Research the next step, and living in two worlds

[Guest guest]

Dear Brian,

 

There is a fundamental paradox that we must live with: Until our

terminology is legally validated with precedents such as Z'ev's case, it

is essential that we educate ourselves biomedically, not in order to

diagnose patients or to integrate into our medicine, but to function

within the insurance, and resultantly, the Western forensic medical

infrastructure. We file claims and testify in courts that use a

different paradigm and we had better be familiar with their terminology

if we are going to relate to them--or the alternative, as I'm sure some

would suggest, we be to damn the torpedos, avoid anything to do with

them, and take cash patients only. That may work, until the first time

you are sued. Such is the reality living in the material world.

 

Yehuda

 

On Mon, 17 Nov 2003 22:55:14 -0000 " bcataiji " <bca writes:

> , " "

> <zrosenbe@s...> wrote:

>

> > Of course, we have deal with what people are familiar with, and

> guide

> > them from there to 'new realities'. But this doesn't mean we

> should

> > misrepresent what it is that we do and how we describe clinical

> > reality.

>

> I was just about to write something similar to what you wrote above.

>

> While Jason speaks of running piglet and lilly disease, I would take

> a

> more palatable approach. Do the research, and the education that I

> previous spoke about, with diseases that have more common names and

> that may be the same as or overlap Western diseases - for example:

> headache, cough, wheezing, diarrhea, even wind-cold and wind-heat

> attacks, and bi-syndrome. Once the people are used to the idea that

> there are CM disease categories and that the treatments work, then

> expand the scope into the more odd names and presentations such as

> running piglet and lilly disease.

>

> > I often wonder about the ethics of filling in WM disease

> categories on

> > insurance forms, for example, since we don't really do western

> > diagnoses.

>

> This is another good point that you bring up. I view my western

> biomedical education at PCOM as a tool with 2 main purposes:

> 1. If a patient does come with a Western disease diagnosis, I can

> understand (or find out about) the disease from that perspective.

> However, this understanding is more of a curiosity / patient

> relation

> thing rather than a guideline for CM diagnosis. I study CM, so that

> is what I am going to use for diagnosis and development of a

> treatment

> plan.

> 2. The Western biomedical education will also allow me to have an

> idea about when it is important to refer out and enable me to

> communicate on a basic level with Western healthcare workers.

>

> Also, bravo to you Z'ev for playing it straight with the legal

> deposition.

>

> Brian C. Allen

>

>

>