Like the majority of the populace, I have an allopathic physician. As with many of the populace…particularly in the last twenty years or so, I’ve been an advocate of homeopathy, herbals, acupuncture, massage therapy and, yes…the proven granny’s remedies, the proverbial “old wives” treatments for what ails one and I write this not as a practitioner but as a consumer.

When I lived in Maryland back in the early to mid ‘90’s, I had acupuncture treatments (including Chinese herbal medication) once every week for over a year. Complimentary to that, I took massage therapy once a week for over three years and greatly benefited from both modalities. In fact, never felt better in my life…either before or since and the only reason I haven’t undertaken either since being here is…well, silly but true. It’s as difficult to change a successful and trusted healer, such as those two, as it generally is having to change a trusted MD. But in recent months I have been strongly considering finding similar practitioners here. On my own, I research the “alternative” modalities and continue to use the herbals, energy work etc. so it came as quite a disturbing shock to me, listening to Dan’s discussion with Gertie this morning…and learning that there is a Bill ready to change…no, to remove the choice of how I nurture and treat my OWN body. Yes…MY body!

Allopathic physicians certainly have their place as do dietitians and nutritionists choosing to come under a government blanket. Let them have it…but do they have the right to dictate whom I wish to consult? Depending upon whether or not we have medical insurance co-pay, no medical insurance, pharmacologic coverage our medical treatments are not free or cheap and it seems to me since I must pay whatever the going rate is, I ought to maintain the right to spend it where I choose. And, frankly, it’s my opinion…and experience…that anyone having a required license is no guarantee to quality or successful care. My massage therapist in MD, for instance, was not board certified…when she began her practice there was no such thing as licensing for massage therapists. Her clientele came from all walks of life and were so numerous it was often more difficult to secure an appointment with her than it was with a physician. Additionally, many of her clients benefited so much from their treatments that they went on to become massage therapists themselves…the consensus being that they wished to help others as much as they had been helped. I never looked around her office for a certification of any kind. She came highly recommended to me by a very reputable Physical Therapist, among others. After my first couple of treatments, I had no doubt about her ability. Yet, I had a friend…also a client of her’s…who decided to enter the profession which, by then required board certification, took the classes, became certified and even after several years, didn’t even come close. As I said, a license is not necessarily a guarantee.

I’m angry at the very idea a practitioner of herbals, homeopathy, dietary or any other modality may, in the future, be unable to discuss or suggest our preferred method of treatments because of a threat of fines or arrest. This is not even banal enough to term ridiculous…it’s nothing short of criminal and to my somewhat cynical eye, removing this freedom is the first step towards the FDA and Pharm Society succeeding in eliminating anything they do not consider medically proven. Which is odd since few, if any, of the aforementioned alternative routes cause harm while we certainly cannot state that all medically approved drugs/treatments don’t. And, by the way, THEY are licensed! One only has to watch a couple of hours of tv during a day or evening to find the ads for prescription medications which tout the benefits but follow each one with a long list of disclaimers and eye-popping side-effects, some of them fatal. I don’t know about you but each time I view those things I have to wonder…”Who in their right mind would trade an ache, pain, sleepless night for those possibilities??”

Please write your State Reps and ask them not to sign on to HB38. Even if you are not “into” alternative treatments or modalities, it IS another freedom of choice we stand to lose should it pass.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 9th, 2007 at 11:53 am and is filed under Health, Lifestyle, Local Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.