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MCRCThis web site is in no manner affiliated with any Kaiser entity and the for profit Permanente Permission is granted to mirror this web site - Please acknowledge where the material was obtained. kaiserpapers.com/behavioral White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine PolicyTAPE I, PART III SIDEB Kaiser Permanete Behavioral Health mirrored from :http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/whccamp/meetings/transcript_9_8_00_s3_4_5.html "Targeting
the insurance companies of the nation is important
to identify the idea that upstream intervention is going to save the
insurance
dollar. There is cost savings and the business department of Kaiser has
data to support that. As long as the outcomes are behaviorally based,
we
can measure the outcomes in terms of reduced medical visits and reduced
medical visits translates to dollars, savings. "
Full Transcript Below: [TAPE I, PART III SIDE B] UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER are influenced by the stresses of treating people's severe illnesses, and these contemplative practices could range from Taiji and Yoga and meditation to being in nature or dance and poetry, and the evaluation will be used for rating procedures already in clinical use. It would train CAM specialists to make evaluations and also they will look at patients' satisfaction therapists and therapy to get a better hand on all this. And the CAMP evaluation could also be applied as a toll to certify interns and residents, and improve the CAM program and also assess the intern performance and patient satisfaction. Next question is what sources of funds exist for education and training of CAM practitioners. We say this tactfully. Funding is very scarce. There is also very limited funding from foundations and, as I am sure the panel knows, hospital mostly are cash-poor. The solution: external funding coordination. Coordination of training and research programs. Next question. Are performance standards and guidelines needed to ensure the public will have access to safe and effective practices in interventions? (THE SPEAKER'S TIME IS UP) Finish up? OK. I will simply summarize. The key concept is that the government is poised to play a pivotal role as the trusted objective authority committed to disseminating safe and effective CAN education and training, and research both for health-care professionals and the lay public. DR. GORDON Thank you. And we do have your written comments? UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER That's correct.
DR. GORDON Thank you very much. Our next is speaker is Corinne Giantonio. DR. CORINNE GIANTONIO My name is Dr. Corinne Giantonio, I'm a Clinical Psychologist and I work with Kaiser Permanente. DR. GORDON Could you come closer to the microphone, please? DR. CORINNE GIANTONIO And my plea to the CAM Commission is to investigate the potential for insurance plans to do some of the funding in cooperation with other government offerings. I'd like to share a 7-year project that I have been involved with, where CAM providers were integrated with the primary care physicians merging basically traditional, or using as a spring base traditional medicine, and using alternative medicine as options in the treatment program. Before, populations that were targeted in that, were definitely the patients, the physician themselves working in primary care, the alternative medicine specialists which included acupuncturists, meditation specialists, yoga specialists, and other noetic sciences, and the insurance plan itself . I will say of the beginning that the insurance plan funded this study for the past five years. I'd like to take a look at the demographics of the patients that we did study while we had these CAM professionals on the unit, daily, five days a week. We found that the activated, motivated and foreign patient would seek alternative medicines and generally have financial resources, and were likely to seek free-for service options, such as Yoga retreats, meditation groups, much of what you are knowledgeable about. Those patients we found most dramatically benefiting from the integrated intervention, which include traditional medicine and CAM options as alternatives with chronic pain patients. They are a captured population to study chronic illness sufferers where we found after this integrated intervention a 38% to 79% decrease in symptomatology, measured primarily behaviorally. Just to give you and idea of the kind of patient population that we worked with, diabetic patients, people suffering from muscular-skeletal pain, fibromyalgia, arthritis, digestive disorders, IBS, nausea, diarrhea, cardio-vascular chest pain, high blood pressure, shortness of breath, headaches, dizziness, light-headedness, fatigue and sleep disorders. What we found about these patients is that they were generally uninformed regarding the nature of their chronic illness in general. They had unrealistic expectations of their own prognosis, they took or intended a rather passive versus an active position in the cure of their own illness and their lifestyle was one of excesses. We had a high incidence of anxiety and depressive disorders in this population, and we included in here the worried well, and the stable elderly. As can be expected, there was a high incidence of anger, frustration, disgust on the competency of both traditional practitioners, as well as practitioners in the non-traditional roles. These were not people who were seeking out the noetic sciences. I can say, though, that after the intervention, the satisfaction rate was beyond our expectations. The study of the physicians that we did in this study, demonstrates their dominant attitudes as one of helplessness, powerlessness, distrust on the competency of CAM practitioners, reluctance to refer to practitioners and a perception of relinquishing their responsibility for the care of the patient, so the targeted study, and the advantage of having the CAM practitioners on the unit was one of education and day to day discussing of concrete difficulties that the practitioner themselves were having with these patients. They were as frustrated as the patients were. And then a fear about a discontinuity between traditional interventions and non-traditional interventions. There was a clear resistance to consider the psychological and behavioral aspects at the first assessment, and one of the accomplishments of our work with them was that we got a high compliance of getting physicians to consider these factors right up front rather than downstream, after all the traditional methods had been exasperated. Another characteristic was a reluctance to consider the CAM professional as a partner, as opposed to a downstream last resort kind of effort. This too changed significantly. The characteristics that we found in the alternative medicine practitioners were that the ones that we used, for the most part, had licensure in place. The ones that did regulate their own profession to the point of medical legal censorship, had clear education requirements, both pre-licensure and post, and they were clearly articulated and they had clear proficiency exams. We found this was necessary in order to start to get to first base with traditional medicine. They were able to generate specific symptom reduction outcome studies, and the key was that they were behavioral in nature. Behavioral characteristics of our own alternative medicine practitioners were that they were able to fit in or to communicate with the traditional medicine practitioner. They had clear procedures that were referral procedures. They were able to coordinate and tying in with the overall treatment plan, and were willing to keep the control and management of the treatment plan with the primary care physician. We found this also very important. The alternative medicine treatment plan was symptom specific in assessment language and behavior specific in treatment recommendation in outcome goal. The patient was returned to the primary care physician with behavioral outcomes, success and failures. And even when there was a failure, the primary care physician was able to maintain the ongoing relationship with the alternative practitioner in most cases. I would like to talk about the insurance company in my last three minutes. Targeting the insurance companies of the nation is important to identify the idea that upstream intervention is going to save the insurance dollar. There is cost savings and the business department of Kaiser has data to support that. As long as the outcomes are behaviorally based, we can measure the outcomes in terms of reduced medical visits and reduced medical visits translates to dollars, savings. I encourage the Commission to consider all the players in fostering and encouraging alternative medicine options. The patient traditional medicine insurance company, and the alternative medicine provider. DR. GORDON Thank you very much. Next is Savely Savva. SAVELY SAVVA Good morning. I have actually two basic suggestions to make, which are related to the strategic approach to the whole batch and mixed bag of alternative medicine. First is to try to present some taxonomy to what belongs to the complementary and alternative medicine. The main criteria which I suggest is the methodology of clinical and scientific testing which boils down to the question: what is the curative agent, the presumed curative agent? The majority of alternative practices are related to nutrition, to herbs, to massage, to physical interventions, such as ozone or electromagnetic or whatever it is. It is presumed that these agents were standardized procedures that do the job of repairing the physiological malfunction. The testing methodology in this case is absolutely the same as with pharmaceuticals. You eliminate the effect of expectation, possible effects and you conduct randomized double-blank clinical trial. The other domain is when the presumed curative agent is the bio-field interaction between individuals, including the mobilization of the bio-field of the patient, and it encompasses things such as the ancient cultures of QiGong and Yoga and hypnosis, and what is called hands on, lying on the hands, whatever it is. Methodologically it is totally different from the first domain, because the efficacy of the interaction depends mainly on the invulnerability and skills of the practitioner. So, in this second domain, I believe that possibly two goals of inner study can be distinguished. One goal is to certify a particular practitioner without attempting to extrapolate the results from others. The second goal is to try to find out what is going on, and how this interaction sheds light on the general control system of the body. What is key, what is it? How is it? I can point at words, in the first place. So, my suggestion and my interest is in the second domain. It is not at all necessary to concentrate on proving or disproving the efficacy of a particular cure, specially if we are not contemplating to extrapolate it on the whole culture, on the whole methodology. In order to define the nature of the bio-field, there are simpler ways of studying interactions of simpler organisms, finding the most talented individuals rather that going for statistical minor effects. And this is the basis on what actually I want to suggest. I have a particular suggestion, to study a superbly talented Chinese lady, Mrs. Sum, who is much more capable than whoever I knew before. And the study can be conducted in Russia, or in the particularly accelerated development of plants. And in Russia it can be conducted in academic institutions with a full employment of highly qualified individuals for this plan. This kind of studies, not necessarily medical studies, will shed light on the nature of key or the general control system of the body. Thank you. DR. GORDON
Thank you very much.
Adam Burke.
ADAM BURKE
Good morning. Thank
you for the chance to be here and it's very wonderful
to see this Commission. It's a good sign of the times, I think.
I am here as an
individual from San Francisco State, I am with the Institute
for Holistic Healing Studies. We are an undergraduate minor in the
University,
and for the past twenty years we have been educating students in
holistic
health. As far as I know we are the only program in the United States
of
that sort.
My personal interest
in being here is to really advocate that we in
America keep alternative medicine alternative, and that really
necessitates
that we consider what alternative medicine really is. A number of years
ago, a friend or mine, a very close friend, was diagnosed with a very
aggressive
lung cancer, and she asked me to come out here when we went to one of
the
most notable Bay Area hospitals to talk with an Oncologist about her
situation.
And we met with the Oncologist and one of her Residents for about three
minutes. It was a very nice woman. And she said to my friend,
"Statistically
speaking, you have negligible chance of survival, so we advise no
treatment.
I am sorry." And that was the end of the session. It was extremely
disheartening
for my friend. She had just recovered from surgery from a shed
metastasis
to the brain, had a tumor removed, and this was a week later when we
were
visiting the Oncologist. Right after that, I took my friend to an
Acupuncturist
that I had studied with in China Town, a venerable old herbalist, and
we
went and met with him for about 45 minutes probably. And he talked
about
politics, and how much he loved Richard Nixon, because Richard Nixon
had
naturalized him as a citizen. He went on and on and we had a nice
conversation.
And then, he started talking to my friend about her situation. He said
to her "We can't promise you that we'll keep you alive. No one can
promise
you that. But let's see what we can do. And that was so dramatically
different.
And that changed my life that moment. That, as a Health Educator and a
Social Psychologist and Acupuncturist really made me begin to ponder,
"What
is alternative health care? And what is healing? And what are we really
doing in this field of medicine?" And, I think it's imperative. I'm
here
today to talk about research specifically. I think it's imperative that
as we approach this White House Commission as NIH, as any of these
others
government backed or paid agencies, look at these issues, or as a
country
look at this issues, that we keep an incredibly open mind and come to
this
with the perspective that perhaps there is something to learn even if
we
don't understand it all yet. And I really think of missionaries at the
turn of the Century down in Mexico going and working with the
indigenous
shamans or whatever, and seeing that something is working, maybe taking
some of the crops of the shamans and using those to basically inculcate
the natives into Christianity and having no real intention of changing
their belief system. The risk of that is that those Christian
missionaries
perhaps lost the doorway to what they were really seeking, to profound
peace, to a really different reality. So, I am hoping that we, as
scientists,
and as concerned citizens and as consumers of this, really keep an
extremely
open mind. To that end, I have a number of thoughts that I would like
to
propose. The first is that we really deeply consider and ask ourselves
"What are we trying to understand? What is healing? And specifically,
What
is alternative medicine? What is alternative health care?" And I think
we have to begin this whole enterprise with serious questioning of
"What
are we hoping to understand?" The second thing is the research methods
that we choose. Anybody who does science knows that the method that we
choose affects the data that we find, which drives the theories that we
develop. And the reductionistic types of approaches in science, which
are
tremendously powerful and have gotten us to where we are, which in many
ways is good, also can potentially limit the things that we'll find,
the
data that we'll obtain, and consequently the theories that will derive
from that. So I think that's imperative that we begin to explore new
research
methodologies and be very open to doing things that are unconventional
in that regard. The third thing is that it's also tremendously
important
that we approach this with an extremely open mind, putting aside our
biases,
and considering the fact that people that might seem very simple, in
some
ways may actually know a lot more than we do. One of the most profound
healers I ever met was an extremely appealing simple man of the
mountains
in Bali, and he was an amazing healer. He was hands down, the most
incredible
healer I've ever met in my entire life anywhere. Fourth, and I think
this
is incredibly important, is that we proactively bring the alternative
of
community into these research programs. That is not necessarily an easy
thing to do. I am a licensed Acupuncturist; I go to lots of Acupuncture
events. These people are well trained, but they are not trained in
research.
They don't have a research interest. They don't understand that world
necessarily.
And like any kind of diversity program, I think we should approach this
with the mind of building diversity and building community. We need to
upscale these people in a sense. Empower them, give them the kinds of
information
and hand all the grabs so they'll have the capacity to really
participate
in the research in a meaningful way, and that really might take some
work.
Also, I think part of that is to reduce their fear. Even today,
alternative
people are persecuted in the United States. Alternative healers are
still
persecuted. Thirty years ago, Miriam Lee, one of the great ladies of
Acupuncture
in San Francisco, was severely persecuted.
And the last thing is
to really build the educational opportunities
of students in the undergraduate and graduate levels, so people may,
from
the very beginning, think of alternative methods in their research
activities.
Thank you very much.
DR. GORDON:
Thank you very much,
thank all of you. We're going to take a few questions
from the Commissioners, and then we'll take a bit of a break
afterwards,
for the next hour. So, Effie, do you want to begin?
EFFIE POY YEW CHOW
Yes, I just have a
couple of comments and questions. I'm glad you brought
up the concept of being persecuted and Madam Lee was one of my
teachers,
and we had to get out of jail and this was back in the 70's and so it
has
evolved a long way but I think there is a comment about having CAM
instituted
within the medical institutions. Is this what you recommend totally or
what about the practices outside of the institutions and what is the
danger
of it becoming a medical model instead of a house model? Can you make
some
comments on that?
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER
I think the underline
issue is what is safe, what is effective and how
you bring the ultimate healthcare to the public, weather it be Western
or Eastern healing modalities. And I think I'm stereotyping in
generalizing
my experience through Larry, and having conversations with him, is that
while many specialists, such as Acupuncturists, are interested in doing
research, but many are not. But the other side of that is, if an
Acupuncturist
does research on his or her own, then there is a stronger tendency
towards
bias, so I think there is a potential and tremendous benefit in terms
of
being more objective and bringing effective CAM research information to
the public by integrating Western and Eastern modalities. And rather
than
having them being adversarial, and threatened, caring as many do, not
everybody,
but there are financial and fiscal concerns about health care wanting
that
fiscal funding for health care, to bring the two worlds together in a
positive,
and I underline, objective way. And in my opinion, that would bring the
most optimal trusted research information to the lay public healthcare
professionals.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER
Yes , I had a
question, actually, for the entire panel and then, one
for Dr. Giantonio. What is an issue of effort and efficacy in doing
research
in order to try to clarify safety and efficacy? It seems to me that
there
is some tension between looking at safety and efficacy, which is
defined
basically on treatment of diseases that are Western classified and
respecting
alternative systems which have different classification systems and may
not the same kind of homogeneous groups we are talking about. So, how
to
bring those two together so that you have the regular science, and yet
at the same time respect the systems and keep them alternative as you
say,
I think, would be useful some suggestions at to how to actually do
that,
and things that we might be able to suggest as to how the federal
government
can facilitate that.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER
Just one thought on
that, is that the summary was on two CDC review
panels, and we are looking at a number of CAM proposals which were
really
very sophisticated. However, on many of the panels that they had, it
seemed
that they were heavily staffed with MDs, and while many of the MDs were
CAMish, they were still MDs. And I think that by virtue of their
training,
an MD is different from somebody who is an Acupuncturist, a
Chiropractor,
whatever, on lots of levels. So again, if they very intentionally and
very
consciously are bringing the alternative people into positions where
they
can speak very clearly to that issue, so that their perspective is
brought
in to the research agenda, and it's not filtered through a predominant
model. The MDs are doing a great job in these research grants and large
institutions that are funded, but I think that having a clear
representation,
a wider representation of practitioners would be very helpful.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER
I have a question for
Dr. Giantonio. Appear that Kaiser is doing a demonstration
project here that is actually integrated, and brought CAM practitioners
and produced an integrated care model and is beginning to document what
those impacts and those effects are. What I heard you say is that this
is something that ought to be done and perhaps what would be useful
would
be to have some suggestions as to how we can facilitate, not only
Kaiser,
but other insurance companies and health providers, to do this type of
thing, assessing not only the positive impact but also potential
negative
impact. I know this is going on in Europe more and more with providers,
with insurance companies and I am wondering weather you could give us
some
suggestions as to how to facilitate that, or perhaps even some written
suggestions as to who and where to go in that area.
DR. GIANTONIO
Well, one concrete
suggestion is for the government to offer incentives
to the insurance companies themselves, so that those studies that are
available
can be duplicated and it does favor a model where you go where the
money
is, where the power is, in order to build the basis, not the only
model.
But it's definitely one that I think is untapped in the insurance
company
area. Because it is an ongoing educational process. That's what I tried
to represent in my presentation.
DR. GORDON
Thank you. I have
just a couple of requests for you. I would really
like if you could give us the full report of the study that's ongoing
at
Kaiser. That would be very helpful and the information extremely useful
and I think we could, seeing the whole context, the full report, would
be very helpful to us. The second thing I'd like is, several of you
mentioned
an issue that's really important and if you have any written
formulations
about it I would really appreciate receiving them. And that is the
whole
issue of those healers who are most gifted, extraordinary healers. And
some formulation of the way research might proceed. How selection might
be made, as well as a kind of theoretical justification for doing it.
So,
I'm not asking you to do this on the spot, but if you have something
that
you would like to submit to us, I think that would be helpful too, as
we
pursue some of these issues. Thank you very much, we'll take a
fifteen-minute
break, then we'll continue with the panel that's seated up here, and
we'll
call up the next panel as well.
Okay, we're going to
begin. I am going to have to excuse myself in a
few minutes for a few minutes and then I'll be back. On this next
panel,
the first is Dana Ullman.
DANA ULLMAN
Okay, first I want to
thank Dr. Groft and his team for picking true
leaders in the field to be his Commissioners as represented by the four
representatives here. Secondly, I want to remind us all of the
well-known
words of Hippocrates when he said "First, do no harm", which I consider
an integral part of primary care, that I call first medicine. And, in
fact,
if primary care is so important to our nation, it is virtually widely
recognized,
and if this first medicine and primary care are part of each other,
then
we really need to change medical education, so it integrates
alternative
and complementary medicine. I am going to be addressing my remarks
primarily
to my own specialty of homeopathic medicine.
According to a 1994
report in the British Medical Journal, approximately
40% of French doctors and 20% of German doctors utilize homeopathic
medicines.
Over 40% of British physicians offer patients homeopathic medicines and
45% of Dutch physicians consider homeopathic medicines to be effective.
This and these statistics show homeopathic medicine should not be
considered
alternative care, at least in Europe. But despite its stature in
Europe,
homeopathy is what I call the ruddy danger-field of alternative
medicine
here in the United States. It simply doesn't get the respect it
deserves.
I believe that the primary reason for this is that physicians,
scientists
and the media are inadequately informed about the body of clinical and
laboratory research and empirical evidence in the field of homeopathic
medicine.
I don't wish to say
or imply that all the research on homeopathy is
showing to be effective. Still, the body of scientific investigation,
in
conjunction with its body of empirical evidence, shows that homeopathic
medicines provided therapeutic benefits beyond the perceived effect.
And
as recently as just last month, August 19th, 2000, the British Medical
Journal published a study on the homeopathic treatment of allergic
rhinitis,
and this was the fourth trial by a group of researchers at the
University
of Glasgow, and ultimately the P value revealing all four studies was
.0007,
showing quite substantially-significant results. If a conventional drug
was found to have this degree of therapeutic benefit along with a high
degree of safety associated with homeopathic medicines, these natural
medicines
should be recommended by most primary care providers, and would be in
the
medicine cabinets of most allergy sufferers. But sadly, this is not the
case.
This has little to do
with scientific gatherings, and more to do with
medical prejudice, medical chauvinism, and certainly ignorance. So,
what
can it be done to expand the current research environment for
homeopathy
specifically? Well, as my colleagues in the past have said, more money.
But specifically we should seek to also put priority to replicating
studies
that have been done, so that we can begin to answer the questions that
many skeptics have, and it is: "How much of this is really replicable?"
And because of the stature of the White House Commission, I do
recommend
that you consider publishing series of white papers on the status of
laboratory,
and critical studies in various fields, homeopathy being one. But you
also
look beyond just these clinical and laboratory studies and the double
blind
studies, but look at broader bodies of empirical evidence. Along with
this,
one other white paper that I think would be essential is to evaluate
the
benefits and the limitations of this gold standard of scientific
inquiry:
double blind perceivable control study. In a recently... in fact the
New
England Journal of Medicine has published two articles that have been
questioning
some of these issues, and I think it does need to be made more public,
because the medical community may know some of the limitations of this
gold standard, but certainly the general public doesn't.
In one of the guides
to access delivery and reimbursement of these different
alternative and complementary health practices, one of the things that
also are inadequately known is the body of cost effectiveness studies
in
the field of homeopathic medicine. The French Government has conducted
two major investigations and surveys, one in 1991 and another in 1996,
and found a substantially reduced cost associated with homeopathic
care,
as much as 15% less per clinician and that's per patient, I mean, it's
for the entire body of medical expenditures and it also showed a
significantly
reduced sick leave reduction, providing even more savings. And that's
another
area, in terms of white papers, that you might consider. Looking at
some
of these cost-effectiveness studies, so that we can encourage various
managed-care
companies to look more carefully at this, and hopefully will provide
more
incentives to their doctors to begin studying these alternative
therapies
and integrating them in their practice. As a previous speaker said, we
are looking for having the Government provide some incentives to
managed-care
companies, managed-care companies should continue to create their own
incentives
for their own panels of healthcare providers.
In terms of
reimbursement to alternative providers, we have to also
be sensitive to the labor intensive care that they provide, more akin
to
what might be happening in psychological and psychiatric care, rather
than
just primary care, which often has five to ten minute visits. We are
doing
that with actually severely limiting the fairness of the reimbursement.
I have more comments, but as a part of my written material and I
encourage
you to read it. Thank you very much.
DR. GORDON
Thank you very much,
and especially for these useful studies on usage
and cost effectiveness. The next speaker will be Craig Little.
CRAIG LITTLE
Good morning. My name
is Craig Little, and I am a Doctor in Chiropractic,
and I practice in Hanford, California. This morning I'll be
representing
the views of the American Chiropractic Association. My compliments to
Dr.
Gordon, Dr. Groft, and your entire staff in the organization of this,
and
your hospitality.
I'm going to focus on
three of the four areas of today's Town Hall meeting.
First of all, the coordinated research and development increase the
knowledge
of CAM practices and interventions. Everyone here agrees that research
on the efficacy of complementary medicine practices must continue. In
addition,
as CAM research continues to gain importance, it's imperative that CAM
practitioners be involved in all phases of research. The ACA would like
to highlight four key areas that the Commission needs to address and
discuss
regarding CAM research. First of all, support of the NIH Center for
Complementary
and Alternative medicine, the information clearing-house. The
Commission
has the opportunity not to reinvent the wheel, there is a host of
research
currently being conducted, both publicly and privately sponsored, that
needs to be collected to reveal where additional research is needed.
The
Commission has the opportunity to utilize the clearing-house as the
central
depository of CAM research and to encourage all researchers to submit
their
findings to the information clearing-house.
Number two, relax
federal statutory requirements that impede the use
of CAM in federal healthcare programs. Currently, federal programs do
not
reimburse for complementary and alternative treatments, and the
statutory
limitations therefor impede research. By not being recognized as
providers
under this programs, Doctors of Chiropractic as well as other CAM
providers,
are not provided the opportunity to prove the cost-effectiveness and
the
efficacy of the services that they provide. Statutes must be changed to
allow for CAM providers to participate in all federal programs.
Third, coordinate
research with the NIH Center for Complementary and
Alternative Medicine. The ACA is pleased to see the increases and
support
of that NCCAM and supports the need for continued and increased funding
of this worthwhile Center. In addition, provide incentives for private
industries to invest in CAM research. The Commission should invite all
groups involved in CAM research to identify the types of incentives
that
they need to continue CAM research. The ACA would be happy to supply
the
Commission with a list of those companies that have contacted the
Association
on research issues. With regards to guidance to access to, delivery of,
and reimbursement for complementary and alternative medicine practices
and interventions, the ACA supports that the patient should be afforded
the availability to seek treatment by proven complementary and
alternative
providers without the referral of the medical gate keeper. In addition,
both private and federal insurance programs should not limit a
practitioner's
scope of practice. Proven CAM practitioners must be recognized and
reimbursed
for reasonable and necessary services provided to their patients. CAM
providers
should not be reimbursed at a lower rate or be discriminated in any
fashion,
based on their training or licensure. Direct access must be provided to
those CAM providers who possess diagnostic skills to differentiate
health
conditions that are amenable to their management, from those conditions
that require referral or co-management with other healthcare
professionals.
Doctors of Chiropractics recognize the value of working in cooperation
with other healthcare practitioners and acknowledge the responsibility
to do so when it's in the best interest of the patient. Doctors of
Chiropractics
are currently excluded from participating in federal healthcare plans,
and are extremely limited in the scope of reimbursable services they
can
provide to Medicare beneficiaries.
In its formal
recommendations, the Commission must address the impediments
to Chiropractic so that all consumers have appropriate access to
Chiropractic
treatment. With regards to training, education, certification and
licensure,
providers of proven complementary and alternative medicine must be
trained
and educated at an accredited institution. In addition, State licensure
should be considered, to insure that only trained and educated
providers
are treating the public. To create a better awareness of CAM practices,
medical school students should be required to take a course on
complementary
and alternative treatments, so that they are familiar with the
alternatives
available to their patients. They should be encouraged throughout their
schooling to refer patients to CAM providers, or pursuing the overall
care
of their patients. The Council on Chiropractic Education, an agency
accredited
through the United States Department of Education, accredits all
Chiropractic
colleges. Chiropractic curriculum consists of a minimum of four
academic
years of professional education, averaging almost five thousand hours.
Under the auspices of
all Chiropractic colleges, students are required
to practice practical examinations under manipulation skills and pass
the
Clinical Competency Exam prior to Internship. There is regular skill
testing
for Licensure, through the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners.
All
states require examination prior to licensure. Currently, there are
very
limited funds available to fund Chiropractic and other types of CAM
education.
For example, the Public Health Service Act does not recognize Doctors
of
Chiropractics or other CAM providers to participate in the Federal
Student
Loan Repayment Program. The Commission, in its formal recommendations,
must ensure that CAM students have access to federal funds and federal
repayment programs to assist in the repayment of their student loans.
Thank
you for the opportunity to address the views of the American
Chiropractic
Association.
DR. GORDON
Our next speaker will
be Millie Tseng, from the Santa Clara County Employee
Wellness.
MILLIE TSENG
Thank you. My name is
Millie Tseng. I am a Public Health Nurse with
the Santa Clara County Employee-Wellness Program. I am also a QiGong
master,
with a private practice in San Jose. I am very excited to hear all the
speakers this morning, practically everybody address the issues that we
face, the topic that is very deep in my heart and I am very passionate
about it. That's why I decided to come and talk today. As a Public
Health
Nurse in a government agency, we are always looking for credible
well-researched
scientific data to back us up in the programs that we offer. In the
Employee-Wellness
Program, our mission is to enhance the health and well being of
nineteen
thousand employees in Santa Clara County. And the programs that we
typically
provide are exercise classes, Yoga, Taiji, and nutrition and behavioral
changes classes, and to target people with chronic conditions. As you
all
know, heart disease, diabetes, asthma, those are the chronic conditions
that cost the employers a lot of money and take away the employees from
their work. So we also offer classes on diabetes and a class called
Chronic
Disease Self-Management Program, which was developed by the Stanford
Center
for Patient Research and Disease Prevention. From teaching those
classes,
we have employees that have chronic fatigue syndrome, fibro-mialgia,
migraine
headaches and hypertension and heart disease, and come to our classes
and
they learn the behavioral change model. However, as a QiGong master, I
know there is more than we could do for this group of employees. I have
been hesitant in offering classes in QiGong, because, so far, we don't
have a good amount of data to substantiate that class. As a government
agency we are not as brave as some of the private institutions that
could
offer frontier classes, and we have to answer to the taxpayers
questions
about were tax money goes.
So, it is very
important to me that I look at the way that research
is done. From the my observations as a Public Health Nurse, I've had
opportunity
to read a lot of journals, including those of complementary and
alternative
therapies, and I have not come across a lot of data to give me the
strength
to go to the Board of Supervisors and say, "Okay, this is what I have
and
let's do this program here."
[END OF TAPE III SIDE
B]
[TAPE II, PART
IV,SIDE B]
…… the programs that
we typically provide, are the exercise classes-
yoga, Taiji and in nutrition and behavioural changes classes; and to
target
the people with chronic conditions. As you all know, heart disease,
diabetes,
and asthma- those are the chronic conditions that cause the employers a
lot of money and take away the employees from their work. So, we also
offer
classes on diabetes, and a class called Chronic Disease Self-management
Program, which was developed by Stanford Center for Patient Research
and
Disease Prevention. From teaching, those classes we have employees that
have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, migraine headaches and
hypertension,
and heart disease; and come to our classes, and they learn that
behavioral
change model. However, I asked a Qigong master; I know there is more
that
we could do for this group of employers. I have been hesitant in
offering
classes in Qigong [?] because so far we don't have a good amount of
data
to substantiate that class. As a government agency, we are not as brave
as some of the private institutions that could offer, you know,
frontier
classes; and we have to answer to the taxpayers questions about where
tax
money goes. So, this is very important to me, to look at the way that
research
is done. From the observation that I have, as a public health nurse, I
have opportunity to read a lot of journal's, including those of
complementary
and alternative therapies; and I have not come by a lot of data to give
me the strength to go to the board of supervisors, and say, "Okay, this
is what I have, let's do this program". Therefore, I'd like the
government,
in the policy-setting, to address some of the research issues, and I
think
there are some … the first program in the research is in traditional
Western
medicine investigators or researchers; we tend to look at our body in …
parts; tend to compartmentalize our body, and as compared to …, kin
Eastern
medical practitioners we look at our body as a 'whole'; and that if the
Chi is full, and the Chi flows in pathways of meridians, and if the Chi
is full, and you will maintain health, and to ensure all the organs are
working… function normally. So, localized symptoms that are presenting
in one part of the body may not be just a problem that is caused in
that
locality; it may be a reflection of a problem that is caused by a
problem
in a distant part of your body. It's just like refer pain, when we have
heart attacks or have gall bladder attacks. Anyway, so, I see that it's
a problem; and so we… a solution to me, would be to have
cross-trainings
that, if the government, if NIH sets policy to encourage medical
schools
and to encourage people who get the NIH grants, to have cross-trainings
of Western medicine, researchers, and few practitioners; especially
those
who come from their native countries, who doesn't speak English, but
have
the expertise of doing that- of providing the skill- and to have
cross-training
so we can come to some kind of consensus, and [when] this needs to be
done
before the research is designed. So, because, when you are looking at
the
outcome, you need to look at more than just the reduction of one
particular
symptom; because there may be… a body… the way I look at our body, is
like
an onion. When we… when the Chi works, it reduce, it peels off the
first
layer, and then it works on a second layer, until it gets to the core
problem.
Anyway, so, I really advocate for the cross training, and I appreciate
having today's opportunity, and I really thank-you for your leadership
in this; and I will Fax you my speech for the rest of the information.
I have a couple more points but I'll Fax you that information.
Thank-you very much.
The next speaker will
be Lixin Huang from the American College of Traditional
Chinese Medicine, here in San Francisco.
LIXIN HUANG
Thank-you.
Thank-you
commissioner Chow; and thank-you, Michelle, and thank all
the commissioners to invite me to be here.
My name is Lixin
Huang; I am the President of American College of Traditional
Chinese Medicine. My brief presentation today will focus on the
education
training of health care practitioners in traditional Chinese medicine;
since of this is one of the topics that the commissioners would like to
address.
The American College
of traditional Chinese medicine was established
in 1980. In 1987, the college successfully established the first
four-year
graduate program in traditional Chinese medicine in the United States.
The institution greatly improved the cause of health care by providing
graduate education in patient care; enabled thousands of people to
integrate
traditional Chinese medicine into their daily lives. We have served
both
national and international community of students, patients, health-care
professionals, and the public. Our graduates practice acupuncture,
herbal
medicine, Taiji, Qigong; in many parts of the United States, and also
in
other countries: such as Germany, Israel, Japan, Switzerland,
Australia,
Canada, Russia, and Finland. The college has provided health care
services
to seniors, men and women, children, stroke patients, HIV/AIDS
patients,
and cancer patients. Our work is well recognized by the San Francisco
Department
of Public Health, the California Pacific Medical Centre, and several
city
community-health-care clinics. We dedicate ourselves to education,
research,
and patient-care; continuously improve standards of professionalism in
practice, and excellence in traditional Chinese medicine.
The American College
of Traditional Chinese Medicine has taken a leadership
role in defining and advancing the use of traditional Chinese medicine
in American healthcare. This medicine, which has been mentioned by
several
speakers this morning, is an ancient medical system based on the
philosophical
Chinese concept that's when a human body is kept in harmonious balance,
health and well-being are naturally maintained. Chinese medicine has a
long history- about 3000 years; it encompasses a wide variety of
perspectives,
such as internal medicine, pediatrics, dermatology, mental dysfunction,
gerontology, immune deficiency, and many areas. The validity of this
medicine
has been developed over the past 3000 years.
Since the early
1970's, traditional Chinese medicine has been adopted
rapidly in the United States. Today, thirty-eight states passed the
legislation
for licensed acupuncturists to practice this ancient healing art. Six
thousand
students are currently studying acupuncture and herbal medicine at 40
private
schools across the United States, recognized by the Accreditation
Commission
for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, and by the U.S. Department of
Education.
Among the students, some are medical doctors, physical therapists,
nurse-practitioners,
nurses psychologists and pharmacists. Many more students and their
family
members received benefits of Chinese medicine, decided to make a career
change to provide their healing arts to help more people. There are
currently
20,000 practitioners, practicing acupuncture and herbal medicine,
Taiji,
Qigong, in the United States.
People need this
ancient healing art; since they are low-cost, effective,
remarkably safe, with few side effects. With the rapidly [increasing]
aging
population in the United States, our health-care system has some
crisis.
Traditional Chinese medicine has many effective ways to contribute to
the
health-care needs of senior citizens. While many people today in this
country
cannot afford the high cost of health care, traditional Chinese
medicine
is able to provide low-cost health care to the people. However, the
health
insurance industry- HMOs, hospitals, and the government- have not fully
recognized, nor provided support to traditional Chinese medicine; to
make
it available to the U.S. people, despite the fact that 20% of the
people
in today's world are using this medicine effectively. Unless the
government
gives strong support in the policy, many people in this country cannot
not receive the benefits of traditional Chinese medicine. I hope the
commissioner's
report will break some constructive recommendations to the President
and
the Congress, the support traditional Chinese medicine, and support
other
complementary and alternative medicines.
Thank-you very much.
Dr. Jonas or Dr.
Chow, any questions?
I had a couple of
questions … one to Craig Little on … a couple of items
that you mentioned … and to get some clarification …
You mentioned that
you thought that there should not be lied scope of
practice, and then highlighted the incredible amount of training that
chiropractors
go through, on muscular skeletal areas; and certainly, AHRQ's report on
chiropractic profession; which, I think, most would agree is extremely
comprehensive, highlighted that the muscular skeletal areas were the
areas
that were primarily the ones that chiropractors actually dealt with, in
their day-to-day practice. And so, are you suggesting that the scope of
practice of individuals well trained and licensed in that area, then
should
be expanded to all areas, or…? I was a little confused by that … and
not
limited to muscular skeletal? … is that what you were saying?
Yes, and …
So they should be
able to be primary-care practitioners; prescribe drugs,
do diagnostic testing?
No, because that's
really outside what the chiropractic profession considers
its scope…
Let me give you an
example: In the state of California- in most states-
chiropractors have a very broad scope of practice with regards to
diagnostic
and, you know, treatment modalities. However, in the Federal arena,
such
as Medicare, we are very limited on what we can perform; limited by way
of what's reimbursed. There may be some complementary types of
techniques
that we can utilize- physiological, therapeutics, and a lot of other
modalities
that aren't recognized in the Federal program, so we're … and for an
evaluation
services, as well. So there's a difference in what happens federally,
and
under federal health-care programs, under Medicare programs, versus
what
we do in most states. So that's what limits that scope; not so much a
barrier
by way of legislative but what's actually recognized in the federal
programs.
so there are scope limitations and descriptions, but they vary widely
and
different groups apply different…
State to state…
State to state as far
as licensure and scope of practice , which is,
by far, broader than what is recognized in federal programs …
Right…
Ms. Tang, I was
curious by your reluctance to develop a Qigong program;
and I wondered, is there a Taiji program in the, in the… among the
employees?
We do have a Taiji
program, and we do have a yoga program. Those two
are viewed mostly by administrators in common perceptions, as exercise
programs. In a Qigong program goes a little bit deeper than that- the
style
that I practice is called "medical Qigong"; and it does reduce
symptoms,
and… actually our current administration is very brave, and they have
just
given me permission to start a program, sometime in the spring, and so
I am… I feel very fortunate but it has been five years since I have
explored
with my administration; so, it has taken this long. And, and …
Was a lot of that
because that was viewed as more medical, than, say
Taiji; because certainly Taiji can effect medical conditions …
Right.
Okay, good; thank
you.
There has been
general reference by members of panel, and there's been
reference here, too, and anyone can answer it, if you wish, but
particular,
Dr. Little. Mentioned here is: "Providers of complimentary and
alternative
medicine must be trained and educated at an accredited institution" …
you
know, complimentary and alternative medicine is defined as all things
that
are outside of the purview of the modern Western medicine; and so
that's
a great variety- hundreds of different ways and methods; and some is
the
mind, some is the spirit, some is a physical … In a general statement
like
this, I wonder if you might want to clarify what you're meaning about
the
providers- are you speaking about the chiropractic itself, only, or
referring
to the whole rubric of complimentary/alternative medicine? I guess I'm
wanting some clarification, and those people who are going to be
speaking
about training …, we believe, too, that there should be proper
training;
perhaps you'd like to elaborate on that.
Well, proper training
and, basically, a level field; when it comes to
accreditation processes, and as far as disciplines. As was mentioned
here,
the United States Department of Education recognizes, at least to my
knowledge,
I know chiropractic and as well as acupuncture; and that type of
accreditation
is really in the best interests of the consumer and in the best
interests
of policy; so, that type of going through the processes for that type
of
accreditation is important.
What about the
practice of the mind; and what about the practice of
the spirit … do you classify that in with this …
In looking at that,
those practices integrated into, I think as you're
speaking, are they integrated into all disciplines and … as far as
making
… fragmenting it, and making a separate institution to accredit; I'm
not
sure that that's …I don't think that that's what you're speaking about;
but if…
Well, I, I think your
talking about, there's prayer, there's imaging
Yes.
… it's not physical,
you know it's a definite … area. So I'm not just
directing it to you; I'm just sort of bringing this forth, because,
there's
been some generalization, and as all CAM therapies should be accredited
and licensed, etc.; what about imaging, prayer, and meditation, and all
of that?
I'd like to expand my
answer to Dr. Jonas, earlier. Part of the consideration
and concerns that we have; Qigong, because there're different
modalities-
the Taoists, the Buddhists … and as a government agency we are very
careful
about not bringing in any question about whether we're providing
services
that are religious-specific; and the mind, the body the spirit- yes, in
general, people accept that but they don't accept it with association
to
a particular religion.
I want to respond to
Dr. Chow's concerns. There has generally been a
model in healthcare, that licensure is the appropriate way of providing
regulation, but in this field of alternative healthcare, I think it
gets
a little murky. What makes more sense, is there be title-licensing
acts,
so that, in fact, if you go through certain training programs and pass
certain tests only you can call yourself an acupuncturist, or a
homeopath,
or a chiropractor, or whatever. That doesn't mean that another
professional
cannot use homeopathic medicines, cannot due some physical therapy to
the
back or to specific joints. We have to be careful that we don't create
within our own field, the tendency towards monopolization and
segmentation
of the therapies; especially in this field.
One of the things as
time goes on, again that we'd like you to be thinking
about, is exactly the kind of issues, Dana, that you're just raising;
because,
there certainly is that tendency for different, different, of these,
not
exactly new professions; but of these other-than-conventional
professions
to begin to claim exclusive rights to a particular territory. So I look
forward to all of you thinking about these things, and sending us any
thoughts
you have on these; and we will be specifically addressing them when we
have education panels, but thanks for bringing them up now.
Thank you, that was
the point of my question.
I just wanted to
mention one more thing, in response to some of your
comments, Dana, on the homeopathic research, that is an issue in terms
of an obstacle around research and research methods. If you look at the
homeopathic research in aggregate, compared to what we do for many
things
that are accepted in in-practice, it's not nearly of the same extent,
in
terms of the number of trials and this type of thing. I mean, it just
isn't;
and, of course that speaks to a lot of things: 1) we need more funding
due to the research, but 2) we also can't claim that there's a whole
lot
of evidence in those areas; and I think another obstacle is, in a
number
of these areas, in which from the Western perspective they're
implausible;
and one of the things that's often brought up is that very implausible
things, like homeopathy, require extraordinary evidence; which means
you
needed perhaps a different level of evidence; and it might be difficult
or if not impossible, at this point, to provide.,
Thank you, very much-
Thank you, all
We'll begin with the
next panel, and the first speaker; on… do you want
to call up the subsequent panel…
Lynn Murphy; Karen
Scott; Stephen Bent; and Bradley Jacobs- could come
up, and be seated, and readiness; thank you.
The first speaker on
the next panel will be Bruce Shelton.
Hello; thank you very
much.
I want to assure the
committee that I actually practiced timing my talk,
to fit in the time frame. Good Morning! Mr. Chairman and members of the
Commission; my name is Dr. Bruce Shelton. It's an honour to appear
before
you. I am a Board-certified medical doctor; homeopathic family
physician;
licensed in Arizona as both, a medical physician and a homeopathic
medical
physician. I am the president of the Arizona Board of Homeopathic
Medical
Examiners, and bring you official greetings on behalf of the State of
Arizona.
I have brought to you
today, and you have a copy of this, and give me
an extra minute and I'll read it to you, a proclamation from the
Secretary
of State of Arizona, showing our State's commitment to integrative
medicine
as one of only three states having a separate Board of Homeopathic
Medical
Examiners, open to graduate MDs and Dos, that qualify in the fields of:
classical homeopathy, acupuncture, ortho-molecular medicine, chelation
therapy, neuro-muscular integration, nutrition, and pharmaceutical
medicine.
I am personally a graduate of New York Medical College and I am a
Diplomate
of the British Institute of Homeopathy. In January, I will become the
National
Medical Director of Heal, Incorporated of Albuquerque, NM and
Baden-Baden,
Germany. Heal, Inc. is one of the largest manufacturers of combination
homeopathic remedies, and my comments made today are also made on their
behalf.
I call to your
attention that homeopathic medicines were, and are legally
part of the United States pharmacopoeia; and have been ever since that
law was established in 1938. This is the same law that established the
FDA. Herbs are not part of it; homeopathies are, medicines are.
Homeopathics,
of course, have been on the scene since 1797, when this school of
medicine
was established by Dr. Samuel Hanneman, MD, a medical doctor who
developed
both the words: Homeopathy and Alophathy, to differentiate himself from
his non-believing peers. Homeopathics being a similar pathos or
suffering,
and Alopathics being an opposite pathos or suffering. Similars being a
permanent cure, and opposites only a temporary cure- for as long as the
patient is on the remedy. To quote from the Bible (which is an example
of what I feel these two words mean): "Give a man a fish, and you feed
him for a day; teach him how to fish, and you feed him for the rest of
his life."
Even though
Homeopathy is legal in this Country, as the remedies themselves,
it has been unfairly discriminated against by third-party insurers,
hospitals,
governments, and the drug companies who realized that the lesser-priced
homeopathies represent competition for higher cost pharmaceuticals. Not
only does Homeopathy and integrative medicine work in a kinder, more
gentler
manner, and more completely, but it saves money in large amounts.
Therefore, what
should be done to bring this to the fore, and move our
work forward?
1. Seeing that it's legal already, mandate that discriminating
against it is improper; allow third party payers to pay for its legal
use;
create the several hundred missing procedure codes to add to the
already
existing tens of thousands of codes that we live under, that will allow
for its coverage. Allow HICVA and Medicare to tell properly licensed
physicians
to deliver services to patients that want and need them.
2. Seeing that as it is legal, as it is in Arizona and several other States, allow hospitals to use integrative medicine, after full disclosure and full consent between doctor and patient. Make sure that patients know of its legal existence, and give them the freedom of choice that they deserve. 3. Seeing that everyone is literally crying for the reduction in the high cost of healthcare, commission the studies and data collection, through large patient populations, based on outcome studies, not double-blind; outcome studies and the tenets of quantum physics, which explains this, if you just read quantum physics- its been around since Albert Einstein talked about it. To give our political and business leaders the data we all need to make informed decisions. 4. Allow States, such as Arizona, who have a Board of qualified medical examiners, to judge procedures; such as Dardfield blood evaluation, Bioterrrain analysis, and other valued complimentary lab tests- to go forward by empowering CLEA, which has no understanding right now of these procedures, with new regulations that they need, that will allow this type of work to proceed under proper regulations. At last, 5. Take the stigma of 'voodoo medicine' out of this important subject, by allowing science to proceed unhampered. The scientific method, itself, demands that observations be proved or disproved methodically; the anecdotal observations involving literally tens, if not hundreds of millions of patients, have been around for hundreds of years. The current method of verification; i.e., double-blind studies, are anti-competitively structured to keep the truth from the light. Most of us in this
room already know that it works; all that we're missing
is the correct political and legal courage to bring it about, even if
that
means amending the Sherman Act- the antitrust act. We applaud the work
of this Commission, and pledge the support of those we represent; to
move
our important work forward, as quickly and as efficiently as possible-
the health of our society depends on our success.
If I have an extra
minute, I'll read the proclamation …
No.
I guess you can read
it yourself.
Thank you, very much.
Thank you.
Kenneth Saucier,
please.
I am very much
impressed by the movement of this committee, into new
areas; and I think that we are about to see the advent of a bright new
future in medicine. I'm a little embarrassed- I thought there was going
to be an overhead projector, so I'm going to have to change my
procedure,
a little bit. I'll provide you with another description of what I am
saying.
I'm connected with
the Qigong Institute, my interest is in science;
and the obtaining scientific information on the development of medical
Qigong research; and, in that regard, I've designed a computerized
Qigong
database, which collects all the work that I've been able to find- over
sixteen hundred references and abstracts, in English, of work that's
been
done, worldwide. Most of the research in Qigong, you may know, has been
done in China; and some of it is mindbogling, in a way, because it
shows
us what can be done. Unfortunately, the research is not of the highest
quality that we would like, so the direction that we must take, I
think,
is to try to select those subjects among those that look good, for
further
validation; and I have some suggestions in that regard. I believe that
the … not only must we consider medical applications, and I would
suggest
such things as asthma, diabetes, hypertension, and pain, among other
things-
there are many- but also, I think that we may consider social
applications,
and among these is rehabilitation, using Qigong in a … for example, in
hospitals and clinics; in juvenile detention centers; in jails, where
inmates
have really their need for guidance and rehabilitation; of course, drug
addicts; and then, in schools; and commerce, industry- the stress
reduction
is a subject of Qigong, that could address very well. Dr. Chow and
Michael
Mayer, and some other people here, have been working in that area; and
I think that Qigong has particular promise in the area of improving
health-
that is, mental health, physical health, sleep, and sexual health. I
think
that we must consider not only the efficacy of these forms of medical
Qigong,
but also the cost effectiveness; and there have been some examples,
recently,
of cost effectiveness- Dr. Ruth, there in Germany, did some research
with
asthma, and showed that there was some remarkable cost effectiveness
among
the patients.
As far as research is
concerned, and I think that the United States
is really way behind with respect to what's going on in other
countries.
In China, unfortunately, it looks like research is going to be strictly
curtailed because of political reasons; and it's a great pity, but
Japan
research in Qigong and related areas; is very much alive; the
government
is supporting research there- it had a first five-year program, which
has
just been renewed at two and one-half times the previous funding. They
have a group of researchers, which are really producing a lot of
research,
which is published in a journal, in English; but … Outside, in the
United
States, as you may know, there is very little going on; and part of
that
is the difficulty of funding. I think that some of that is due to some
of the cumbersomeness of making applications to NIH; and I am just
wondering
whether the double-blind ? requirement is a very strict kind of
requirement-
and it probably cannot be easily met, when one is dealing with a
mind-body-spirit…
healing thing, as Qigong. So, I would wonder whether we should consider
more pilot studies, simpler ones that can be implemented with less
requirements;
so that we can outline some new opportunities for new research.
So, thank you very
much.
Thank you, very much.
Thank you for your work, and providing information
about this.
Peg Jordan
Well, I'm very
grateful to the Committee; for coming to San Francisco,
first- it's where things start here, I'm also grateful to the Clinton
Administration,
in fact, for this what may be conceived as the last, enlightened act,
before
they depart. I'm also happy that the Committee has allowed me to bring
a voice in perspective of medical anthropology to this public hearing.
I've been a registered nurse and a health journalist for over twenty
years;
I was the Channel 2 health reporter here; I've been with CNN, and Fox.
I've also been in the trenches of Biomedicine, running ICU, CCU at
major
medical centers as a nurse; and from there, I've just kind of started
reporting
out more and more from the margins, really, as I looked at the health
landscape,
and that led me, basically, to this completing a doctorate in medical
anthropology.
From this viewpoint, I've been very acutely aware that, like many of
us,
the chronicity of illness is truly one of our singular challenges
coming
up in this next era; and just in time- we have an evolving medical
pluralism
afoot; we have East talking to West, we have North talking to South, we
have industrialized talking to indigenous; and, no where else, do I
find
the conversations more open and flourishing, than right here, in San
Francisco
and northern California.
What I'm going to do
is present some summaries of the three years of
field work I've done; ethnographic field research, as medical
anthropologists
visiting and studying clinics throughout North America- they call
themselves,
'Integrated Medicine Clinics'. And I use that word, right now, kind of
tenuously, because what I found in most models was more of a
subjugative
medicine; in other words, a co-opting of many different health
disciplines,
under the belt of the one person in charge- using them as if they were
kind of an expanded menu/options to choose from. Now, this is really
kind
of nothing new in the history of medicine; wherever we've had cultures
rubbing up against one another, there's often a creative emergence- a
co-opting,
it's unpredictable in its form, its impact. But I've also witnessed,
throughout
Canada, British Columbia, both eastern Canada, some clinics in Ohio, of
all places; Santa Cruz, and three here in northern California. A new
model
that's emerging, that is fascinating, that has got a democratic, level
playing field- something we're all kind of talking about here,
wondering
about; where disparate, medical world views actually sit, in circle,
with
each other. Now they're doing this in experimental models; they're
doing
it without pay; and they're doing it so that they can leave their kind
of isolated practice, with its typical blinders on, and they kind of
"rub
elbows", next to people from homeopathy, traditional Chinese medicine,
Irevedics, herbology, psychology, holistic 'L' paths, Biofeedback
imagery.
They are sitting anywhere from two hours, to a half-day, in circle with
each other. Some of the circles are doing this with someone with a
chronic
illness; in other words, someone who has been exhausted in terms of
time
and resources, and money- is very tired of going off alone and trekking
to each one of these practitioners, for an answer to their chronic
problems.
And what they found was, that this circle, this circle has a sense, a
resonance
in itself in a way; that they can receive information from each of
these
disciplines, in a very time-efficient manner. And I have a proposal,
right
now in my findings, that looks at what is happening in some of these
circles-
at least three that I have observed, is a common nomenclature starting
to evolve, in which I watched an Irveda practioner say, ''you know,
this
one I think I can do a lot with, 'cause we really cover that trunk
well-
we really know the digestive fires". And I've watched the homeopaths
saying,
"Yeah, I think I'll recede and let you go for this one:. In other
words,
because we're sitting in circle together, and listening to each other;
and I think this is the first step, and I offer this as ethnography.
Before
the qualitative and quantitative measurements come out, look at it like
an anthropologist landing on the shore, and seeing some really
interesting,
fascinating people at work. You ask: 'who are you? What are you doing?
What are your interactions? What is the dynamic here? And just because
it is the Year 2000, and we have a chance for all of us to come
together
in dialogue; what I'm having to do is write down the various types of
interactions
that are happening; and watching a levelling effect, and watching the
pedestal
get knocked out of some of the different disciplines; and watching the
mouth of the MD go aghast as the ? and body worker recommends
something.
So, this is the open
dialogue that I really feel is very rich, and full
of cross-fertilization and possibilities. I suggest this to you, in
closing,
as a means of looking at a new natural healthcare, natural medicine
continuum.
I'm also an advisory board member for California Association of
Naturopaths;
and you'll be hearing more from Sally Lemont on that. But, in so doing,
these healing circles could represent a new addition to peer review and
quality assurance, in which they're able to determine what are some of
the best modalities to approach this chronic illness
Thank you, very much.
Next, will be Michael
Mayer.
Thank you, very much
to the Commission for being here, and particularly
being at this place, that, in San Francisco, where we're opened up to
the
East, at the place of the Golden Gate Bridge. And a lot of my life has
always been about that kind of integration, myself- I remember very
early
in my life, I would sit by a rock and listen to two rivers coming
together,
way before I knew anything about meditation or psychology. And the
Native
Americans believed that those images that are there early in our life
effect
the way that our lives unfold; and part of the Native American healing
is to take a name like that. So, that idea of two rivers joining, has
been
a lot of my work, as both a Psychologist and a Qigong teacher. I've
been
in practice as a Psychologist for about twenty-five years, and teaching
Qigong for about twenty. And I think I have a unique perspective in
relationship
to watching how at one point Psychology was seen as being an
alternative
approach to healing; and I watched in California, for many years
hospitals
weren't allowing Psychologists to come in, and would stop the kind of
integration
that I feel is very important to healing. The distinction between
Eastern
and Western approaches to healing is very interesting, in that we try
to
isolate variables in the West; and, in the East, this aspect of
integration
is very important. Even here, I was needing to say that I am part of
just
one thing, which is the Body-Mind Healing Center, and yet I'm part of
some
of the research that Peg Jordan is talking about, at the Health
Medicine
Forum, and you'll hear from our director, Dr. ? ? , later, I'm the
associate
director of that group. I was part of the integrative approaches at San
Francisco State University. But today, I feel like I might be able to
give
best help just in terms of talking about this idea of integration;
because
I'll go into places like the American College of Traditional Chinese
Medicine,
and talk about the importance of integrating Psychology with Qigong;
and
I'll talk to Psychologists about the importance of integrating Eastern
forms of medicine with Psychology. And in our statistical studies, we
want
to do one thing or the other- we want to use outcomes ? to find what is
the one thing affecting us. And yet, this idea that if I'm working with
somebody in terms of Qigong; they have things that are going on in
their
hearts, their minds, their bodies, that are very much a part of their
lives.
And as a Psychologist, when I'm working with people that have anxiety
disorders,
I bring in aspects of self-touch- I've been trained as an
acupressurist,
and got a certification in that- and in Qigong, there is no
certification.
When I go into medical settings, and it can have doctors that are part
of my teaching at the California Institute of Integral Studies, for
example;
they come out of my class and they're very impressed with the healing
abilities
of what Qigong can do for them- they've experienced it. And when I ask
them, can you bring this into the hospitals, they say 'no way'; the
credentialing
is really poor in terms of Qigong. The studies don't really prove many
things. And so, again, I'm stuck with two rivers- I'm in between worlds
that way; and, I wrote an article, recently, for the Journal of
Alternative
and Complimentary Medicine on Qigong and hypertension, which I'll
submit
to you for review; as well as my article on chronic pain- again going
back
to the idea of integrative approaches. And when we try to separate
things
out; when I have a patient that might have a lower back problem, I have
a team that Peg Jordan was talking about- our orthopaedic surgeons
sometimes
will refer somebody like that to me, as well as to the acupuncturist,
as
well as to the chiropractor, as well as to many other people; and this
person that has the lower back problem, working with all of us- that
was
scheduled for surgery- at one moment they'll have an incredible image
arise,
when I'm doing a combination of hypnosis and Qigong with them; and
something
will emerge, where deep tears will come from a memory of what was
blocked-
in this particular case a rape that the person had repressed for many
years.
But on a more macro-cosmic level, in terms of what are the policy
implications
of this, medical settings have a hard time letting in, not only
Psychologists-
that has changed to some degree- but in terms of allowing in
alternative
practioners; and there are some good reasons for that, because the
training
has not been, in this Country, what it could and should be. So, in
relationship
to advocating something to consider, we could distinguish because we're
really limited by integrating and integrative approaches to medicine
into
the healthcare system. And we may want to distinguish various different
levels that somehow have more funding for Qigong, educationally, and
there's
a distinction between that and the medical practice; and, right now, I
think that Qigong could be incorporated into places that are giving
acupuncture
training- they could even be… why separate; why not have Qigong be part
of continuing education? Why not have Qigong teachers taking continuing
education as part of their own training; and have Qigong people
required,
just like I as a Psychologist am, to take courses in research
methodology,
to take courses in ethics, to take courses in safety; because there are
legitimate concerns that the public has in terms of all those areas.
So, I thank you very
much, for listening to this; and I've incorporated
two different papers to give you for your review.
Thank you,
Thank you, all
Effie, Wayne-
questions?
Thanks. Thank you for
your deliveries. The concern about credentialing,
and then also, for good research, I want to be clear that I do
appreciate
that. Sometimes I put questions out to be a little bit 'devil
advocate',
and maybe push your thinking beyond the limits that we sometimes limit
ourselves. So, are we too quick to jump to credentialing?
END OF TAPE
SIDE IV WHC 9-8-00
11:05 AM
[TAPE III, PART V
SIDE B
More macrocosmic
level in terms of what policy implications it is. Medical
settings have a hard time letting in not only psychologists, that has
changed
to some degree, but in terms of allowing alternative practitioners. And
there some good reasons for that, because the training has not been, in
this country, what it could and should be. So, in relationship to
advocating
something to consider, we could distinguish, because we are really
limited
by integrating and integrative approaches to medicine into the
healthcare
system and we may want to distinguish various different levels that
somehow
have more funding for Qingong educationally and there's a distinction
between
that in the medical practice, and right now I think that Qingong could
be incorporated into places that are giving acupuncture training, they
could even be… Why separate them? Why not have Qingong part of
continuing
education? Why not have Qingong teachers taking continuing education as
part of their own training and have Qingong people required, just like
I as a psychologist am to take courses in research methodology, to take
courses in ethics, to take courses in safety, because there are
legitimate
concerns that the public has in terms of all those areas. So, I thank
you
very much for listening to this and I've incorporated two different
papers
to give you a review.
Thank you, all. Are
there, Effy, Lane, questions?
Thank you for your
deliveries and the concern about credentialing and
then also for good research. I want to be clear, that I do appreciate
that.
Sometimes I put questions out to bee a little devil advocate and maybe
push your thinking beyond the limits that we sometimes limit ourself…
So,
are we too quick to jump to credentiling?
Just using Qingong as
an example, It's been in China 5,000 years and
they are dealing with the question of credentialing now, and because of
politics etc. it's run into a problem … And yet it's done such
wonderful
things… Are we letting ourselves get scared when an institute says,
well,
what' the credentialing? or what credentials do you have? Perhaps, we
could
be brave and say (I think that needs to be explored) there is no basic
credentialing now and … About rushing into credentialing now, I know
there
are groups that are now wanting to set up standards right now, you for
the can, so I threw this out and I liked what you said about medical
anthropology
and the way you look at things and perhaps more… And I know that the
commission
we have really, um, question about the research methodologies and
perhaps
if people like you could come up with ideas too, concrete ideas on what
would constitute either than basic scientific research, to us that
would
be helpful.
1. I have a question for Dr. Shelton. I assume that you
advocate a separate regular …process or licensing for holistic
physicians
as is in Arizona as is… Is this what it is in Arizona, I mean it's a
separate
from the medical board…
2. It's a separate medical board 3. That basically sets up it's own rules and that type of thing?
Is the adminstration that you represent,
Bruce Bavick used to be Governor of Arizona before he went to become
Secretary
of the interior, and he's the one responsible for the wisdom behind the
homeopathic board 20 years ago. It is a separate licensing board of MDs
and DOs who qualify in any of those 6 modalities that I've mentioned.
If
you pass the test you get licensed as a homeopathic MD whether you be a
DO or MD that you 're tested by peers who believe that this is real,
that
you won't get in trouble by using a homeopathic instead of an
anti-inflammatory,
for instance.
4. Right. So does the board then look for qualifications
in any of these fields or in all of these fields?
5. At this moment it's any one or more. 6. So they'll each be done separately… So you'll get a homeopathic certification or you'll get an acupuncture certification and then you can add or do as many or few of this… But they're not necessarily certified to do all of those things. 7. No, not at all… The thing that you might find interesting… you ought to hold the hearing in Minnesota. Have you seen what they've done there? In May of this year they passed a law that any practitioner just has to register with their health department and as long as they give full in form consent they're free to go. They don't have to be… I mean, everyone in this room, who is … all the different types move to Minneapolis and you can practice there now. Jesse Ventura allowed us to go through. It's an interesting state. We're going to look into it 8. I have a couple of other things to ask… I' really like to find out more about the … You said the research in the area of Qingong is increasing and Japan has just been refunded …I'd like to find out more of that is… What it is that they're actually doing, whether or not it's government supported, how that process is occurring . Dr Seans here … so I just would like to get some information about that , you know, what is that project, what is it doing, especially if in China you say the amount of research is going to go down, you know, which is where obviously the history and past and the expertise has been 9. Two of the international councils on Qingong which were supposed to be held in China in September this month have not… they've been canceled. And in Japan, starting maybe 5, 6 years ago they're a group of about 10 or so scientists who dedicated and they got together every month or so, they designed an experiment and then they went somebody's laboratory and they brought their equipment and so they started a very strong base of cooperative research and has developed so much that they have been able to get funding from the government to 2 and I think million dollars for 5 years and that first grant expired this year and it was renewed at 2,5 times that amount 10. And was that from the government, the Japanese government? 11. Japanese government, a branch of the Japanese government. So they used this money, partly for funding this research, they also go to China where there are people with exceptional abilities, and they bring the residents at loan of them and so it's a multi level thing they have not done much with medical Qingong It's mostly experimental. I think the doctors there are even perhaps less open to participating with Qingong than they are here, if that's possible 12. And Dr. I asked also if you had some information about the … circles… That's a beautiful image that you've painted of this process and it would be wonderful to get more information the details about what that is… 13. Oh, sure… 14. It's almost Dr. But I don't expect you to read my dissertation but I will summarize them and send them into the commission 15. Thank you all very much and while we're getting ready for the next panel we want to call the subsequent matter
First on this panel is Lynn Murphy
16. Thank
you and thank you all for your dedication and your
commitment to this commission. And I'm delighted to be here. I'm the
mother
of a now 24 year old Where 20myears ago he was diagnosed with
hyperactive
and told that he needed RYDOLIN and we went from DR to DR and there was
no clue as to really what the cause of this was and we stumbled across
a diet that ended up helping him. We're not the only family in the US
that
this has helped and I'm here representing the Feingold association of
which
I'm a volunteer and also talking about… on behalf of all those children
who still need help… The Feingold Association to start with is a
non-profit
consumer network of parents of children who are sensitive to food
additives.
We personally assist about 3000 families a year and see about a 60-75%
success rate. We show them, we show these families how to find real
food
in fast-food restaurants, in the super-markets and also how to
rediscover
actually cooking. Many families who this a good try report that they
have
a child that's either greatly improved or maybe just it takes an edge
off
their anger. These families are the lucky ones though, they stumbled
across
this and it's usually without the help of a doctor that they've found
it.
Part or all of the answer to their child's chronic attention , behavior
or health problems lies within diet. But there's still many more.
Considering
just one condition, Attention deficit disorder, that's ADHD, it affects
one out of every 20 children in this country, that's a staggering
amount.
It's the number one psychiatric condition among children. Over the past
25 years the Feingold Association has assisted over half a million
families
nationwide to improve their quality of life by simply eating real food.
So, what's the problem here? We have a program that's working? Well,
eating
real food as a therapeutic option, implies that there is a problem with
our food supply in this country. And that has brought over the past 25
years endless debate, despite the research. There are about 2,000,000
families
who are searching for answers and there's many barriers to them getting
these answers. So, why shouldn't they be told of this therapeutic
option
-simply eating real food - before they are put on powerful,
psychoactive
drugs? Well, the reason is that the physicians are simply afraid to
recommend
something that is a departure from the main stream. One such physician,
right here in San Francisco, who you will hear about from the next
speaker,
had a licensing action against him. One of the charges was recommending
a variation of this diet, the Feingold program. The irony is, that
there
are many more studies showing a link between food colorings alone and
hyperactivity
and there are studies about the safety of psychoactive drugs. That did
not impress the judge, however, I was there, and the way it works in
California,
is it doesn't matter if the patient gets better and it doesn't even
matter
if there are studies. What matters is what the mainstream of doctors is
doing. What the mainstream is doing about ADHD is recommending a series
of drugs and giving an approving nod to psychotherapy. That's it. This
does not foster progress and understanding, that biological basis for
ADHD,
and it does not serve families well. And our nation's children are
being
drugged, many unnecessarily, and there are severe side effects to these
drugs. Hilary Clinton's task force is interested in investing
$6,000,000
in proving the safety of the drugs. I have a request of the Commission.
Could you please call her up and let her know that there is an issue
that
should be addressed first and are these drugs really needed in the
first
place? I tried to call her; she did not return my call. I sent her the
same booklet that you have in your packet from me. One solution, and I
know that you've asked for solutions would be to encourage the
administration
to invest its $6,000,000 into uncovering the cause of attention and
behavior
problem, not just putting a band-aid approach of drugs upon it. The
Feingold
Association has also asked the assistants of the National Institutes of
Health, almost 2 years ago a special panel was developed and they came
up with a consensus statement which included "The studies regarding
attention
and behavior and diet" were intriguing and worthy of more research.
Another
request: Could you please help us understand how many studies are
enough?
Knowing that would be part of the solution. How many studies are really
enough before physicians can adopt a treatment? Feingold Association is
not the only organization that recognizes the importance of the
diet-behavior
connection. In your packet you'll see that green and white booklet
called
"Diet, ADHD and Behavior" and it has specific recommendations in there
and also some guidelines for research and what it might include to get
to the bottom of this. So in summary, please check out the research
yourselves
and if there's anything you can do to get the powers to be to stop
lying
about the studies that show in fact a very real connection between the
food-coloring alone and behavior, we would be very grateful and so
would
about 2,000,000 children and their families in this country. Thank you.
17. Thank you very much. Karen Scott. Good afternoon. For the past 16 years my sister and I have been the patients of Dr Robert Sinaiko. He was an allergist and immunologist in the San Francisco Bay area until October of last year. This story exemplifies how our access to alternative and progressive physicians and treatments has been denied. Dr Sinaiko is an exceptional physician who is working to improve the lives of people suffering from complex and poorly understood problems such as chronic fatigue, multiple chemical sensitivity, ADHD and autism. In an effort to bring to his patients the latest advances in medicine, Dr Sinaiko is using a treatment called EPD (Enzyme Potentiated Desensitization). EPD consists of low dose antigens mixed with an enzyme. EPD has been used in Europe for decades and a number of studies have been published on EPD, proving it is more effective than traditional therapies. Also EPD has been shown to occasionally reverse autism and other chronic conditions such as AUDIMUNE THORODISTIC. It is currently in this country. Dr Sinaiko is always working … also working on the ways to improve to improve the care of his patients using best knowledge of several fields of specialty. He was particularly involved in developing more knowledge of Salvation System Function and its relation to Diet therapy in autism and ADHD. His research includes developing a noninvasive test that would predetermine which ADHD and autistic children would respond to dict and antifungue therapies. Usually these children are simply given drugs, namely Ritalin. Additionally Dr Sinaiko taught a medical class at USCF. In a zealous attempt to stand by alternative medicine, the Medical Board of California has forced this position out of practice with a Kangaroo trial that had nothing to do with justice. Despite the fact that no patients have been harmed, and that his use of new diagnostic and therapeutic measures has improved the quality of life for his patients with chronic illnesses. The Medical Board refused to allow into evidence science and research studies that validated the progressive care Dr Sinaiko was providing this his patients. Instead followed their own expert opinions with no supporting evidence and research. The Medical Board has stated that the aforementioned illnesses do not exist and has chosen not to look at the evidence to the contrary. It becomes clear that diagnosing chronic fatigue, multiple chemical sensitivity or ADHD child for allergies or bringing the latest advances in science to patients is dangerous a medical practitioner's license in the state of California. The California Medical Board irrigated to itself the right to decide scientific controversy and remove the license or severely punish anyone who dares disagree. Dr Sinaiko now works at Sharper Image. The Medical Board of California put him on approbation so restricted and horrendous that he's not allowed to care for any of his patients. His office has been closed and his patients are unable to find medical care for their very difficult to treat illnesses. Their access to progressive medical care has been denied. My sister and I have been forced to seek medical treatment two states away. Many patients are in fragile condition and more than a few patients say that they're in danger of dying without the care they need. Their access to alternative care has been denied. The principles of medical ethics adopted by the American Medical Association in 1980 states: "A physician shall continue to study, apply and advance scientific knowledge, make relevant information available to patients, colleagues and the public". The World Medical Association's International Code of Medical Ethics under duties of physicians to the sick: "A physician shall owe his patients complete loyalty on all resources of his science". The Declaration of Tokyo states that a doctor must have complete clinical independence in deciding about the care of a person for whom he or she is medically responsible. The doctor's fundamental role is relieve the stress of his or her fellow men and no motive personal, collective or political shall prevent against this higher purpose. I believe that all human beings have inherited the right to choose how to best care for their health. That the Medical Board of California would use public funds of administrative office to carry out a private agenda for alternative and progressive medicine ethics with their actions. We are in desperate need of federal intervention, such as the "Access to Medical Treatment Act" or the "Thomas Novaro FDA Patient's Right Act". We need protection against private agendas being played out publicly. It is my hope that the White House Commission of Complementary and Alternative Medicine will be a positive step forward and restore freedom of medical choice to Americans and preventing the persecution and injustice done to forward thinking physicians using alternative medicine. Thank you! 18. Members of the Commission, my name is Steven Bent . I'm an internal medicine physician and a clinical investigator at the OSHER Center for Integrative Medicine in the university of California, San Francisco. Thank you for this opportunity to hear our thoughts about setting an agenda for researching complimentary and alternative medicine. As we think about how to expand and stimulate research in CAM, we must remember why we were interested in this area. There are three main reasons why we should aggressively pursue research in Complimentary and Alternative Medicine (CAM).
a) the public is obviously interested
in Cam. Surveys show an increasing use and increasing spending on CAM
therapies.
In order for patients to make in form treatment decisions about whether
to use certain CAM therapies, they need high-quality information about
safety and efficacy. Currently, there is limited available information.
b) CAM treatments are often directed
at medical conditions, for conventional treatments produce sub-optimal
results. CAM use is high and patients with certain conditions, such as
chronic pain, anxiety, back problems and urinary tract problems that
often
do not respond well to conventional medical therapies. CAM treatments
have
the potential to bring substantial benefits to this large group of
patients
who are often dissatisfied with their medical care. CAM treatments
place
a greater emphasis on a patient-provider relationship. Users of CAM
therapies
often report high satisfaction with their care. An examination of CAM
treatments
and the patient-provider interactions may help shed light on how to
improve
methods of delivering conventional care and strengthening the bond
between
patients and providers. Keeping these very important reasons in mind,
the
Federal Government must decide how to structure and stimulate research
in CAM therapies. While this is obviously a complex issue, we believe
there
are five points that should be part of the overall plan
1) Establish a system for creating priority
areas of research. There are literally thousands of CAM therapies and
it
will be impossible to study them all. CAM therapies that should receive
the highest priority for research are: those with the high prevalence
of
use, those directed at medical conditions for which patients believe
standard
therapies are particularly ineffective and those that have been
systematically
reviewed and found to have evidence suggesting safety and efficacy.
Although
high-quality studies are generally lacking an examination of true
literature,
especially foreign language literature, often provides evidence to
suggest
whether specific treatments are likely to be of substantial benefit.
2) Increase Government funding for research.
Unlike research of mini pharmaceutical and surgical treatments, most
CAM
treatments do not have the potential to make money for corporations and
so, they must rely on funds from the non-profit sector. For example: at
the OSHER Center for Integrative Medicine we have begun a control trial
of the herb San Palmetto for benign prostatic hyperplesia. This study
will
provide the first conclusive evidence about the safety and efficacy
which
has the potential to benefit the majority of men over 50. It is
supported
entirely by the NIH. Since herbs can not be patented, most herbal
companies
have small or non existent research budgets, studies of herbs so much
as
this one must be supported by federal grants. Although funding has
increased
substantially the total budget of the NCCAM is till only a small
fraction
of budgets at other major institutes at NIH
3) Research funding for public academic
medical centers should be a priority. Academic institutions have no
conflict
of interest and should have no bias with respect to interpreting CAM
research
results. Public institutions have a long history of excellence in
clinical
research and have a mission to serve the people and especially the
under-served
who have a high prevalence of disorders that do not respond well to
standard
medical therapies.
4) Support the training of young investigators
in this field. They're few national experts in CAM who also have
superior
training in clinical research methodology. For this movement to succeed
there must adequate support for training of its future scientific
leaders.
And finally, most funding should be directed
towards realizing control trials - the best research designed for
determining
safety and efficacy. Although CAM presents unique challenges with
regard
to the design of the control trials, such as blinding, individualized
treatments,
etc. These are obstacles that can be overcome. In summary, we are
optimistic
about the potential for providing the public with the kind of research
they seek and deserve. We believe, it can be best accomplished by:
defining
priorities of research, increasing Government funding, directing funds
towards academic medical centers, training young investigators and
emphasizing
reanimate control trial. The public academic community is anxious to
play
the central role in the open-minded and scientifically rigorous
exploration
of CAM therapies.
- Thank you very much. Bradley Jacobs
- Chairman, commissioners, good afternoon.
Thank you for inviting me today. I'm the infro director of the OSHER
Center
for Integrative Medicine for the clinic and I'm the Assistant Clinical
Professor of the University of Californian San Francisco. As a Faculty
member at a Public University and medical center I'm here to speak on
the
importance of expanding our educational commitment within the field of
integrative medicine towards medical schools and allied health
professional
schools. Specifically today I want to discuss three issues:
- The US Medical Community is not adequately
trained to discuss issues related to CAM with the general population
and
as a result we believe that preventable morbidity and mortality is
likely
to result. We believe, there is an urgent need therefore to educate our
medical community to prevent this crisis.
- Secondly, there is a lack of high-quality
education for healthcare professionals and such information should be
easily
accessible, objective and embedded with scientific rigor and no such
educational
programs exist currently.
- Third, healthcare professionals need
training in the following areas: communication skills, attitudinal and
sensitivity training. This is particularly important in this field as a
result of deeply embedded cross-cultural and diversity issues that are
related to this area. So, part #1: the US Medical Community is not
adequately
trained at this point to discuss related to CAM with their patients.
Despite
the significant use of CAM across the general population the vast
majority
of medical schools are not training their students. We're afraid that
as
a result of that, it's very difficult to imagine that our physicians
will
be trained to engage in responsible dialog with their patients. At UCSF
we recently conducted a survey. This survey showed that among the
faculty
practicing at UCSF, over half of them had personally used ACAM therapy
in their own life. And over half of them had actually referred patients
to CAM therapy. At the same time they also said that they don't feel
equipped
to discuss CAM therapy with their patients. In the absence of the
Community
of Healthcare Professionals that are well trained in this area,
patients
will indeed remain reluctant to tell their providers that they are
using
CAM therapies. Without this communication we are afraid that adverse
events
may be noted. Given the current strain on the healthcare system, this
will
surely only exacerbate the already strained doctor - patient
relationship.
For example, imagine an elderly patient who is an anti-…… for a stroke.
At the same time they're taking gingko, perhaps, for dementia. If
there's
no communication to the provider of this, then during the initial few
months
while they're on antic regulation, they're at a higher risk for
bleeding
side effects. And without that communication the physician can not
adequately
monitor the patient correctly. Likewise, for patients with HIV, a
similar
problem. Many are depressed and take St. John's wort for antirechovival
therapy. Without communication with the provider they may change the
therapy,
thinking the person developed drug resistance, when actually the
problem
is that the St. John's wort has reduced levels and as a result of that
drug resistance has ensued, again preventable, had the discussion taken
place.
Point #2 is: In order to provide education,
we need access to good information, high quality information. Such
information
in our opinion should be accessible, objective and embedded with
scientific
rigor. There are several private companies that are doing this;
academic
institutions are particularly well placed to do this. We are geared
towards
the public. These programs should remain objective with scientific
rigor.
At UCSF we are developing a web-site to try and evaluate healthcare
web-sites
so look at their scientific rigor.
Lastly, we need communicational skills
and attitudinal training to be improved in our health care professions.
We are doing this again at UCSF but we need help. We need help across
the
universities, across the country and we need the Government's help in
order
to do this. Despite our help from the Dean of this school, Highly
Deboss,
we still do not have enough energy or resources to do a good job at
this.
So I'm here today to request that the Government expand its commitment
to education, to public institutions. Thank you.
- Thank you very much. Are there questions
from listeners? Deane, do you want to begin?
- At the OSHER Center is there a clinical
component, an educational component, a research component in that, so
you're
developing or have developed an integrative clinic that involves CAM
practitioners
in some way or these physicians that are trained in some modalities, or
how is that organized?
- There are three divisions basically,
like you said: education, research and clinical. The clinical is the
last
one. The first to step forward and we're developing them now, so that
the
clinic is not open but we will be bringing in physicians that are
trained
in CAM modalities as well as CAM practitioners. And with a model that
Dr
Jordan mentioned, that integrative medicine model.
- This is a quick question for Karen
Scott. What is the name of the therapy for…
- Enzyme Potentiated Desensializaion.
- EPD? You said it's under an IRB?
- Yes
- So if it's under an IRB then why was
the licensing Board after Dr Sinaiko
- They pulled out everything and anything
they could use against him, they called using an EPD
subjugating a drug, they charged him
with using off label drug use, for using antifunguls on ADHD children
even
though he had all kinds of studies showing that …
- But was he practicing under this IRB?
That's what I'm curious about…
- Yes, he was under the IRB. Originally
he started with his own patients, the FDA testimony was that he was
allowed
to use it as long as it was not used in interstate comrals, as long as
he only used it on his own patients. But he problem is that the Medical
Board has no checks and balances. They do whatever they want to do and
there's no justice in the Medical Board. That is the problem and all of
these people that are talking about all these different therapies and
the
research won't do any good if the Medical Board sits there and: I like
your opinion, but you guys don't have a license.
- Karen, I really appreciate your bringing
this passion. If you could give us names of people and some more
detailed
information about the case. This is exactly the kind of issue that we
are
particularly interested in. One of the issues that we'd been discussing
will be addressing in the research panel and I invite you … We don't
have
time to include you on that panel of October 5th and 6th, but I
certainly
would welcome you and anyone else who would like to make public comment
on this issue, but I would like in the future for us to think about how
we can look at specific cases, like this one, and we can look and talk
at the different layers including the State Medical Board. I want to
mention
also that we are having representatives from the State Medical Boards
who'll
be testifying regarding research issues at our October 5th and 6th
meetings
in Washington
- We have made some efforts to put in
"A Physician's Right to Practice" bill SP2100 to protect physicians
like
Dr Sinaiko. We had not been able to get it through the system. I
understand
it was the consumer's TURNEY this time, they just gathered the Bill.
The
people who are in these positions just don't want to see alternate
care.
- Whatever information you can provide…
the more you can help us pull together information and suggest people
who
we might want to be hearing from, that would be a great help to us.
This
is a kind of issue that's of a great concern to us.
- Just in addition to that… Karen you
made that statement that said the Medical Boardhave a private agenda…
Would
that be good to kind of list your impressions on what that is and be
more
specific in your general statements…
- Well, honestly, I don't know what these
people talk about individually…. There's been some concern that they're
a part of anti-alternative groups such as QUACK Busters and Federation
of State Boards… They showed extreme bias in their prosecution of my
doctor,
extreme bias…
- I just wanted to complement Drs Bent
and Jacobs' work you're doing at the OSHER Center. I think it's a great
example of what I'd like to see more of in all academic centers.
- One comment also I'd like to make is
we not only welcome you at our meetings, but those of you who are here,
we encourage you to let other people know about the meetings that we
are
going to be having in the future. That's one of the reasons we gave you
the schedule. And we encourage other people let other people know to
let
the public generally know and to circulate word of our meetings in
whatever
ways you possibly can, we want as many people as possible to come
forward
and to share with us their experience. Thank you. We move ahead with
the
next panel and the first speaker is Jan Dederick… OK, we're going to
bring
up the first group of people who were speaking… on site speakers…
- These are the people who registered
for on site: Roma Russel, Garry Gordon, Tolley McCarel and Silvia
Margolis…
- Jan Dederick, please.
- I'm not here with any organization,
I'm here as a mother. I do have credentials, I was licensed in
chiropractor,
I'm certified in biofield therapeutics and I'm pretty trained in
homeopathy.
I raised two wonderful kids on solely complementary medical care. I'm a
little embarrassed to say that a lot of it has been my own which I know
goes against everyone's… I find myself in my community of friends being
someone whom people call up when they want support in kind of taking
charge
in their kids' medical problems. They don't want to run to Kaiser right
away, they want…you know…a lot of what I want to say has already been
said
this morning about research, I feel it's very very, so important when
setting
up the research on CAM to make a space for each of these alternative
therapies
to express their own individual selves. Within the research environment
it is not necessary to demonstrate the validity according to the
criterion
that control clinical and pharmaceutical trials ultimately the test has
to be what helps people mostly in their lives. Clinical research is
highly
valid and should be at least as respected as the instrumentation
quantitative
kind of research and this has come up this morning; the Qingong, the
homeopathy,
I mean, centuries of clinical evidence should count for a lot, I think
that CAM people may be hesitant to join in research with the medical
community
because of that history. Osteopaths were pretty much absorbed into the
medical community in the thirties, the chiropractics are struggling to
maintain their autonomy now, so I think there may be a little element
of
trepidation among these small people that… and I include myself in
that…
most of my time I spend doing biofield work and you know I just go
ahead
and I do what I do to help as many people as I can help. And it would
be
wonderful if it could be incorporated in the medical system and I am
really
pleased that this is happening today but there is part of me also that
is kind of suspicious because of the history. About the uniform
standards…
I believe that the UK Council and complementary medicine set up for
defining
alternative therapies and certifying them and so, and forth. And just
about
everything over there is reimbursed, even the spiritual healing. So you
folks might well just look at their model and see how adaptable it is.
Performing standards on CAM of course are necessary but again must be
defined
internally according to their own values not subject to the medical big
brother and finally the work I do is all about emotion in the body and
how it affects us. And I think that it is crucial for all of us to
remember
healthcare as a highly charged issue. We all have lots of emotion about
it and to try to forget it or deny it is silly. The point is not to
convince
each other who is right or wrong but to establish an environment of
tolerance
within which people are most free to pursue their optimum health as
they
define it and we need each to look at own biases with as much humility
as we can muster. And finally, a little hiccup which came up this
morning
while listening to everyone and I'll just share it with everyone with a
little quavering voice: The eye watches itself looking through lenses
of
various colors.
- Carole Ceresa
- My name Carole Ceresa. I have a Master's
in Health System's Leadership and I'm a registered dietician. I have
been
a full-time practicing dietician over the last 30 years. One of the
most
gratifying things that I've been involved in is initiating,
implementing
and maintaining a wellness program for both patients and for staff at
the
Medical Center. I currently work at a well-respected academic teaching
Medical Center here in San Francisco. My two colleagues and I will
provide
oral comments on behalf of the California Dietetic Association. The
California
Dietetic Association is composed of over 7,000 dietetic professionals,
dietitians and registered dietetic technicians. We are an affiliate of
the American Dietetic Association. Our mission is to benefit the public
through the promotion of optimal nutrition, health and wellbeing. We
advocate
the delivery of high-quality nutrition services to all citizens using
nutrition
Services as not the only but the primer nutrition service provider. Our
organization's initiatives include strategies for best meeting the
public's
need for comprehensive nutrition services including health promotion,
disease
prevention and MNT (Medical Nutrition Therapy) for physician-referred
patients
with acute and chronic disease. Our oral comments will focus on
nutrition
service issues in 5 the pre-selected areas, which are on the documents
you've been provided. The responses are noted to correspond to the
following
numbered topic headings listed on the Town Hall registration form.
Topic
2: "Guidance for access to delivery of and reimbursement of
complementary
and alternative medicine, practices and interventions". Our
recommendations
for improving access to safe and effective complementary and
alternative
medicine, practices and interventions are :
- include registered dietitian provided
nutrition services specifically MNT as part of universal healthcare
coverage
- include registered dietitian provided
nutrition services as part of all health promotion and disease
prevention
programs in schools, in health maintenance organizations, in federally
funded and state funded programs
- include registered dietitian provided
nutrition services in all senior care programs
- include registered dietitian provided
nutrition services as part of nutrition related CAM practices and
interventions
- Specify the need for registered dietitian
provided nutrition services to Internet startup companies of which we
have
a few in the Bay area that provide and purport CAM. There actually are
some dietitians working for these companies. Groups offering services
at
CAM provider should be required to check credentials. Credentialing
standards
should meet the American Accreditation Healthcare Commission quality
standards
for credential provider in each category.
- Promote the option of a healthcare
policy writer for defined CAM benefits or promote the inclusion of CAM
benefits incorporated into the CORE benefit
- Our recommendations for types of CAM's
practices and interventions that should be reimbursed through federal
programs
or other healthcare coverage systems
- Include CAM practices , only CAM practices
that show some level of efficacy through clinical trials or scientific
studies.
- We encourage the coverage of MNT nutrition
therapy as CAM coverage service.
- Next is Ann Kolker
- My name is Ann Kolker and I have a
Master's in Nutritional Sciences and currently I am a dietetic intern.
So I do have a vast interest in today's topic and specifically in
regards
to food and herbs and supplements. Today I'm addressing the training,
education,
certification, licensure and accountability of healthcare practitioners
in Complementary and Alternative Medicines. In order to assure safe and
effective CAM practices, the California Dietetic Association's supports
required training, education and credentialing for nutrition
practitioners.
Standards for CAM credentialing should be established and registered
dietitians
who are most qualified to represent the science
Is a very safe and a very subtle, but
a very powerful form of medicine. We've been lucky so far in terms of
our
access to herbal medicine, because it's been a classified as
nutritional
supplement. I'm sure you've been aware of stories that have been
happening
in the media lately, where herbs have been slandered and such, and what
I think is going to have to develop, and I hope this commission looks
into
this, is developing a separate classification between food supplements
and drugs, for herbal medicines that might potentially be harmful to
the
public if they're not using them properly.
-Thank you very much.
-I have a comment to make. I really appreciate
the diversity of opinion and the pros and the cons to set side by side
and to be able to dialog. And I think more of this should be fostered
and
appreciate all the differences of opinion. That's the comment I have.
-I want to make a similar comment. I
don't think you could have orchestrated a panel better than this if you
had planned it. I do want to reiterate the importance of science and to
emphasize that the history of conventional medicine has been one of
repeated
errors until we got to a place where we figured out methodology's to
try
to sort things out and many people were treated with frankly very
dangerous
and ineffective things for many years. Until really just in the last 50
years, I would say, certainly science as a basic science has only been
around for about a hundred years and a randomized control trial first
one
was done , at least the first official one, in official history books ,
was only done 50 years ago. So we're really evolving these methods,
these
methods are still young in many cases, and so not only do we need to
pay
attention to them because of the benefit they've found but because we
also
need to make sure that we pay attention to their evolution, and their
advancement,
looking for how that occurs. And I really appreciate the comments that
have been made by this panel along those lines.
- I have a question and a comment. The
question is California the only state in which herbalism is tested as
part
of the licensure for the acupunctures?
- That is correct.
- Why was this decision made? What was
the rationale behind?
- Chinese medicines actually have a fairly
long history in California dating back to the gold rush. It was the
only
form of medicine available, it existed on the ground where Chinese
practitioners
were using acupuncture and herbs and when finally there was enough
momentum
to legalize the profession, the scope of the licensing act included
herbal
medicine.
- Nevada was the first state that legalized
acupuncture, California was the second. So we have the preview of
practicing
herb and CHIgon and acupressure and all the ramifications of
traditional
Chinese medicine. But there is a licensing through the National
Commission
for Certification, Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM) and
unfortunately
Alex Feign is on the board of that. He was here, but has just left, but
they license for acupuncture, so you get a national diplomat in
acupuncture
and they have just in the past few years have made a licensure in
herbs.
So, you have a national diplomat in herbology and they're now moving to
a massage and touch therapy as well. They were also considering other
aspects.
- One thing that I think we would welcome
in the future is the whole question of what licensure should be in
herbalism,
whether it's Chinese or any other kind of herbal therapy. That's an
issue
that's come in a lot in questions people have raised. The other comment
or really repast I would like to make is for people who are concerned
about
the use of proper research methodology. It includes certainly all of us
on the Commission. I'd appreciate any kinds of thoughts or guidelines
that
you have about research methodology which you think are appropriate or
which kinds of studies, which kinds of procedures, which kinds of
diagnostic
tests, which kinds of therapeutic approaches. Any contribution to that
dialog will be very much welcome. I know a number of you have raised
issues
about that. We do want to ensure that research methodology is
appropriate
to the approaches being studied and the questions being asked. So we're
very glad you brought up this issue and would appreciate any of your
input
over the next few months.
- I think the research is fine. I think
first of all you have to define what you mean by research and model. As
an engineer, a model means something entirely different to me than to
you.
I mean can you show me a meridian physically? I can show you a cell; I
can show you a bacteria. Show me a meridian, show me stored energy,
show
me that a prayer will fix a broken arm with a compound fracture. I will
say it's like perpetual motion. It's nonsense. If you spend our money
for
that when there are thousands of people dying every year because the
Government
is not doing their job in auto safety, like Firestone, should have been
taken to court long ago if the Government was spending their money
properly.
Now I don't mind you guys coming here and doing research and setting up
things, but I want my money to be used effectively, because I'm not
throwing
my money away like the tax people say, I'm giving my money away for a
service.
- Thank you.
- So, let's begin now with Brian Fennel
first.
- I'm Brian Fennel, President of Council
of Acupuncturists and Oriental Medicine Association. We're the largest
representative organization of licensed acupuncturists of the US. The
Council
promotes high standards of training and practice in our profession
which
includes the procedures and modalities of acupuncture , herbal
medicine,
manual therapy etc, exercise, breathing techniques and various other
adjacent
therapies. While the majority of our profession practices license
primary
health providers in the US, three additionally classified is primarily
treating physicians and their co-workers in California. We would like
to
comment that the composition of these additions seems odd and somewhat
deficient in some massage and some modalities. One is perhaps an
acupuncturist
who specializes in traditional Chinese herbal medicine (I know you
don't
have the power to change the Commission). And the other one is…There
are
over 200,000 massage therapists which is the primary and the largest
CAM
modality there is and they are not represented on the commission
either.
In alternative pointing members would be to setup an advisory committee
or individual advisors that would represent all of the CAM therapies
and
professions. You had an itemized check list, so I put these down and am
just going to read them in order:
- Acupuncturists and massage therapists
do not lie outside of conventional science. They've simply have not
been
well explained in conventional scientific terms yet. This is regarding
research. Firstly, the only way to conduct studies in a practical
manner
is to encourage the employment of CAM professionals in existing medical
institutions. That is happening more and more. The primary obstacle to
overcome is one of trust in the school and training of CAM
professionals.
Educational and professional standards address some of the issues.
Second,
some of the economic and scientific models and assumptions used in
determining
funding and research needs changing. While the medical establishment
has
historically refused funding for the study of CAM therapies, the same
medical
establishment has admonished CAM therapists for lack of scientific
research
and ignored the fact that from 60-70% of standard medical procedures
have
no scientific evidence to support effectiveness. With the NIH CAM
studies
research funding some of the lack of funding problems we partially
addressed.
However the motto and focus of research funding is still biased and
Specifically in
regards to foods and
herbs and supplements. Today I'm addressing the training, education,
certification,
licensure and accountability of healthcare practitioners in
complementary
and alternative medicines. In order to assure safe and effective camp
practices,
the California dietetic association supports required training,
education
and credentialing for nutrition practitioners. Standards CAM
credentialing
should be established and registered dieticians who are most qualified
to represent the science and practice of nutrition should be included
in
setting these standards. The registered dietician is the nutrition
expert
and is uniquely qualified to provide wellness, nutrition counseling as
well as medical nutrition therapy. RDs are nationally credentialed by
the
Commission on Dietetic Registration. We are required to receive a 4
year
degree in the science of nutrition from a nationally accredited
university,
followed by 900 hours of supervised experience in a clinical and
community
program. And finally, to successfully complete a national registration
exam 75 hours of continuing education are also required every 5 years
to
maintain registration. This ensures RDs stay abreast of new
developments
in our field. In addition to national registration, 40 states including
Washington DC and Puerto Rico license and certify dietitians. The
California
Dietetic Association supports the integration of CAM into continuing
education
of the nutrition profession and is also recommending that other
healthcare
professionals such as physicians, pharmacists and nurses do the
same.
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