TCM the struggle for acceptance: good news, bad news, …

[Guest guest]

1) The good. An essay by Ted Kaptchuk in a

recently received newsletter(1), titled:

" Is It More Than a Placebo? " Legitimacy, Science and Ethics

 

Another gem from Ted, as summarized by his own precis in the text:

" This short commentary asks: can the scientific

question of mechanism, " more than a placebo " , be

confused with the ethical question, " what is

socially appropriate for helping patients. " Are

there contemporary situations where ethical

judgment masquerades as science and visa versa? "

 

He outlines how medicine, east and west,

historically mainly judged medicine by its

efficacy, compared to no treatment, with

occasional exceptions based more on

social-political, sometimes religious issues. His

historical examples of the latter: SuWen

proscription against demonological medicine, and

medieval papal proscriptions against using Jewish

doctors. In the contemporary context, he points

to the situation, since the invention of the

DBRCT (double-blind, random controlled trial) in

the 1950's, wherein " just placebo " , irregardless

of efficacy, is taken to subtly imply ethical inferiority.

 

There are many other good points and historical

comparisons. Halfway through reading it, I was

thinking this was a good antidote to another

recent article in a local newspaper, reporting on

Wallace Sampson's campaign against alternative

medicine, and AOM in particular (see second

topic, below). And at the conclusion, Ted makes

that explicit. After reviewing various aspects of

CM like " the penetrating divine illumination " (2),

and aspects nowadays considered " non-specific " ,

like endorphins, patient-physician relationship,

and even expanding patient health proprioception

through the communication of a clear diagnosis.

Ted emphasizes that in CM these aspects of

healing were not considered " non-specific " . He

ends with, " Far from being ashamed to use them

[these aspects], we consider it part of the physician's responsibility. "

 

My hit was that the material he brings up would

probably not be too useful for trying to win over

people like Wallace Sampson, but rather to remind

us that we have firm ground that cannot be threatened by their ravings.

 

(I contacted Kan Herbs so ask if there was

website copy of the article. No, but they will

ask Ted if it might be possible to release a PDF

file or the like to share, e.g. in this forum. Waiting for an answer.)

 

2) The bad (really not news). After mention of

Wallace Sampson last week or so in this forum, I

scanned some of his stuff on the internet (his

website, organization, journal,…). Then this week

a patient brought me a new clipping about him(3),

mentioning that he's an invited speaker at the

prestigious Commonwealth Club in San Francisco.

Looking around the internet more, it turns out

he's been at this for decades, and associates

with things like the National Council Against

Health Fraud (NCAHF). In another piece I found on

the internet(4), Sampson testified, along with

Stephen Barrett (a delicensed MD) of the NCAHF,

in a suit against " Alternative Medicine

proponents " in California . The Superior Court

judge threw the case out without even having to hear the defense witnesses.

 

Sampson's attack on acupuncture is actually quite

tame. He admits it's not dangerous, and has

" non-specific " effects. Just that medicine and

patients would be no worse off if acupuncture

didn't exist. It's on the topic of chiropractic

that he really starts foaming at the mouth.

 

References:

1) " Herbal Crossroads " , from the Han Herb

Company, Scotts Valley, California, USA

 

2) tong shen ming -- a term from the SuWen which

he went into depth on in a lecture in San Diego,

ca. 1989 I've cited it before -- an audio tape

available from ConferenceRecording.com.

 

3) San Francisco Chronicle, August 31, " HEALTHY

DOUBTS -- Wallace Sampson, Alternative medicine

doesn't exist and acupuncture is useless, he says "

viewable at:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/08/31/NSGDOIM5RJ1.DTL & type\

=books

 

4)

http://www.quackpotwatch.org/opinionpieces/california_appeals_court_bludgeo.htm