Alternative medicine helps those who distrust the mainstream

With many diseases now curable we are left with a profile of multiple long-term health conditions that cannot be cured, only managed. People therefore are looking for alternative treatment. Society has increasingly embraced the desirability of natural and organic things, and CAM appeals to these ideals. The lack of health care coverage in USA increases the chances of people disliking traditional medicine as they are less familiar with it and associate it with a system that oppresses them. Similarly, 80% of people in developing countries cannot afford the most basic medical procedures, drugs, and vaccines so are drawn to cheaper, more available care.^[1] This is supported by the rise of disinformation allowed by the internet where truth and quackery carry equal weight. The Big Pharma conspiracy theory suggests pharmaceutical companies, regulators and politicians are secretly working in consort against the public interest^[2] and are withholding effective treatments and cures to line their own pockets, or developing diseases in order to sell their products.

[P1] Traditional medicine is associated with oppressive systems. [P2] Alternative medicine works for those who do not trust these oppressive systems.