I love my doctor. He takes care of me. I expect medical professionals to be well paid and provide for their families. But, let’s not mince words; doctors are making a killing in America. How many Mercedes does a doctor need?

My friend went to visit a specialist. Billings wise, that’s like a regular doctor on steroids. It was a follow up visit on a leg infection he feared was reoccurring. He just wanted a prescription for an antibiotic since the last flare up ended him in the hospital for ten days and his medical insurance was cancelled on his last day. The specialist ran in, spent a total elapsed time of three minutes, examined both legs and wrote a prescription. The cost of this drive by exam? $640. For three minutes. Ya think $12,800 per hour is a bit much?

Doctors charge what they charge. We don’t want it controlled by Washington D.C. But, doctors might want to change American views that as patients, we are little more than their personal ATMs. Medical bills are the second largest cause of bankruptcy in the United States today. How many more uninsured must be forced into emergency rooms or bankruptcy courts? Doctors need to step up with their own plan to control costs, not just wait for Congress.

Sam Sixpack, (Joe the Plumber’s brother) is wising up. Sam has allergies that lock up his sinuses at springtime and hold them hostage until winter. The physicians’ assistant’s assistant Sam saw prescribed Allegra D and Flonaise at a monthly cost of $270 per month. Sam was uninsured and his industry had collapsed (something about bank failures). As a self employed, he did not qualify for unemployment and this was not an emergency.

The doctor charged $155 for Sam’s visit. In May, Sam wheezed by and paid $270 for a month’s supply of medicines allowing him to breath and sleep. In June, Sam’s finances worsened. It was a choice between medication or food for the family. He chose food but began researching on the Internet for holistic solutions to congestive sinusitis. Sam discovered a Netipot, (cost $14.99), which uses a solution of salt and baking soda to rinse and drain sinuses. Sam describes it as self-induced water boarding, and along with a Tomato Tea concoction, proved just as effective as medication. His monthly medicine cost dropped to $5 per month.

Sam also has seventeen skin allergies, which drive him crazy with itchy, peeling, and flakey skin. His dermatologist’s physician’s assistant prescribed two prescription salves for daily use. Cost? $120 for two tubes that last a month. Empowered, Sam researched alternative remedies for itching and found lemon juice cured itching almost instantly. He had to experiment since his first full strength application on underarms caused a high-pitched, rather unmanly scream. He augmented that treatment with a non-fragrant, hypoallergenic skin cream. A month’s supply was about $12 at Sam’s Club. And an over the counter 1% hydrocortisone ointment at Wal-Mart was $7.92. Skin problem cleared. Sam, just one patient, dropped his pharmecutical costs from $390 per month to $25. None of the doctors, physician’s assistants or pharmacists mentioned these home care solutions to Sam.

Americans’ health care costs are out of control. The folks who write the prescriptions and the ones who cash them in, need to refocus on what’s good for their patients. Medical care reform is not just a problem of fattened insurance companies or lawsuit-happy lawyers with fancy haircuts.

Personal responsibility is our first line of defense in containing costs of medical care. Remember that shamans in Alaskan Eskimo villages had herbal solutions to just about all human ailments centuries before our pharmaceutical drug culture took over. Sam chose to throw out the drug pushers and go back to healers. His benefit was a 94% reduction in medical costs. What is your benefit to take control of medical costs?

Consumers learning home remedies before incurring medical expense could save billions in medical and pharmecutical costs. Most medical care dollars now go to feed the profit gods rather than cure the patient. Doctors are making a killing. Drug companies are making a killing. The insurance industry is making a killing and of course, attorneys always make a killing. The patient is the one getting killed and it is time to stop that approach, dead.