Risky Business

Micah had spent a good hour explaining his health situation to the doctor sitting across the desk from him. He had been to countless doctors over the last 15 years for a chronic illness that had made his life at worst unbearable and at best barely tolerable. Micah’s adrenaline flowed as he spoke about the dozens of blood tests and the tens of thousands of dollars he had spent trying to get well.

The doctor listened well, only occasionally interrupting to ask a question or two. This was a good sign. When Micah had nearly finished he asked the doctor, “So, do you think you can help me?”

“Most certainly,” the doctor said. “I’ve had hundreds of cases like yours and been successful with 98% them.”

“98%?” Micah asked. “That seems awful high.”

“My protocol works. Read the testimonies on the website. I’ll give you names of some people you can call. I’ll have you better by Christmas.”²

“By Christmas? I’ve been to a lot of doctors…followed their protocols…”

“You have the M.O. of most of my patients and most of them are well now. I’m an expert in this field and you will not be disappointed.”

“It seems unlikely that this would work on 98 out of 100 patients.”

“Unlikely? Yes. Impossible? No. I’ve spent decades figuring this out. I’ve been interviewed countless times, spoken all over the world.”

Micah had stopped feeling good about this doctor after the “Christmas” comment, but he decided to continue on to the pricing. “So what’s the cost for this?” he asked.

The doctor paused for just a moment, then leaned slightly forward. “Let me ask you a question? Do you want to get well?”³

“Of course I do.”

“The price is steep, I’m well aware of that, but you’re paying for my expertise, not my time. It comes down to a question of just how important your health is to you.”

“I understand.”

“The initial consultation and evaluation is $7,500 most often not covered by insurance. That price does not include blood work and labs. Subsequent visits are $750 an hour.⁴ I know it’s a lot, but I’m worth it and I know you want to get well, right?”

“And you’re sure this will work?”

“Yes. As sure as I can be.”

“But I’m taking all the risk here.”

“What do you mean?”

“If it doesn’t work, you still get paid and I’m out $10,000 dollars or more.”

“It’s going to work. Trust me.”

“Okay, how about I only pay you if it works? If I get well?”

“There is no way to know if you’ll do the protocol as I instruct you. Paying that amount will make you want to follow the protocol as closely as possible.”

“If you don’t get paid unless I’m cured…I would think that would ensure that you will work hard to make sure that happens. As it stands now, if I don’t get well, you still get paid. Where’s your incentive?”

“I’m a doctor. I took the oath.”

“Lots of people take oaths. What if I do this protocol and get worse? What if I’m in the 2%?⁵ Will you refund my money?”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Jones, but I can’t do that. You’ll just have to decide how important it is for you to get well. We do have finance plans available.”⁶

“Thanks. I’ll get back to you. Have a nice day.”

Notes

1. Coleman, Vernon, The End of Medicine Death by Doctor: Why and how doctors are now paid to kill their patients, 2025, Kindle Edition, p. 5.
2. A doctor literally said this to my wife during a visit, apparently not the least bit intimidated by the fact that many doctors had not been able to help her in the past. I'm pretty sure we only saw him once.
3. This is a way to gaslight the potential patient. If you truly want to get well, then you won't care how much it costs. Money is not important where health is concerned. The question prepares the potential patient to feel guilty if the money sounds like too much and they decide to decline. This question also gets asked if a doctor's protocol isn't working—and if it's not working the patient must not be doing it right. Someone needs to receive the blame and doctors very rarely will accept any. Obviously, patients must be involved in their healing process, but too many doctors are incapable of proceeding with a patient if their precious protocol isn't working.
4. This may seem out of the realm of possibility. In our continued search for answers for my wife, we ran across a doctor who looked very promising. His initial fee was $10,000. We would have had to travel thousands of miles to see him and paid for any extras: labs, medical procedures, etc. He never got our money, but when you've been sick for a long time there is a kind of desperation that can cloud judgment, something one always has to be aware of.
   
   Another expert, a woman, who we had heard many good things about from others, charged my wife $5,000 for group meetings once a week for I believe 10 or 12 weeks. There were around 10 or 12 people in each "class". The thing about protocols is they do work for many people, but many doctors who have their own special protocols do not know what to do if they don't work and have no interest in keeping those patients for whom the protocols do not work.
   
   My wife and son, who have both been ill for a long time, some years ago started seeing a mold specialist. We had found mold in our house and it looked like it might be an answer to my wife's and son's condition. We saw this specialist for about a year, but once it became apparent that mold was not the issue, this specialist just stopped caring. Apparently she was hoping for a good case study. I don't mind that she realized she couldn't help my wife and son, what I mind is that she never admitted it. We simply just stopped seeing her when it became apparent she was not helping them and had lost interest. Of course she never followed up to see why we had stopped coming to see her and was always perfectly happy to accept our money.
5. My wife has often been made worse by a Doctor's particular protocol or a prescribed drug (we've learned to if at all possible to stay away from prescriptions). Many doctors are arrogantly cavalier about their own abilities and the drugs they prescribe. Just in the last few years we saw a doctor, a neurologist, with an opulent office and many employees and assistants, who entered the examination room and promptly told us he was the best doctor in San Diego. We are almost certain this awesome doctor was also high at the time of my wife's visit.
   
   It's not that we expect every protocol to work—that's childish. But when a doctors' protocols aren't working they should be able to admit it and/or attempt to find something that does. And again, because I can a hear a doctor right now saying, "The patient is responsible too!" Of course. The best way to get well is for the patient to be very involved in their own health. Many patients simply want to have the doctor tell them what to do without any involvement on their part. That's a dangerous game.
6. We've heard this a lot. Not quite as bad as a student loan—but close enough to reject quickly and move on.

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