The Chinese word for crisis is comprised of two separate words, "danger" and "opportunity" -- and this describes the exact situation we face with the healthcare crisis in our country.

As a nation we are at the precipice of change for our healthcare system.

But if we make the wrong choices and simply provide universal coverage to an outdated 19th and 20th century model of medicine, this crisis will lead us into danger.

However, there are different choices we can make now that will lead to profound opportunity -- one that may provide real solutions to our healthcare crisis.

Today, I will outline a 9-point plan for real healthcare reform. This plan takes into account all of the changes we need to make -- including the fundamental shift in the type of medicine we practice -- if we are going to truly resolve the health catastrophe in this country.

Want to know the real truth about healthcare in this country?

Even if President Obama and Congress get everything else right in healthcare reform, it won’t matter ... that is, unless we address the underlying causes of illness that drive both skyrocketing healthcare costs and the proliferation of chronic disease.

But we can’t get there with our current model of medicine, and that’s what nobody is currently talking about, not even President Obama.

But there is a solution ...

Thankfully, an innovative approach currently exists that can not only prevent but also more effectively TREAT chronic disease ... more about that in a moment.

To effectively reform healthcare in the U.S., we must change not only the WAY we practice medicine, but also the TYPE of medicine we practice.

We must improve financing and delivery of healthcare, as well as our fundamental scientific approach to chronic disease -- an epidemic that now affects 133 million Americans and accounts for 78 percent of healthcare costs.

Healthcare costs are now approaching 20 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product -- approximately $2.5 trillion, or $8,160 per person annually. This is more than what the federal government spends on national defense, homeland security, education, and welfare combined!

Unless real change is made we are facing an impending collapse of our economy as more of our resources are put toward caring for the chronically ill.

This is a national security issue that threatens our standing in the world. As President Obama has stated, "Healthcare reform is no longer just a moral imperative, it is a fiscal imperative."

Fortunately, there is a new model of medicine that offers the real change we need. This new medicine is personalized, preventive, predictive, participatory, and patient-centered.

It is proactive rather than reactive. And it addresses the causes of disease and optimizes biologic function in the body’s core physiologic systems, rather than just treating symptoms.

This model exists TODAY – it is based on systems biology and is called functional medicine.

Here’s some depressing recent medical news: Antidepressants don’t work.

What’s even more depressing?

The pharmaceutical industry and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have deliberately deceived us into believing that they DO work.

As a physician, this is frightening to me. Depression is among the most common problems seen in primary-care medicine and soon will be the second leading cause of disability in this country.

The study I’m talking about was published in a recent issue of “The New England Journal of Medicine.”

It found that drug companies selectively publish studies on antidepressants. They have published nearly all the studies that show benefit -- but almost none of the studies that show these drugs are ineffective. (1)

That warps our view of antidepressants, leading us to think that they do work. And it has fueled the tremendous growth in the use of psychiatric medications, which are now the second leading class of drugs sold, after cholesterol-lowering drugs.

And it’s even worse than it sounds, because the positive studies hardly showed benefit in the first place.

For example, 40 percent of people taking a placebo (sugar pill) got better, while only 60 percent taking the actual drug had improvement in their symptoms. Looking at it another way, 80 percent of people get better with just a placebo.

That leaves us with a big problem -- millions of depressed people with no effective treatments.

Let’s take a closer look at depression.

Your doctors think they make decisions based on medical evidence.

But they don’t!

In fact, half of medical evidence is hidden from your doctors. And the half that’s hidden is the half that shows drugs don’t work.

The bad news is that drug companies are not policed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the way they should be. A drug should be proven both effective and safe BEFORE it is prescribed to millions of people.

Sadly, that often isn’t the case.

Let me share with you two recent examples that highlight the dangerous collusion between drug companies and our government agency. They show why the FDA should really stand for “Federal Drug Aid.”

First, we now know that the cholesterol-lowering drug Zetia actually causes harm and leads to faster progression of heart disease DESPITE lowering cholesterol 58 percent when combined with Zocor.

This challenges the belief that high cholesterol causes heart attacks and shakes the $40 billion dollar cholesterol drug industry at its foundation.

Second, it’s come to light that nearly all the negative studies on antidepressants – that’s more than half of all studies on these drugs – were never published, giving a false sense of effectiveness of antidepressants to treat depression.

Don’t get me wrong.

I’m not telling you to blame your doctor.

Instead, blame deceptive scientific practices and industry-protective government polices.

==> Let’s talk a closer look at these findings and their implications.

I just watched Michael Moore's new movie, "Sicko." Today, I'd like to talk about what I saw.

This is not my usual solution-oriented blog about health problems. 

But stay with me, because I want to help you understand what has to happen for meaningful change to occur in our "sick" healthcare system.

And it is NOT what Michael Moore suggests.

Now back to the movie. 

I must say I was disappointed. I was hoping for a novel look at the problem of not only access to healthcare, but of the type of healthcare that is practiced.

Don't get me wrong.

I'm all for more access to healthcare, better healthcare, and lower costs.

But I am not for getting more people access to a broken healthcare system that creates more problems than it solves.