Richard Ruhling, a physician with a Master's in Public Health and board certification in Internal Medicine, distinguishes medical care from healthcare, stating that the former's reliance on pharmaceuticals contributes significantly to mortality in the United States. Ruhling, who taught Health Science at Loma Linda University, references studies indicating adverse drug reactions are a major cause of death. The Journal of the American Medical Association reported in 1998 that 106,000 hospital deaths annually resulted from properly prescribed medications. A 2000 study in the Western Journal of Medicine found 199,000 outpatient deaths, combining for 305,000 fatalities that would rank medical care as the third leading cause of death.
Ruhling notes these figures were not included in Centers for Disease Control mortality lists. An Archives of Internal Medicine study covering 1998 to 2005 reported a 2.7-fold increase in such deaths, which would elevate the total to approximately 824,000 annually, potentially making medical care the leading cause of death. He attributes the CDC's omission to financial ties with pharmaceutical companies, which he says rebranded medical care as "healthcare" in the 1970s as an advertising strategy. This conflation, he argues, obscures the importance of preventive health behaviors.
Ruhling points to Loma Linda, California, as a model for true healthcare. The community, featured in a 2005 National Geographic article on longevity, lives about seven years longer on average than other non-smoking groups. Loma Linda University received a $40 million National Institutes of Health grant to study this phenomenon. Ruhling credits the health principles of Ellen White, a founder of the university, which emphasize diet and lifestyle over drugs. White wrote in 1905 that "drugs do not cure disease" but often change its form, a view Ruhling says remains relevant.
He cites Ellen White's early warnings against tobacco and her opposition to teaching pharmacology at her school, though it was later added for accreditation. Her writings, reviewed decades ago by Cornell nutrition professor Clive McCay, were summarized as "no better over-all guide." Ruhling links lifestyle factors like diet directly to common conditions such as heart disease and diabetes, which are often treated with drugs. He references Dr. Lester Breslow of UCLA, who stated healthy habits could add 11 years to life.
Ruhling shares personal experiences, noting his first wife died after complications from an antibiotic, and his second wife's former husband died from the same drug. He emphasizes that adverse reactions are more common than perceived. He also discusses dietary habits, cautioning against evening meals leading to weight gain and citing a 1981 New England Journal of Medicine association between coffee and pancreatic cancer. Ellen White's 1887 manuscript, available at EGWWritings.org, linked tea, coffee, and narcotics to various diseases.
Ruhling, now 83, claims excellent health after adopting plant-based dietary principles similar to those of Dr. Ellsworth Wareham, a Loma Linda cardiac surgeon who lived to 104. He argues that medical education lacks nutrition training, and natural remedies are overlooked because they cannot be patented for profit. During visits to U.S. Senate offices with medical journal evidence, he was told pharmaceutical donations influence policy. If death rates from drugs have continued rising since 2005, millions may be affected annually, a situation Ruhling believes could change with public awareness of lifestyle-based healthcare.
