In the previous issue of Vitality magazine, readers were informed that Ontario’s College of Physicians and Surgeons (CPSO) had responded to the overwhelming public objections to their new draft of the Complementary & Alternative Medicine Policy.
Among the key issues that the public and the profession objected to was the requirement that all medical advice and activities were supposed to be “supported by evidence.” For the unwary reader, this looks fine, but is not so at all.
The Policy was, in fact, amended accordingly and is now a lot less bad. There is very little in all of medicine – standard or alternative – that is, in fact, at all stages supported by evidence because medicine, being a science, is in flux at all times and cannot ever be written in stone.
The more appropriate wording would be “informed by evidence” which correctly introduces plurality of clinician and patient experience.
However, the currently pending draft of the policy governing how doctors may relate on social media still has this unrealistic requirement of only speaking about anything in medical practice if it is supported by science! OK, but whose science? Whose evidence?
The CPSO, infamously known for “preferring” its own evidence (no joke!), stating this in formal decisions in discipline cases, apparently wants to ensure that nobody says anything out of line with arbitrary CPSO doctrine. Debate, different healing approaches, and (God forbid!) patient choice are still considered as heresy.
Witness the case of Dr. Patrick Phillips (Globe & Mail, September 28). He ran into trouble for informing patients (as required by law) about the potential dangers of some COVID vaccines. So, please write to the CPSO and demand that the Social Media Policy be brought in line with the CAM Policy.
For useful resources, links, forums, visit the website of Ontario Patients for Integrative Medicine: https://www.onpim.ca/
DEAR DR. RONA: My brother has been suffering from swollen feet and legs for several… Read More
It was the incessant itching that really got to Jessie* and had her running regularly… Read More
A Personal Report by Dwight Kalita, PhD Atrial fibrillation (A-fib) is a worldwide epidemic affecting… Read More
The paws of our four-legged pals are hardy, yet incredibly vulnerable. Whether your pets are… Read More
The rising popularity of weight-loss drugs worldwide is causing increasing concern amongst researchers and health… Read More
Cleansing tonics are an ancient rite of spring that reflects the season’s central theme of… Read More
This website uses cookies.
Read More
View Comments
Helke and Bob Ferrie have both contributed to the welbeing of others. Bob was a urologist who changed his direction to help people cope with their minds and lives, he did EMDR on me once and for a whole year I felt non-reactive to the issue at hand. Helke has so much knowledge and a mind that doesn't take no for an answer. I do not want Helke to retire. Please coax her into semi-retirement. We need a police dog watching our medical issues and our health. And whoever said alternative medicine isn't part of medicine?
Sandy Small Proudfoot. Mono, ON.