I just finished reading the lead article in yesterday’s Personal Journal section of the Wall Street Journal: Getting Well: It’s About Time. The teaser on the front page reads like tabloid-fare: The AMAZING Cure for Cold, Flu, Tennis Elbow and Much More.  It appears in Yahoo Search as “When Doing Nothing Is the Best Medicine.”

I like this.  A lot.

An estimated one-third to one-half of the $2.2 trillion Americans spend annually on health care in the U.S. is spent on unnecessary tests, treatment and doctor visits. Much of that merely buys time for the body to heal itself. (i.e., temporary relief)

We are one heck of a medicalized society.  There is a pill, tablet, chewable wafer, ointment, IV solution, nasal spray, or vaccine for whatever ails us.  We are so willing to believe in the promise, that we grab ahold, without much reflection, and exit our doctor’s office clutching the prized blue Rx scripts.  When you have time, check out my article: Alternative Model.

I just read in Monday’s news that we’re ordering up even more swine flu vaccines.  The title seemed catchy: U.S. Orders More Lots.  My eyes instead read U.S. Orders Lots More.  Swine flu vaccine lots, that is.  Our government is betting that lots of Americans will be getting the swine flu vaccine.  The latest announcement adds another 56.3 million doses to the tab: 29 million of the live virus nasal spray vaccine and 27.3 million of the injectable.  This brings us to a new total commitment of 251 million doses.

Since swine flu is mildest in kids, the elderly already have protection, and many pregnant women and health care workers don’t want the vaccines, who’s getting all these shots?  I can assure you that we’re not buying these shots with the expectation that we will be thrown away.  The gears of our health care machinery are turning.

It’s time to shift the way we think about wellness and illness.  And here’s one very big reason why.  If you let others set your health agenda, you could find yourself meeting their agenda, which, incidentally, may have nothing to do with anyone’s health.