by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright September 7, 2000
All Rights Reserved.

ollowing a lonely path, world renowned voice therapist Dr. Morton Cooper finds himself bucking the system, curing hopeless voice disorders for over 30 years. Cooper developed a radically simple treatment known as Direct Voice Rehabilitation [DVR]—a natural, non-invasive approach used to treat a wide range of voice problems. Classically trained as a speech pathologist at UCLA, he discovered early on in his career that generally accepted and proven medical treatments offered little hope for the vast majority of voice problems. Contrary to medical findings, he found that most voice disorders were attributable to misuse and abuse of the speaking voice, rather than trendy neuro-biological explanations popular with physicians and the pharmaceutical industry. Unwilling to examine alternative treatments, the medical community views Cooper’s treatment as unproven and outside the bounds of conventional therapy. Despite lacking wide acceptance, Cooper receives many of his referrals from conservative physicians and speech pathologists.

       Blaming speech disorders on faulty brain circuits [Basal Ganglia] or gastroesophageal acid reflux disease [GERD], medical approaches have centered on surgery or dangerous medications. Following fashionable trends in the drug industry, popular medications like Prilosec or Botox [botulinum toxin] are often prescribed for common voice problems. Patients sometimes expect—and even demand—'hi-tech' treatments like surgery or powerful medications, when safer approaches are available. Speculating why his treatment isn’t regarded as 'mainstream,' Cooper guesses that powerful financial interests within the medical/pharmaceutical establishment are at play. Though physicians may be well-intentioned, they don’t typically deviate from conventional treatment-bibles like the Merck manual. Approaches that aren’t included on the 'approved' list are generally regarded as 'alternative treatments,' discredited as either ineffective or dangerous quackery. Despite reporting cures for more than 30 years, Cooper’s Direct Voice Rehabilitation is still not accepted by the medical community.

       Cooper’s straightforward approach has been strangled by the medical and voice fields precisely because it doesn’t fit into conventional medical practices. Since Cooper’s treatment makes no use of drugs or surgery, physicians have difficulty endorsing techniques that don’t employ FDA approved medications. While today’s managed care industry is supposed to scientifically measure outcomes, most medical treatments for voice problems remain untested. Pharmaceutical companies pushing medications have little regard for treatments that don’t incorporate their products. Despite all the accolades even from the voice community, Cooper’s methods are still not accepted into standard medical or voice rehab practice. Getting the word out is also difficult because local, state and national organizations aren’t inclined to disseminate information that’s not part of the approved medical model. Dismissed as 'unproven,' patients with severe voice problems are robbed of effective treatment.

       When physicians treat troubled voices, they follow instructions from therapeutic manuals frequently sponsored by drug companies. More distressing are recent reports published in the Los Angeles and New York Times suggesting that pharmaceutical companies control research published in many scientific journals. While this should come as little surprise, medical journals don’t usually publish empirical research supporting 'alternative treatments' for a wide variety of diseases. Though many 'alternative' treatments lack merit, others—like Cooper’s approach to treating troubled voices—have difficulty making headlines or even the back pages. Whether it’s cancer, heart disease or strangled voices, political pressure shouldn’t exclude safe, effective and innovative treatments. When publicly traded pharmaceutical corporations apply a chokehold on 'alternative' research, physicians and patients are cheated of valuable information. How many other safe and effective 'alternative treatments' are deliberately suppressed by the medical establishment is anyone’s guess.

       Complicating the picture are media outlets unwilling to risk antagonizing their pharmaceutical sponsors, when unconventional treatments offer the best hope for recovery. When the late actor Henry Fonda was disabled with a strangled voice, he had the good fortune of avoiding surgery and botulinum toxin. Working with Dr. Cooper, he recovered his voice, made the movie On Golden Pond, and won an Oscar for his performance. He was one of the lucky ones who found an 'alternative treatment,' sparing himself the risks of surgery and dangerous side effects from toxic medication. Bringing his message to the public, Dr. Cooper found well-known National Public Radio host Diane Rehm whose radio career was jeopardized due to strangled voice. Learning that she’d submitted to the dangerous botulinum toxin injections, Cooper traveled to Washington to share his natural, non-invasive cure with Ms. Rehm and her national audience. Under pressure from the National Spasmodic Dysphonia Association where Rehm serves on their board—and their key sponsor Allergen, the manufacturer of Botox—he learned that she never ran his interview, depriving her audience of his safe and effective cure for strangled voice.

       Cooper’s successfully treated countless celebrities, professionals and others suffering from a variety of untreatable speech problems. They usually stumble into his office after submitting to draconian medical procedures, including surgery on the vocal folds or taking dangerous medications like Botox, typically leaving their voices more deteriorated than before treatment. Despite all the failed treatments, Dr. Cooper’s approach is still viewed with suspicion by the medical/pharmaceutical industry, whose treatments seem more bent on protecting a therapeutic monopoly supporting the drug industry. Patients are entitled to safe and effective alternative treatments, even where the medical/drug industry doesn’t stand to gain. While some patients with voice problems are no doubt helped by conventional medical treatments, the vast majority stand to benefit by wider dissemination of Dr. Cooper’s method of Direct Voice Rehabilitation. It’s time to push egos and finances aside and do what’s right.

About the Author

John M. Curtis is editor of OnlineColumnist.com and columnist for The Los Angeles Daily Journal. He’s director of a Los Angeles think tank specializing in human behavior, health care, political research and media consultation. He’s the author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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