Comparative analysis of cost-effectiveness of non-drug medicine (non- pharmaceutical holistic, complementary and alternative medicine/CAM) and biomedicine (pharmaceutical drugs) for all clinical conditions

Aim: To compare the cost-effectiveness of CAM (non-drug talk touch therapy) and biomedicine (pharmaceutical drugs) for all clinical conditions. Method: Calculating cost per cured patient with physical, mental, existential and sexual health issues, year 1-50 for most efficient CAM treatments aneutical: NNT = 5-50). The cost of one year of short-term therapy (20 sessions) and drugs was 2,000€ and 2,000€ respectd most efficient pharmaceuticals. Mean NNT (number needed to treat) numbers were used (CAM: NNT = 2-6, pharmacively. Results: We found CAM to be 100 (10-500) times as cost-effective as pharmaceutical drugs for most clinical condition. The 50 years estimated cost for one patient cured was for: drugs 1,000,000€; physical therapy 100,000€; psychotherapy 200,000€; mind-body medicine 100,000€; holistic mindbody medicine 30,000€; one-session shamanistic healing with hallucinogenic drugs 2,000€. A large number of clinical conditions could be cured with CAM but not with drugs, which mainly only reduced symptoms. CAM is more efficient than drugs and has no side (adverse) effects and events, whereas treatment with drugs almost always has many often severe adverse effects and events. Interpretation: Drugs turn patients into chronic patients instead of curing. Half the population of the western world today is chronically ill, seemingly because of national health organ’s preference of biomedicine instead of CAM. The shift from drugs to CAM would improve health radically in the society and reduce the cost of healthcare to a small fraction. Strict laws should be introduced immediately in all countries to stop pharmaceutical industries from promoting drugs without evidence of long term effect and from repressing CAM.