REPLY TO BONNIE'S ND ARTICLE

[Guest guest]

Here is a pretty good history of medicine in the US and the

development of the " standard of care " laws. It is also a

good " balance " to the hatchet job Bonnie inadvertantly posted.

Homeopathy, Economics, and Government

By ston, MD, DHt

The history of the regulation of alternative medical therapies,

particularly Homeopathy, is extremely interesting and sheds a great

deal of light on the current regulatory environment. In this short

review of that history, it can be seen that the current attempts at

regulation have roots as far back as 200 years ago.

The early 1800's was a time of great transition in medicine. Whereas

the standard, allopathic form of treatment was dominant at the turn

of that century, that was not to last. The two most popular

alternatives to the orthodox practice were herbal medicine and

Homeopathy.

By the time Homeopathy was introduced to America in 1825, herbal

medicine was already well established. Equally well established was

the allopathic doctors' animosity towards any competition. The rise

of Homeopathy particularly coincided with a dramatic decline in the

prestige of allopathic medicine and its methods. There was a general

and pervasive disdain and mistrust of allopathic medicine. One

author concluded that " to many people the interests of the medical

profession as a whole were opposed to the best interests of

society. "

Within 15 years of being introduced to America, Homeopathy was

offering serious competition to allopathic medicine and by 1860,

Homeopathy was flourishing with many doctors available in every

state. The biggest asset to the spread of Homeopathy was the home

prescriber, or unlicensed lay practitioner. America of the 1800's

was predominantly rural and most areas had no physician close at

hand.

Mothers treating their children's problems easily and inexpensively

caused the news of Homeopathy to spread like a brush fire throughout

the mid-west and eastern seaboard. While political battles and turf

wars raged between the doctors, many people successfully treated

typhoid, cholera, measles, mumps, tuberculosis, smallpox and other

diseases with their Homeopathic remedies and without doctors.

Even the press of the day were favorable to Homeopathy and its

articles often reflected the general public's contempt for

allopathic medicine. One such article condemned " the rigidly anti-

innovative attitude which the Old School doctors have so

consistently maintained for centuries " and recommended that there be

free and open competition between the two systems, " where the public

will act as umpires, deciding after a careful perusal of the

undertakers bills on either side. "

As a consequence, extreme hatred and economic jealousy was aroused

in the allopaths. These economic concerns were well documented. One

review wrote of Homeopathy, " quackery .... by fraud and deception,

too frequently triumphs and grows rich, where wiser and better men

scarcely escape starvation. " In 1846, The New York Journal of

Medicine stated, " quackery occasions a large pecuniary loss to us. "

The public was quite willing to pay high fees for Homeopathy, much

to the consternation of the economically struggling allopaths. Most

Homeopaths had higher incomes than their allopathic counterparts,

having busy, thriving practices in the same areas where allopaths

couldn't earn enough to live. The annual income for an allopath in

1871 averaged $1000, whereas a Homeopath's averaged $4000.

The allopaths blamed the public for the situation, contemptuously

regarding them as ignorant, undiscriminating and easily deceived,

clearly needing to be protected from their own perverse ignorance.

It never occurred to the allopathic doctors that the public, rather

than being ignorant of orthodox medicine, were very familiar with it

and consequently didn't like it.

If you think doctors have outgrown this attitude from 1800, I will

refer you to the recent article in the prestigious allopathic

journal The New England Journal of Medicine. After reviewing the

habits of a large cohort of patients, it was concluded that one

third of Americans use some method of non-conventional medical

treatment and pay more out of their own pocket to do so than the

combined money spent on all primary care allopathic office visits.

As a result of this startling finding, the authors did not suggest

further investigation as to why such a large number of patients

prefer non-traditional treatment, nor was it suggested that these

treatments must have something valuable to offer. Instead, in a move

reminiscent of attitudes over 150 years old, the authors advised

that doctors inquire if their patients are using some form of non-

conventional therapy so that they can better bring these errant

patients back to conventional treatment.

The brunt of the blame for declining allopathic fortunes was laid at

the door of the Homeopaths. The allopaths had concern about the

growing competition from Homeopathy, stated as " quackery in the

profession. " They felt the apparently declining standards of medical

education was the cause of physicians converting to Homeopathy and

these ideas were the prime motives in the founding of the American

Medical Association in 1847.

It is interesting to note that the professional organization for

Homeopathy equivalent to the AMA, the American Institute of

Homeopathy, was founded earlier in 1844, making it the oldest

professional medical organization.

Many efforts were used to advance the allopaths by discrediting,

restricting and abolishing the Homeopaths. Typical were the laws

passed in the early 1800's to prevent any practitioners of medicine

other than the allopaths from being able to go to court to collect

non-payment of fees. In every case, these and other similar laws

were unenforceable and extremely unpopular with the citizenry. All

were repealed within a few years.

Undaunted, the allopathic doctors then turned to their own medical

societies rather than the legislative process to carry out their

desire for effective restriction of Homeopathy. Allopaths granted

themselves the right to restrict society membership, which was

tantamount to licensing powers. Fines were levied against anyone

practicing medicine without such a society membership. They had

successfully usurped the power to control who could practice.

Eventually even these fines were also rescinded due to unpopularity

with the citizens.

Pennsylvania and New York were the first states to forbid membership

in the society by medical doctors who practiced Homeopathy. State

medical society membership and representation in the AMA required

that these societies purge themselves of any member Homeopaths.

After 1847, all state societies did this, except Massachusetts. In

addition, professional exchange, consultation and even conversation

between allopaths and Homeopaths were banned. This ban on

interaction between the two groups is a striking example of how a

private organization, the AMA, could completely flout the public

will, and take punitive action for something that was totally legal.

All this speaks of the restraint of trade. All professions have used

laws, licensing, legislation, unions and guilds to protect their own

economic interests. Not surprisingly, the suppression of Homeopathy,

then and continuing to this very day, is seeped with the same

motives.

None of the efforts at abolishing Homeopathy, including state

society expulsion, were particularly effective until the turn of

this century. Then, it wasn't legislation or licensing that was

responsible for the decline of Homeopathy. The infusion of large

amounts of money from Carnegie and Rockefeller to the cause of

allopathic medicine was instrumental in tipping the scales in its

favor. It is ironic that Rockefeller, a beneficiary of Homeopathic

treatment himself, should fund its demise. The final shove out the

door of popularity was the discovery of antibiotics and the dawning

of the age of chemical therapeutics.

By the middle of this century, Homeopathy was all but eliminated.

The thousands of practitioners had vanished, the hundred or so

medical schools had closed and the vast majority of the general

population had never even heard of Homeopathy.

The reemergence of Homeopathy started in the early 1970's as

disillusionment with the pharmaceutical approach of medical

therapeutics began to surface. Natural foods, exercise, natural

living, concern about pollution and chemical toxins in our bodies

and the environment began to take center stage. In addition to

which, the sterling reputation of technological and pharmacological

medicine for invincible prowess and superiority was becoming more

and more tarnished. Just as occurred 150 years ago, the public had

experienced the side effects, personal cost and problems of

allopathic medicine and was voting with their feet.

Now Homeopathy becomes more and more popular each and every year. In

the 5 years between 1985 and 1990, the sale of Homeopathic products

increased 1000%. Now when I tell the person seated next to me on the

plane that I am a doctor who practices Homeopathy, he doesn't

mistake that for making house calls.

The vast majority of people prescribing and administering Homeopathy

today are in the group of non-licensed lay practitioners. There are

thousands of such practitioners and their numbers continue to grow.

This small army undoubtedly has an impact on the allopathic medical

revenues and public attitudes. Laws and legislation do not now and

never have curbed the growth in the ranks of this category of

practitioner.

Historically, Homeopathy has always had a large number of non-

medical unlicensed people practicing. In the 1800s America's rural

culture and lack of clear laws about who could and could not

practice medicine created a permissive environment for these non-

licensed practitioners. Today, the situation is quite different.

Although strong in number, they are all practicing illegally and are

at risk for legal problems.

As the twentieth century progressed there has been increasing

legislative control of the practice of medicine, both at the state

and federal level. State medical societies have been replaced by

official government sanctioned state licensing bodies. Although

Homeopathy is no longer proscribed by name, review of individual

state laws governing the practice of medicine shows that 20 out of

50 states have a clause which distinctly applies to any doctor

wishing to practice Homeopathy.

These laws, called the Standard of Practice provisions, declare that

each physician must practice up to the standard of care of his

community, as the other doctors in the state practice. Although

these provisions are promoted as a way of keeping incompetent

doctors from practicing, they also are extremely effective in

keeping any doctor from practicing differently from the majority.

The first doctor in a state to advocate nutrition, exercise, grief

counseling, Homeopathy or any other cutting edge idea is, by law,

proscripted from doing so. The lone innovator or Homeopath is at

risk.

Guess, a licensed medical doctor practicing Homeopathy in the

state of North Carolina discovered this the hard way. The Medical

Board of North Carolina took away his medical license in 1985

because he practiced Homeopathy which was not consistent with the

standard of care of the medical community. How could it be; he was

the only Homeopath in the state. The battle was long and bloody.

Over the 8 years in and out of courts, including the state supreme

court and spending in excessive of $150,000, it was concluded that

Dr. Guess was a knowledgeable doctor, had not harmed anyone, had the

support of his patients and was generally a credit to his profession

except, he was not doing what all the other doctors were doing -

allopathic medicine. When the favorable decision of the state

superior court exonerating Dr. Guess was overturned on appeal, the

ACLU agreed to sponsor his case before the US Federal Court.

The highest court refused to hear the case, necessitating Dr. Guess

to leave his home and move to another state to practice. While he

was gone, North Carolina legislature passed a law allowing for the

practice of alternative medicine by doctors. Although the price for

this was the devastation and upheaval of Dr. Guess's life and

career, at least now one more state had a definite law protecting

Homeopaths.

Although few Homeopaths have had or will have the ordeal that Dr.

Guess faced, the law provides that they could. The biggest

protections now for licensed medical doctors wanting to practice

Homeopathy is the public sentiment so favorably disposed to

Homeopathy. The verdict in the court of public opinion is definitely

not so predisposed to the persecution of alternative therapies as it

once was.

Today, the legal standing of Homeopathy and Homeopaths is in limbo.

Whereas in all but a few states, the restrictive laws are still on

the books yet Homeopathy is thriving and riding high on a tidal wave

of popular support. There is definitely an economic impact of all

this popularity, yet much of it cannot be measured because the

majority of Homeopaths are illegal practitioners whose work is not

counted in statistics.

Efforts at restricting the practice of Homeopathy today, as in the

last century, have proven almost completely ineffective. People want

Homeopathy and for that reason alone, it is here to stay and so is

its impact on the economics of medicine.

Lew Rockwell.com October 3, 2002

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DR. MERCOLA'S COMMENT:

This article describes how alternative medicine has had a profound

influence in health care in the US.

In 1924, a survey was done in Philadelphia that showed that one-

third of all patients seen in private practice had been seen by

alternative medical healers. Another survey, also completed in 1924,

by one of the organizations I formerly belonged to, the Illinois

Medical Society, found that in my hometown (Chicago) nearly 90% of

people had " dabbled " in alternative medicine.

The article provides a fascinating glimpse of the history of

orthodox or traditional medicine in the US. To begin with, only 200

years ago, there were only 200 graduates of US Medical Schools and

another 300 or so immigrants with European diplomas; botanical

healers and midwives provided the rest of medical care.

Even 200 years ago there was incredible disagreement between the

traditional and natural models.

Hahnemann (1755-1842) the founder of homeopathy claimed that

the traditional medical doctors of his time (he coined the

term " allopath " ) practiced a " non-healing art which shortened the

lives of ten times as many human beings as the most destructive wars

and rendered many millions of patients more diseased and wretched

than they were originally. "

This is absolutely amazing, as over 200 years later things have not

changed a bit! Last year doctors were documented to be the third

leading cause of death in the US.

In 1847 the AMA was founded as a barrier to orthodoxy and the

natural healers. Interestingly, until relatively recently, it was

unethical for any AMA member to associate with any of these natural

healers.

I am ashamed to say that I was a " card carrying " member of the AMA

for 7 years, as one of their benefits was the ability to purchase an

excellent malpractice policy. But I saw the light about ten years

ago and dropped out.

It is interesting to note that even by 1900, over 12% of the

licensed physicians were alternative medical doctors which at the

time were classified as homeopaths or eclectic physicians.

It is quite clear the numbers would be much higher if one included

unlicensed therapists, such as magnetic healers, chiropractors,

faith healers, midwives and osteopaths.

I am an osteopath, but 100 years ago DOs were not recognized as

licensed physicians. Back then, they were unlicensed but they were

far closer to being true physicians, as they would not rely on drugs

and surgery as their primary tools to treat disease.

Now that they are licensed, DOs generally are far closer to

traditional physicians than natural medical healers. You can read

more of the fascinating history of osteopathic medicine in the

recent New England Journal of Medicine review of DOs.

The historical data makes it quite clear that alternative or natural

medicine has been a powerful and persistent presence in the US for a

very long time.

The article also points out, as has become increasingly clear to any

observer of the acceptance of natural medicine in contemporary

America, that substantial portions of the traditional medical system

have begun to seek reconciliation with alternative medicine.

Managed care, insurance carriers, hospital providers, major academic

medical centers and individual physicians are increasingly receptive

to developing new integrative models of health care that would have

been unthinkable only a short time ago.

My Vision and Passion

It is my current and vision and passion to facilitate this process.

I have already started with the establishment of this web site,

which is on target to be the number one health site in the Internet

in the next six months.

The increasing volume of people coming to the site will have access

to an ever-expanding knowledge base of natural therapies that they

can access to facilitate their own healing. I hope to introduce a

truly innovative forum later this year that will collect and capture

the wisdom of the brightest medical minds on the planet and allow

you to use this information for your benefit.

This site will also establish the most comprehensive database of

natural medicine physicians in the country. This will allow

individuals to add and rate physicians for the type of treatments

they provide and the satisfaction they have had with their

treatments. Individuals will then be able to use the computerized

database to find the best clinicians closest to their own home.

This is a desperately needed tool, as frequently individuals will

need individualized expert guidance from someone close to their home.

This service will allow the good clinicians to stand out like lights

in the darkness where people can seek out their expert guidance to

resolve their health care problems.

I hope to have this project completed in the next year. Once done,

it will start an inevitable progression of people who will exit the

care of traditional physicians, who never understood how to practice

medicine and teach patients how to resolve their illness with

natural therapies.

Once traditional physicians reception rooms are nearly empty they

will have powerful economic incentives to understand the

foundational causes of disease so they can actually go back to

school and learn the basic tools that will be required to maximize

their incredible investment of their previous outstanding medical

education so they can serve as a true physician and help their

patients resolve their illness at the deepest level.

Related Articles:

Natural Medicine's History and Future in the US

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