I have had some frustrations around MDs
lately. I believe that they have greatly underserved and completely
misdiagnosed a loved one’s life threatening condition. I hope he will show the
doctors how wrong they are in the next couple of years as he continues to heal
in spite of them.
That said, there are some great medical doctors
as well. I have been fortunate to be treated by some of them. I have read about
others, and they give me more hope. Take Dr. Newsom, a doctor in Florida, who
was fired because he tried to raise the profile of healthy versus unhealthy
food. He said it like it is and he took it in the teeth for telling the truth. The
article is below.
When my family began its holistic journey, we
began gently by eating organic food. As we learned more we learned that just
because something is organic doesn’t mean it is good for us, and we refined our
food selection. We were still gun shy about publicly taking a strong stand
about our food. We are growing in our confidence to voice our position, and I
am teaching Colson what the ingredients on a label really mean. For example, a
label might read sugar, corn oil, wheat, soy, salt, etc. We now read that label
as cancer, heart attack, allergies, hormone disruptor and cancer, and heart
flutters. Fortunately, we do not buy food with labels because we make it all,
but I want Colson to understand what he is buying if he chooses to purchase
processed food.
Now for Dr. Newsom.
Fla. doc fired over 'doughnuts equal death' sign
AP – Tim Hortons'
doughnuts are lined up in a box in New York, Wednesday, July 22, 2009. The
Canadian doughnut …
By
MELISSA NELSON, Associated Press Writer Melissa
Nelson, Associated Press Writer
– Thu Aug 13, 4:41 pm ET
PENSACOLA, Fla. – Dr. Jason
Newsom railed against burgers, french fries, fried chicken and sweet tea in his campaign to promote
better eating in a part of the country known as the Redneck Riviera. He might
still be leading the charge if he had only left the doughnuts alone.
A 38-year-old former Army
doctor who served in Iraq, Newsom returned home to Panama
City a few years ago to run the Bay County Health
Department and launched a one-man war on obesity by posting sardonic
warnings on an electronic sign outside:
"Sweet Tea (equals)
Liquid Sugar."
"Hamburger (equals)
Spare Tire."
"French Fries (equals)
Thunder Thighs."
He also called out KFC by
name to make people think twice about fried chicken.
Then he parodied
"America Runs on Dunkin'," the doughnut chain's slogan, with:
"America Dies on Dunkin'."
Some power players in the Gulf Coast tourist town decided they had had their
fill.
A county
commissioner who owns a doughnut shop and two lawyers who own a new Dunkin' Donuts on Panama City Beach
turned against him, along with some of his own employees, Newsom says. After
the lawyers threatened to sue, his bosses at the Florida
Health Department made him remove the anti-fried dough rants and
eventually forced him to resign, he says.
"I picked on doughnuts
because those things are ubiquitous in this county. Everywhere I went, there
were two dozen doughnuts on the back table. At church, there were always
doughnuts on the back table at Sunday school. It is social expectation
thing," says Newsom, a lean 6-foot, 167-pounder in a county where 39
percent of all adults were overweight in 2007 and one in four was considered
obese.
Newsom was hired by the state Health Department to direct the county agency.
His $140,000-a-year salary is paid jointly by the state and the county. His job
primarily involves educating the public about health issues — swine flu, AIDS and the like — but he also decided to address the
dangers of glazed, sprinkled and jelly-filled treats.
He angered staff members by
barring doughnuts from department meetings and announcing he would throw the
fat-laden sweets away if he saw them in the break room. He also banned candy
bars in the vending machines, putting in peanuts instead.
In May, lawyers Bo Rivard and
Michael Duncan, co-owners of a new Dunkin' Donuts, asked Newsom to take down
the "America Dies on Dunkin'" message. Newsom already had run other
anti-doughnut warnings, including "Doughnuts (equals) Diabetes," and "Dunkin' Donuts (equals)
Death."
The businessmen had the
backing of County Commissioner Mike Thomas, who
owns a diner and a doughnut shop. Thomas called for Newsom's ouster, saying the
doctor shouldn't have named businesses on the message board.
"I think he was somewhat
of a zealot," Thomas says. "I don't have a problem with him pushing
an agenda, it's the way he did it. People borrowed money to go into business
and they are being attacked by the government."
A short time after Newsom's
meeting with Rivard and Duncan, Newsom says, his bosses at the state Health
Department told him that his leadership wasn't wanted and that he could be
fired or resign. He chose to resign May 8 but has reapplied for the job.
"I have never been known
for my subtlety. I don't have a knack for it. I speak the truth to people and
just assume that that my data and purpose are so real and true that everyone
will see the value of what I'm doing," says Newsom, who now works at a
prison, doing exams of inmates.
Rivard and Duncan did not
return numerous calls to their offices.
"Dunkin' Donuts is
pleased that the signs have been removed," Andrew Mastrangelo, a spokesman
for Canton, Mass.-based Dunkin' Donuts said in an e-mail.
The Florida
Health Department has refused to talk about Newsom since he is
considered a job applicant. "We will be happy to talk to you after the
position has been filled," department spokeswoman Susan Smith said in an
e-mail.
Newsom is hoping to get his
job back so that he can resume his campaign against overeating.
"My method was a little
provocative and controversial," he says, "but there wasn't a person
in Bay County who wasn't talking about health and healthy
eating."