Detroit Today: Explaining the journey of fringe medicine in America
A new book explores the people who exist on the fringes of medicine and how they got there.
Healthcare costs are sky-rocketing in the U.S., the worst globally by some measures. In a country where healthcare is very fragmented — with some Americans having little to no coverage — the structure of our healthcare system has made it harder for many to receive comprehensive medical care.
Americans’ trust in traditional institutions has plummeted. Whether it’s in Congress, news media organizations, the Supreme Court or banks — no more than 30% of Americans believe strongly in these entities as of 2022.
To put it more broadly, Americans don’t really trust these places.
The medical system is a slight exception, with only 38% of Americans strongly believing in it, down six percentage points from 2021.
Writer Matt Hongoltz-Hetling joined Detroit Today to discuss why trust in traditional medical care has fallen, giving rise to fringe medicine in America.
Listen: What draws people to fringe medicine
Guest
Matt Hongoltz-Hetling is an international journalist. His most recent book is, “If it Sounds like a Quack: A Journey to the Fringe of American Medicine.” Hongoltz-Hetling says Americans that have opted out of the medical establishment has contributed to American life expectancies to decline.
“People who, depending on the type of cancer that you had, people who went the alternative route were between two and five times as likely to die within five years as those who had gone the conventional medicine route,” says Hongoltz-Hetling.
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