Pritikin Programs

Can some of your medications be eliminated?

Are you experiencing side effects that, unbeknown to you, are caused by risky combinations of drugs, supplements, food, and herbs?

The 5th leading cause of death in the U.S. is dangerous drug reactions. Symptoms of risky combinations include fatigue, depression, anxiety, muscle pain, lower sex drive, and weight change.

Did you know that supplements, and even some foods, can have a profound effect on how your medications work -- and how you feel? What's heartening to know is that some medications and supplements can likely be reduced or eliminated. It could well be that you simply don't need them, and that taking them may be causing more harm than good.

The MedCheck Program at Pritikin provides detailed expert physician and computerized analysis of all your medications and supplements, day-to-day physician monitoring as your drugs are being evaluated and adjusted, and development of a new regimen that has helped many feel better and live better

Minimize Drugs. Maximize Health.

Last December, a guest at Pritikin, a businessman from Los Angeles, walked into his first medical appointment at the Pritikin Longevity Center in a stupor.

“It didn’t take long to realize he was in a drug-induced stupor,” recalls his physician Dr. Sam Sugar, one of 10 doctors at the Pritikin health resort in Miami, Florida.

The 80-year-old businessman was on 17 medications and 15 supplements and herbs. They had been prescribed by six different doctors from the Southen California area who had rarely, if ever, spoken to each other. Dr. Sugar ran a thorough analysis of all the meds, supplements, and herbs and their possible interactions. He uncovered 34 risky combinations, some very serious.

Each day for the next three weeks, while his patient exercised and dined on the fresh, healthy foods at the Pritikin Center, Dr. Sugar meticulously monitored his health, keeping track of all symptoms while slowly paring down the drugs and supplements.

When his patient left Pritikin, he was taking one pill. One. And he felt fabulous. “He got this REBOUND in energy and overall health," Dr. Sugar recalls. “He felt 100% better. It was so very, very rewarding to watch.”

Risky Combinations

That patient is hardly alone. A recent study of nearly 3,000 Americans aged 57to 85 funded by the National Institutes of Health and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association warned that at least two million Americans are taking a combination of drugs or supplements that can be a risky mix.

MedCheck: Moving Away From “A Pill For Every Ill”

To remedy this disturbing trend, the physicians at the Pritikin Longevity Center recently launched the MedCheck Program, an adjunct to Pritikin’s core medical program. MedCheck is part of an emerging culture in America termed “medical minimalism.”

To be sure, medications are great when carefully prescribed and monitored, but for too long patients as well as doctors have fallen prey to the medical mystique of a pill for every ill. A new and far healthier mind-set is: “I don’t want to take anything more than what I absolutely need. And certainly, I don’t want to take anything that makes me feel bad.”

Pritikin is the perfect venue for a program like MedCheck because its doctors and medical staff are on the premises 24/7, providing daily close monitoring as medications are slowly and safely being evaluated and adjusted.

Detailed Expert Physician and Computerized Analysis Of All Medications and Supplements

In MedCheck, the physicians begin by spending hours analyzing each patient’s list of medications, supplements, and herbs as well as their everyday foods with the assistance of computer databases that pinpoint all potentially perilous interactions. They often find little nuances that the general population of physicians, with their average seven minutes of face-time with each patient, have virtually no chance of picking up.

Meticulous Observation

What also makes MedCheck unique is the follow-up – the careful observation each day of all symptoms and vitals, optimally for a total of two to three weeks. As the physicians evaluate and adjust medications, supplements, and foods, they and the rest of the clinical staff at Pritikin keep daily, often hourly, tabs on the patients, asking, “How are you feeling? How are you sleeping? How’s your energy? Fatigue? Bowel habits? Depression? Pain?”

Optimal Regime, Lifestyle

The end result is a new regimen of medications and supplements, often dramatically minimized – a regimen that helps people feel better and live better.

Consultations With Home Physicians

Pritikin’s physicians also consult with patients’ home physicians and prepare comprehensive discharge guidelines and follow-up planning. Working with home physicians is the cornerstone of MedCheck’s ability to make change that is both beneficial and lasting.

Gold MedCheck Package (one week stay)

The Gold plan is a package designed for those one-week participants who require a comprehensive consultation regarding their medications that will be executed by their home Physicians upon returning home. Changes to medications are suggested for your managing MD.

It includes:

A computerized database search for drug-drug interactions
A comprehensive consultation with Dr. Sugar or his delegate
Consultation with Nutritionist
A full report to your Physician at home

Total: $450

Platinum MedCheck Package (two weeks or more)

Our 2-3 week personalized Platinum Plan is a comprehensive package of services that includes but is not limited to the following elements:

Consultations with the program director, Dr. Sam Sugar or his delegate
Computer database searches for drug interactions that may apply to you
A focused formal nutrition consultation
A personalized Coaching session with our Psychologist
A comprehensive consultation with an exercise staff trainer
Initiation and maintenance of a detailed daily electronic symptom log
MD to MD consultation with and among your Pritikin Physicians
Consultation with your home physicians
A comprehensive report for your primary care physician
Personalized recommendations for a program of appropriate supplements and vitamins

Cost: $450 per week

You may also require:

Blood testing for drug/medication levels as your regimen is altered and your bodily systems adjust and progress
Serial examinations of your heart, kidney, thyroid , liver and other system functions as changes are made
A sleep evaluation and consultation to correct the adverse effects of sleep deficits on your overall health
Hearing and/or breathing testing pre and/or post program
Consultation with sub specialists at the University of Miami, as medically necessary, which we will arrange for you.