During this same era (early 1900’s) scientists were doing groundbreaking work to understand the basic mechanics of life and human health.  It was during this time that most of the essential vitamins were discovered, including B1, B2, Biotin, Vitamin C, Vitamin A, Vitamin D, etc.  By identifying these vitamins science took a huge step forward and enabled simple vitamin remedies to cure conditions that were cause by vitamin deficiencies (such as scurvy and rickets). And of course, scientists were also involved in research to re-create synthetic versions of these vitamins in a laboratory. In 1935, Vitamin C became the first vitamin to be artificially synthesized in Switzerland. John D. Rockefeller was smart enough to see this as a big opportunity, with the possibility that vitamins and medications could be developed from petroleum.  He saw the chance to control and monopolize multiple industries at once: petroleum, chemical and medical.  And of course, petrochemicals were ideal from a business perspective because they could be patented, owned and sold for high profits.

But there was a big problem with Rockefeller’s plan.  Natural and herbal medicines were very popular in America during the early 1900s. Almost one half the medical colleges and doctors in America were practicing holistic medicine, using extensive knowledge from Europe and Native American traditions. Rockefeller knew that to get total control of the medical industry he would have to expunge the competition. Rockefeller’s first move was to use his vast wealth (from oil) to purchase part of the German pharmaceutical company I.G. Farben. (look up Farben’s involvement in WWII). Now that he controlled a drug manufacturing company he could move forward with his plan to eliminate the competition. In the early 1900’s there were a variety of doctors and healing modalities in America. Some of the medical specialties included chiropractic, naturopathy, homeopathy, holistic medicine and herbal medicine. To eliminate the competition Rockefeller he hired a contractor named Abraham Flexner to submit a report to Congress in 1910. This report “concluded” that there were too many doctors and medical schools in America, and that all the natural healing modalities which had existed for hundreds of years were unscientific quackery. The report called for the standardization of medical education, whereby only the AMA (another monopoly) would be allowed to grant medical school licensure in the U.S.

Certainly, Flexner’s report did have some valid points, but unfortunately the motives for the report were entirely driven my Rockefeller’s desire for complete control of the medical system.  Based on the report, congress acted upon the Flexner’s recommendations and changed laws related to medical practice. Incredibly, allopathic medicine became the standard modality, even though at the time its main treatment methods where blood-letting, surgery (quite barbaric at the time) and the injection of toxic heavy metals (lead and mercury) to supposedly “displace disease.” With new laws in place, Rockefeller teamed up with Andrew Carnegie and started funding medical schools all over America on the strict condition that they only taught allopathic medicine. Through the power of their huge “grants”, this powerful team systematically dismantled the previous curricula of these medical schools, removing any mention of the healing power of herbs or natural treatments. Teachings on diet and other natural (non-drug) treatments were also completely removed from medical programs. 

After removing traditional medicine from medical schools, Rockefeller made sure to secure his monopoly by launching a targeted smear campaign against his competitors. Homeopathy and natural medicines were discredited and demonized through the newspapers and other media of the time.  Some doctors were even jailed for using natural medicine treatments, including treatments that had been used safely and effectively for decades before. In a very short time, medical colleges were all homogenized. All the students were taught the same allopathic system and medicine was now defined as a process of prescribing patented drugs. “A pill for an ill” became the mindset of American medicine.