Would Ellen White Disapprove of Antibiotics? At a time when patients who submitted to the tender mercies of nineteenth-century physicians were bled, poisoned, dehydrated, and blistered, Ellen G. White declared drugs to be poisonous and discouraged their use. What drugs did she have in mind?
Mervyn Hardinge discusses the principal drugs in contemporary use and ransacks the entire history of medicine to place her counsel in its historical context. Allowing White to define her own terms, the author concludes that her definition of "drugs" differed somewhat from the modern one. She clearly opposed the medical system of her day, while allowing for the occasional use of drugs for a specific recognized sickness.
Of particular interest is the list of passages that mention specific remedies used by Ellen White, some from previously unreleased sources. The author also discusses sound principles for using herbal remedies, the placebo effect, and includes an extensive glossary of'' terms and botanic medicines. Ellen G. White was a pioneer in her emphasis on lifestyle change. This book enables us to better understand her counsel on drugs in the context of the medical practice, or malpractice, of her day.