mild homophia at one point. But other than that this book is invaluable.

Published in 1979, he suggested (in referring to the portion of national budgets allocated to health care) that

[w]hatever costs more than anything else [in a nation's expenditure] gathers bureaucratic inertia of such immense proportions that it controls the destiny of the country. Then the dream of Modern Medicine will be fulfilled: the whole country will become a hospital.

Other reviewers have begrudgingly acknowledged some of the author's points, but claim that the past mistakes have largely been corrected. I remain skeptical.

Here are a few more snippets ...

Hospitals exist in such aggressive abundance for the convenience of the medical profession, not for the good of the people they are supposed to serve

The temple [hospital] has nothing to do with health. There are no facilities in hospitals for health or for any of the things commonly recognized as contributing to health.

There's no way anyone can justify the billions of dollars we spend every year on health care.

Modern Medicine has succeeded in teaching us to equate medical care with health. It is that equation which has the potential to destroy our bodies, our families, our communities and our world.

I believe that ninety percent of modern medicine could disappear from the face of the earth ...

[Fatima Sarder · Rating 4 out of 5]

"If you want to commit the perfect crime, do it in a hospital."
- Robert S. Mendelsohn

One would think the practices of orthodox medicine would clean up from the blood sucking business of 250 years ago; and they did it spectacularly, upgrading from leeches to antibiotics to screening therapies yet, none of this ever does what a hospital and a doctor supposed to do: Heal people.

And there is a term, iatrocide - death at the hands of the healer/doctor.

This doctor really stuck his neck out for the masses, unearthing what goes on under the perfect, surgical sterile cover of hospitals in biting, sarcastic commentary. The body has a remarkable capability of healing itself and orthodox doctors tend to ignore it. At times, the sheer horror of the truth about hospitals is enough to make anyone think twice.

Highly recommended read.

[Paul Pompa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings. In principal, many of his criticisms were fair, but his arguments often felt emotional more than rational. Not to say most of his ideas weren’t rational, but that they were presented in very emotional ways. This book was written in the late 1970s, so it is a bit outdated. Much of medicine has changed, for the better. Some of medicine has remained the same. Like all books, this has to be read with a high-level of discernment. If you read this, as a matter of fact, you will come to many false conclusions. If you read this as a message of caution about medicine in general, and for patient, specifically, you will likely benefit from the content. I wasn’t a fan of his encouragement of dishonesty. If I had written this book, I likely would have encouraged patients to speak truth with courage and in love.

[H · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mixed.
He is right in some things but.....
He raves about religion, and women should not use contraceptives, have babies often, stay home and breastfeed regardless.
Being gay, euthanasia etc are all crimes.
His religious prejudices tint his thinking.

He even comes across as anti-vax, if he wasn't dead no doubt he'd have joined the covid antivax nutters.
Pity, he could have done a lot of good if he had kept his own mad ideas to himself and stuck with whats wrong with medicine.
Plenty of others have written better books on the subject.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I have written this book precisely to scare and to radicalize people before they are hurt. Let this book be your radicalizing experience."

The more I come into contact with modern medicine, the more I've watched my elders' lives intersect with it, the more I've observed the field's neomania and accompanying iatrogenic harms, the more I realize that everyone--everyone!--should read the following four books:

H. Gi... [see the rest on my book review site.]

[Paul Froehlich · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. Mendelsohn challenged the medical consensus of his day to the dismay of the medical establishment. A newer book that follows in the Mendelsohn tradition is " BLIND SPOTS: When Medicine Gets It Wrong and What It Means for Our Health" by Dr. Marty Makary (2024, Bloomsbury).

[Ecaterina Nipomici · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gets a bit bias at times, but overall very informative and comprehensive.

[Adriana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super insightful book, surprisingly accurate even though its from 1979!

[Blanche Ingram · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! True to the very last word. Modern medicine most definitely does more harm than good.