The last segment in the “Mistakes” series involves the media in general, but in particular the section responsible for providing information on Health Care.

Generally speaking, when reporting the news, the media tends to lean toward sensationalism, with a particular preference for the process of exposing dirty laundry. However, in the area of health services, the sensationalism is inflated, if not created, when reporting on new drugs or supposed breakthroughs in treatments. Unfortunately, in such cases the dirty laundry is actually carefully covered and protected; all as part of an effort to make the public respond with enthusiasm, when exposed to the negligible, bordering to non-existent, merits of a new wonder drug.

Aside from the fact that wonder drugs really do not exist, the media’s mission is to sell to the patients the idea that a miraculous product has finally become available to the anxious public. That is exactly what happened when Herceptin was introduced, with the claims that it could actually extend life and was therefore presented as something short of a miracle, finally being offered to the anxiously awaiting patients. The same happened with the introduction of Avastin. Unfortunately, the reverse side of the coin reveals pretty serious health concerns, which materialize in the form of very bad side effects; but in spite of the sometimes overwhelming evidence, very careful efforts are in place to keep the bad aspects of the new product hidden from the public.

We must allow that, in such cases, the media might not be the total culprit, but merely a consenting participant; which in our view makes it just as guilty. These circumstances seem to particularly apply to all cancer drugs more so than in other cases; probably because such drugs are usually not advertised with ordinary means, but mainly with paid magazines' editorials, and therefore are not subject to the strict rules of truth in advertising set by the Federal Government. To make matters worse, the majority of the public seems to think that, if something is reported to them in a news segment, it is obviously backed by undeniable evidence and should be accepted as the absolute truth. This is where the media can be successfully charged with being liable for the brainwashing of the public (as colorfully exposed in the “American Idiot” song by Green Day). In other words, major interest groups can successfully assassinate the character and reputation of the competition by recruiting paid media organizations, just as is done in election times, during political campaigns.

However, the problem becomes a lot more serious when reporting on health care, considering that human lives are at stake. As a result, if some news reporter goes on an image assassination spree to simply be in the spot light, the results might be devastating and not simply measurable by ordinary means. All of the above situations perfectly fit what is presently happening to the LMI Team and, unfortunately, that has serious repercussions in the lives of all their cancer patients: past, present and prospective ones as well. In the effort to put an end to LMI ‘s existence, the myopic opposition is recruiting the media to crush the efforts of a lifetime, carried out by an extremely dedicated group. This destruction campaign is sustained in order to make sure that no cancer patient can “fall through the cracks” and is allowed to escape the same deadly torture imposed on all of them by the medical establishment, under the pretense of life-saving remedies.

Anyone who has seen family members suffer through the “cut, burn and poison” routine offered to the public by medical professionals, has made a personal crusade to find a better way to solve this problem, which has cursed humanity for too long already. Unfortunately, hope in finding alternative ways is much too often crushed by obvious failure. Still, even individuals with little knowledge of science, can understand that LASERs should be the way to resolve even the cancer problem. Consequently, when they find the LMI’s web site and read the explanations, the same individuals feel that this is what they have been searching for a long time. That is exactly what infuriates the myopic opposition and, instead of trying to cooperate with the LMI Team in the best interest of the public, not to mention the preservation of the human race, they all find solace in the obtuse and stubborn effort to block what is nothing more than inevitable progress.

So, with today's open access to information, how do you stop an enemy of greed? Obviously, by exploiting the same human shortcoming and consequently recruiting the media, or at least its irresponsible component. Such disreputable members of journalism at its ugliest level can take segments of statements, writings and/or documents and present them out of context to alter the intended meaning, in order to support their intended damage campaign, because after all, inflated dirt is more interesting than respectability. That is how and why the KOTV (Channel 6 in Tulsa, Oklahoma) segment against LASE MED, Inc. and its CEO was put together, utilizing a reporter who, in the indicated area, has been labeled with disgraceful reporting on previous occasions. However, the leaders of the same station have supported such actions and refuse to issue a retraction, even under overwhelming evidence of their mistake.

In conclusion then, is it a case of a media mistake or intentional misinformation? We think the latter of the two possibilities is the most likely answer.