Conventional Doctors & Herbs?

November 20, 2005

Hey Elizabeth .. other good folks ..

Below are my opinions but they are based on observation and reading a

lot on the subject .. MedLine and such. I hope Dr. Chuck Woodfield has

his ears on and will comment on this. Chuck is a Chiropractor and a

Pharmacist.

>>Hey all....I was told that a MD - allopathic doctor could not prescribe

>>herbs to his patients. If they did they could lose their license and

>>be fined. Is this true?????? TIA....Peggy

>

> Why not? They are not trained as herbalists, so as Dr.s they can not

> ethically " prescribe " something that is outside what they are trained

> in (all of those years in medical school).

In addition to not knowing herbal medicine, other reasons why a medical

doctor might avoid prescribing is inability to ensure purity of the

product .. and upsetting the FDA, AMA and Pharmaceutical companies.

I am led to believe (by many sources) that medical schools in the USA

and other countries provide no training in pharmacognosy .. and very

little training in chemistry, pharmacology and pharmacodynamics. This

is the realm of Pharmacists. I sat through a dinner one night and

watched friendly banter betwixt an engaged couple .. one of which was a

newly graduated Medical Doctor and the other a Pharmacist. Arguments

presented there support what I wrote above.

I am also led to believe that the major emphasis in medical schools is

on recognition of symptoms and how to find a pharmaceutical product that

might take care of the problem the symptoms point to. In fact .. the

majority of the rookies are really " practicing " medicine and the patient

is the guinea pig. When symptoms are described and a medical doctor

makes a determination that the problem is bacterial/viral, the doctor

has the options of referring the patient for lab work so as to get a fix

on the exact cause .. or going by their experience (or lack thereof) and

prescribing a wide range antibiotic .. which is often the choice even if

the problem might be viral. If the symptoms described are not obviously

a cut and dry bacterial/viral problem then the doctor refers to a guide

on symptoms .. which then refers them to a handy dandy US Pharmaceutical

publication (forget the name of it .. got an old one in storage and it

takes 3 men and a boy to pick it up) and from that pub the doctor then

selects a medication that is supposed to deal with symptoms the patient

has described. If the first prescription doesn't work .. they go for an

alternative .. that's what practicing is about.

I'm also led to believe that unless one has the big bucks and can afford

the 5 star medicos .. they will be treated much like the operation of an

automobile assembly line .. wham bam thank you ma'am .. next? We find

this to be even more the case where social medicine is practiced .. like

here in Turkey .. or in most of Europe and in Russia.

A problem doctors run into here in Turkey is the large number of barely

literate villagers they treat .. the patient doesn't do a very good job

describing the symptoms so the norm is to give them a shot and send them

to a pharmacy for additional shots for 3-4 days.

The smart villagers (most are) go directly to a Pharmacist or a village

practitioner in the first place and usually get the proper medication or

natural treatment for the problem first time around.

> They may or may not have anything relevant to say about herbs. It would

> be like asking your Dr what kind of car he thinks you should buy. Maybe

> he knows about cars and maybe he does not, but he knows a lot about what

> he is trained in- western medicine ;-)

This statement brought to mind an opinion I had laid aside for a long

time because I've not been to a medical doctor since 1995 .. but have

many friends who have been. That is that .. medical specialists are

pretty darned good at what they do .. or they work for other medical

specialists or institutions that are pretty good at what they do .. and

they get pretty good results .. most of the time. I believe that the

difference between the experienced medical specialists and the general

practitioners or novice specialists is like the differences between a

jack laig mechanic and a certified, experienced automotive technician.

> That is not to say that an MD may or may not have a *non professional*

> opinion about herbs and other " alternatives " and certainly some may have

> more knowledge and experience than others. MD's like scientific measurable

> results and research.

MDs (like other professionals - especially in litigation crazy America)

must be concerned about CYA (cover your butt) so being able to refer to

published/accepted results is about as good a CYA tool as they can find.

When the FDA approves a drug that takes a big monkey off the back of

medical doctors .. the medics are pretty well protected unless there is

a case of blatant wrongful prescription .. and even in the majority of

those cases the medic slides if s/he can rationally justify their wrong

decision .. easy to do when you know the correct terminology. Those of

you who have been on this list long have seen Journal of the American

Medical Association (JAMA) results published showing that wrongful

prescription is a larger cause of unnatural death in the USA than is

crimes using weapons. Likely it would be even greater if not for the

efforts of Pharmacists who often catch problems and call the doctor

before supplying the drug.

Likely it is that many medical doctors believe many of the experiments

not yet blessed by the FDA (like the one I have often posted on use of

Origanum onites in a test that had 100% cure results against lung cancer

in rats) are worthwhile .. but they would be sticking their necks out to

use them as a basis for treatment .. and we shouldn't hold our breath

while waiting for the FDA to approve such treatments because the major

pharmaceutical companies can't patent natural products.

> Most Dr.s will make a disclaimer of some sort if you ask their opinion

> on an herbal vs an allopathic medicine. They will also offer a

> diclaimer if you ask what *they* would do or take for ...whatever it is.

And .. wise Aromatherapy practitioners will also do this.

> After all they are not there to say what they would do.

Maybe not .. but back when I was in uniform and using the system I often

asked the docs what they would do if they problem was theirs. I'll

never forget the case where a doc was going to prescribe Lipator to me

and then said he wouldn't take it himself if he had high cholesterol.

> As far as I am concerned that is ethical. I'd not want an unqualified

> MD advising me on herbal medicines.

I don't want an unqualified MD advising me on use of pharmaceuticals

either. ;-)

> There are strict ethical codes they agree to in order to practice with

> a license. Makes sense.

The purpose of a Code of Ethics is ancient and it was originally

designed to assist practitioners in gaining credibility. When the

medical profession turned from on-the-job-training to formal medical

schools the meaning still remained but it was bastardized somewhat by

the need to CYA .. that took precedence in lots of cases.

Example: Its well accepted in the medical field that Novocain (not

used much any more) and the more prevalent Lydocaine are not harmful to

a pregnant woman based on the minute amount used .. but due to the fact

that medical research is not conducted on pregnant women there remains a

remote possibility that there could be a problem in the first trimester

IF there are already problems present .. or if the lady has a history of

miscarriage in the first trimester. Accordingly, most dentists will not

treat a pregnant lady (regardless of the trimester she is in) without a

CYA statement from her medical doctor.

I believe those dentists are wise .. its not a matter of ethics but a

matter of CYA.

(Snipped)

> Elizabeth

> Whole Life Essentials

> Organic & Wild-Crafted Essential Oils & Hydrosols

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Y'all keep smiling. :-) Butch http://www.AV-AT.com

Wholesale/Retail GC Tested EO, Tested Hydrosols, Rose Products and other

nice things from our wholesale/retail store in Friendsville, MD.

November 21, 2005

That is an intelligent way of looking at it. I can even agree.It's sad that

they haven't found in their hearts to train the caring doctors the right way

People like myself believed in our doctors to heal illness not cover it up

were feel better but never well. I do thank God for the Herbs and people

that know what to do with the Herbs that God made for our bodies. I don't

know what all to do to help others like our ancestors knew. I know what it

feels like to see doctor and do what I told and don't get well. They look at

me like why are you so bummed out or I'm so sorry. It's not so good when you

see you love ones die and you wonder if you will be next. I know that they

would do better if they knew better. I would love to see training go back to

Herbs. There has to be a cure for the Diabetic, Hemophilia, Cancer and so

many others. I don't recall of people passing away from all the things that

people die from now. I'm not hearing that they are dead due to Herbs and the

fat of the land. Thank you Butch for helping me find the soft side of my

anger.

Lady D

Shalom (Peace)

----

Butch Owen

11/20/05 05:25:38