I graduated from nursing school in 1972. At that time we focused on preventative care and had many satellite clinics located in many communities with the objective of keeping citizens out of the Emergency Room for their health care. The health care system was set up to prevent people from getting sick in the first place with education on lifestyle and halting the progress of chronic conditions. That started to change in the 1980's when new technology and medications were developed and were expensive. We went from a nation of being pr0-active on preventing and controlling disease conditions to "what the heck", get or prevent a disease by taking a pill. Just watch the adds for medications on tv.   Chronic heartburn is best treated by diet and losing weight. Who is the man on tv who promotes the over the counter medication for "frequent" heartburn, he is obese, and eats all the heartburn triggers that will lead to a life long disease, GERD, and a lifetime of medical treatment.