Interview with Dr. Vernon Coleman

Challenging the Norms: Decades of Defiance and Insight

Dr. Vernon Coleman and I first connected after I published a summary of his book How to Stop Your Doctor from Killing You, and I couldn’t be more grateful for that connection.

I’m thrilled he agreed to this interview, as his work and legacy are truly extraordinary. Long before “cancel culture” became a term, Vernon was challenging authority and norms —his vast body of work spanning decades is breathtaking and nothing short of inspiring.

It’s an honor to share this conversation, and I extend my heartfelt thanks to Dr. Vernon Coleman for his time and insights.

Vernon Coleman - international bestselling novelist and campaigning author

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1. You’ve had quite an unconventional career path – from magician’s assistant to police surgeon. Which of these diverse roles has most shaped your perspective on medicine and society?

Between leaving grammar school and starting medical school I chose to spend a year as a Community Service Volunteer in a new town called Kirkby, just outside Liverpool. It was, to say the least, an eye opening experience. I suddenly found myself living and working as a catalyst in an area where the police station was barricaded and covered with razor wire and where the buses were always followed by a police car to give protection to the driver and conductor. Largely through naivety I wandered untouched like a white faced clown through the town and recruited a sizeable army of teenagers to help decorate old people’s flats and do their shopping for them. The more the unions and the council protested the easier I found it to recruit kids. No one ever threatened me, bricked me or knifed me, and before I left I was made an honorary member of one of the gangs. That year changed my life. When I started medical school I opened a discotheque in the city centre because there was absolutely nothing else available at the time. We couldn’t afford a glitter ball so I `borrowed’ an epidiascope and a projector from the medical school and showed coloured histology slides and old black and white films on the ceiling. The club was popular with several knife carrying gangs with whom I became good friends – mainly, I suspect, because I carried a Victorian sword stick and my blade was definitely bigger than anyone else’s. Idiotically, I described the club on national radio and the Dean of the Medical School heard the broadcast. That was the end of the epidiascope and the projector (which had always been returned the following morning) but the club continued until the council closed it when it was accurately reported that there were beds around the edge of the dance floor. The beds were rescued junk and were there because I couldn’t afford to buy or hire any chairs. It was all completely innocent. I was a GP Principal for ten years but I was never going to have an orthodox career. (I resigned when the NHS tried to force me to put private health information about my patients onto sick notes, something which I refused to do because I felt it was wrong). They fined me and threatened to keep fining me so I quit. I seem to have resigned a lot in my life.)

2. In your biographical notes, you describe yourself evolving from an `angry young man’ to `an angry old man’. What continues to fuel this sense of righteous indignation after all these years?

I cannot abide injustice or a lack of freedom. I won’t allow myself to be bullied and I don’t like seeing other people bullied. When I was about 12 I remember seeing a beloved aunt and uncle cry because the local Gas Board was bullying them. I always think of my Aunt Alice when I’m fighting bureaucrats. When I became a GP I spent much of my life fighting health service administrators on behalf of my patients. I discovered quite early on that all bureaucrats are terrified of higher authority, and so when fighting some senseless rule which endangered a patient’s life (and that happens more often than you’d think possible) I would point out that if my patient died as a result of their nonsense I would put their name on the death certificate as the cause of death. This never failed. I don’t use death certificates as weapons any more but I’m still soaked to the bone in righteous indignation. This may well be why I am now banned by just about everyone.

3. Your early warnings about benzodiazepine tranquillisers led to stricter government controls. What initially drew your attention to this issue, and how did you persist with that campaign for 15 years?

I first became aware of the benzodiazepine problem in the 1960s and was writing articles about it throughout the 1970s and onwards. (I still am). The British Government changed the law in the 1980s, and the Health Secretary admitted in the Commons that they’d done it because of my campaign. I wrote a book called `The Benzos Story’ which contains some of the research material I used. Sadly, doctors ignore the law and still over-prescribe the darned things. Sadly, as I had warned, the drug companies replaced the benzodiazepines with useless and dangerous anti-depressants.

The Benzos Story: 1960s-1980s: Coleman, Dr Vernon

4. You’re written over 100 books that have sold more than three million copies in the UK alone and been translated into 26 languages. Which book do you feel has had the most significant impact, and why?

This is like asking a parent to name their favourite child but I suppose the book which has had the most impact is `Bodypower’ which I wrote in 1983 and which was my first big international bestseller. It is still one of my bestselling books. It is, in a way, a very simple book which describes the self-healing properties of the human body but it has changed the way quite a lot of people think. It also influenced a number of other authors. I made several TV series based on the book though all my old programmes have been removed from YouTube. The basic principle is that if left alone the body can heal itself in many ways – and potentially dangerous drugs aren’t always necessary.

Bodypower: Secret of self-healing: Coleman, Dr Vernon

5. Mrs Caldicot’s Cabbage War was adapted into a film. What inspired that story, and how did you feel seeing your characters brought to life on screen?

When I first started writing Mrs Caldicot’s Cabbage War the book was going to be something entirely different. I started to write a book about old people who rebel and rob a bank. (It’s been done several times since then, but it wasn’t a cliché when I started the book.) However, Mrs Caldicot took over (as I find that fictional characters often do) and the book developed along entirely different lines with Mrs Caldicot becoming a `voice’ for an oppressed group of nursing home residents. Antoinette and I bought tickets and watched the film at a large cinema, and at the end the entire audience stood up and applauded Mrs Caldicot. It was rather touching. I’ve since written another three novels about Mrs Caldicot and her chums and I’m terribly fond of them all. They’re a feisty and fearless bunch who look after one another and stand up to officialdom. In `Mrs Caldicot’s Easter Parade’ they end up broke in Paris and earn money for food by performing old music hall songs in the street. In `Mrs Caldicot’s Turkish Delight’ they inherit a broken down old pier and have all sorts of fun. As I wander further into the foothills approaching middle age my affection for Mrs Caldicot grows.

6. You’ve mentioned giving evidence to committees in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords. What were these experiences like, and did you see tangible results from your testimonies?

I gave evidence to both Houses about the pointlessness and danger of using animals in medical research. It was, I’m afraid, a complete waste of time. When I spoke to a House of Lords committee one eminent member of the committee slept through the whole of my evidence. When speaking to both Houses I pointed out that a good many drugs which are prescribed for humans are known to cause cancer or other serious health problems when tested on animals. The drug companies say this doesn’t matter because animals are different to people. On the other hand, if a drug doesn’t kill an animal the drug companies say this proves the drug is safe for people. I find this illogical as well as immoral. Unfortunately, the drug companies own the medical establishment and so campaigning against animal experiments has been struggle. I have been opposed to animal experimentation since I was a medical student (I refused to perform required experiments on animals, and persuaded one or two other students to abstain with me) and this has always made me unpopular with people who have a lot of power and money. Animal experiments enable drug companies to launch new products without testing them properly on human patients.

7. Your list of favourite historical figures includes quite an eclectic mix, from W. G. Grace to Che Guevera. What common thread do you see connecting these diverse personalities?

Freedom and independence. I admire people who stand up for what they believe and don’t give a damn for the consequences. W.G was the best known Victorian after the Queen herself and he didn’t lead any revolutions or die in a hail of bullets but he changed his world by being himself. He could be a bit naughty but was so popular that cricket grounds put up notices saying `Admission 6d or 1 shilling if WG plays’. Che cared and was a professional rebel. Even when he was a Minister he still worked in the docks on Saturdays.

8. You’ve been consistently critical of the relationship between the medical establishment and pharmaceutical industry since your 1975 book `The Medicine Men. How has this relationship evolved over the decades?

I’m not sure there is a relationship. I loathe and despise the medical establishment and the pharmaceutical industry and they hate me. Between them they’ve bullied, threatened, sued and tried to bribe me. They’ve stopped me speaking and got me fired. I don’t know who it was but someone tried to kill us during the covid fraud. `I’ll rest when they bury me,’ as Clarence Darrow said.

The Medicine Men: A shattering analysis of the drugs industry: Coleman, Vernon

9. You resigned from your newspaper column over the Iraq War coverage. Could you tell us about that decision and the principles that guided it?

It was an easy decision but it was a hard decision too. I’ve spent most of my life writing at least one column a week (at one point I had weekly columns in four national newspapers in the UK and half a dozen other columns in newspapers and magazines) and resigning from The Sunday People was hard because I had a lot of lovely readers (and, to be blunt, they paid me a great deal of money). I wrote a column criticising the Iraq War and the editor refused to print it. That was it. I have never allowed editors to decide what I should write and I always wrote articles and columns according to what I believed in. I’ve always been a fan of the newspaper editor you see in cowboy films – the one who prints editorials criticising the bad guy who is tormenting the town. I miss having a column but I now try to put new material on my website every weekday (except for a two week break at Christmas). I never accept advertising or sponsors for the website (and I never allowed my videos to be monetised). My income comes from selling books which I now self-publish since, after I exposed the covid fraud at the start of 2020, most of my publishers and agents abandoned me.

10. Your work has often challenged conventional medical wisdom. What gives you the confidence to maintain your positions in the face of establishment opposition?

I spent a lot of time (and money) on research. For my first book I spent more on research than I received as an advance or as royalties, even though the book did very well. My wife, Antoinette, the most compassionate and caring person I’ve ever met, shares my passion for truth, justice and fairness and is a brilliant and tireless researcher who can follow a complex trail with great skill and unwavering determination.

11. You’ve expressed strong views about the European Union. How has your perspective on global versus local governance been influenced by your observations in medicine?

I first became really interested in the EU in the late 1990s when I realised that national campaigns were ultimately always dependent on EU law and that there was very little point in fighting to change a law within, say, the UK unless the EU was also targeted. For example, when fighting against the use of animal experiments I found that the EU was the ultimate source of evil and legislators, administrators, drug companies, etc., would disclaim responsibility and blame the EU for every law and rule.

12. Your interest in Napoleon Bonaparte is well documented. What lessons do you think modern medical and political leaders could learn from his era?

It isn’t widely known but when Napoleon was imprisoned on the Island of Elba and was planning to escape and return to France, the entire French army was sent to capture him. Napoleon, riding a white horse as usual, had a small faithful platoon of bodyguards with him but he rode ahead, alone and the entire French army, instead of capturing or killing him, circled round behind him as he led them to Paris. I have a copy of the leaflet his men distributed to the soldiers. It is one of the most powerful and moving documents ever published.

13. Your book `The Dementia Myth’ challenges common assumptions about cognitive decline. What motivated you to explore this particular topic?

When my mother fell ill with what appeared to be dementia, my wife researched her symptoms and concluded that my mother’s symptoms were most likely a result of normal pressure hydrocephalus. We arranged for a total of nine neurologists to examine my mum. They were all dismissive and even with the diagnosis handed to them on a plate they refused to accept it. When doctors finally accepted that they were wrong and that she did have normal pressure hydrocephalus, it was too late to repair the damage that had been done. The more I investigated the more I realised that many patients with alleged dementia have been misdiagnosed. There are several reasons for this. First, for some inexplicable but doubtless malign reason, doctors in UK receive a cash bonus every time they diagnose dementia. Second, drug companies work hand in hand with charities to promote dementia in general and Alzheimer’s disease in particular. I wrote `The Dementia Myth’ to draw attention to the commonest, easily cured diagnoses which are overlooked in favour of the default diagnosis of dementia.

Dementia Myth: Most Patients With Dementia Are Curable : Coleman, Vernon

14. You’ve been critical of medical screening programmes. Could you elaborate on why you believe they benefit doctors more than patients?

I never really saw the point of screening programmes. Having an annual medical check-up is like getting an annual bank statement. It tells you what your health is like on a particular day but it doesn’t tell you what your health is going to be like in three months’ time. Medical screening is a hugely profitable industry which has been shown, time and time again, to benefit no one but doctors and screening programme companies.

15. For readers who want to engage with your work and ideas, what’s the best way to follow your current writing and activities?

Prior to February 2020 I didn’t have any social media accounts. I was so horrified by the way the fake covid pandemic was promoted that I tried to open accounts in the usual places. Facebook told me that I would be a danger to their community. Linked-In let me open an account and then closed it. The rest all refused to let onto their sites. YouTube let me put up a few videos (some of which were viewed millions of times) and then threw me off for life and banned me from looking at other people’s videos. And so I am now left with the website www.vernoncoleman.com which I started in 1990. Since I am now also banned from all mainstream media, my website is the only place where my work appears. Details of new books and videos always appears on that website. Ironically, although I am banned from all social media (for the curious modern crime of telling the truth) I’m told that there are a number of fake sites using my name. When I first became aware of this I asked the platforms involved to remove the fake sites but nothing happened. So for readers who want to follow my current writing, I suggest that they visit my website which has new articles and details of campaigns posted every weekday. I am always grateful when people share my articles because I am totally banned from all social media.

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