CAMLAW: Complementary and Alternative Medicine Law Blog : Complementary, Alternative, & Integrative Medicine Law, Regulation, Ethics & Policy (Alternative and Complementary Medicine, Medical Spa Information, Holistic Health Attorney, and Legal Resources)

This apparently involves dousing oneself and somehow surviving:

Once a fortnight, Richard Gavriel turns up at a Tanjong Pagar spa, lies under a pile of towels and allows himself to be set on fire.

Actually, a therapist pours rubbing alcohol over his mid-section and sets the liquid alight.

About 30 seconds later, Gavriel will murmur that it is getting too hot and the therapist will put the flame out with a wet towel.

The 41-year-old director of a corporate training firm undergoes this “fire therapy treatment” to lose weight. The treatment is based on the belief that the body is regulated by five elements – fire, wood, metal, earth and water. The heat supposedly balances the energy of those who have too much of the water element in their bodies that could cause digestive problems or joint pain.

In Gavriel’s case, easing his digestive problems is supposed to help trim his waistline.

At a clinic at The Adelphi, naturopath Saravanan Ganesan claims to have developed a programme which can transfer energy to various objects. Paste one of his stickers – slightly bigger than a 50-cent coin – below your collar bone for 24 hours, and you will have a healthier digestive system, he said.

Acupuncture is being used for cancer pain:

pularized in the United States in 1971, following an influential article in the New York Times by reporter James Reston. In 1997, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) reported that acupuncture was "widely" practiced by thousands of doctors, dentists, acupuncturists and other licensed professionals to treat pain and a number of other health conditions. In 2007, a National Health Interview Survey showed that an estimated 3.1 million adults and 150,000 children in the U.S. had been treated with acupuncture in the previous year. American acupuncture practices integrate traditional methods from other Asian countries such as Japan and Korea. (Source: nccam.nih.gov)

CANCER PAIN: Cancer pain has many causes. The first comes from the actual cancer itself, which often grows into or kills nearby tissues. When a tumor spreads, pressure is often put on nerves, bones and organs, which can cause a great deal of pain. The second comes from the chemicals excreted by the tumor, which can be painful on the part of the body absorbing them. Another cause is from cancer treatments. Chemotherapy has many painful side effects such as achy mouth sores, diarrhea and damage to the nerves. Radiation can leave a patient with a burning feeling in the treated area, or with painful scars. Surgical procedures are obviously painful as well, often requiring a period of recovery (Source: Mayo Clinic).

Magnet therapy is suddenly huge in Nigeria:

What is magnetic therapy all about?
Magnetic therapy is about using special magnet and not the common type of magnet to prevent and treat diseases. I would like to emphasise that magnetic therapy is not magic or fetish practice as it is the belief of some people. Magnetic therapy is sceintific and also an art.

You mean magnet can be used for healing purposes?
laughs .......... like I told you, there are many good testimonies from Nigerians, even from the mouth of many well-to-do people in the society who have benefitted immensely from magnetic therapy. I’ve treated uncountable number of people with magnet, and many people are beginning to appreciate magnetic therapy.

I want you to know that each unit of our body has a cell and also electrical properties. Each cell in our body has magnetic fields and magnetic frequency or what is called vibratory frequency.

I learnt there is a new technology in magnetic therapy especially for the prevention and treatment of chronic/severe disease. What is the new magnetic technology about because many people are now talking about it?
The latest magnetic technology is called Titanium biomagnetic bracelets and as you can see, many people are coming to get it because it has been proven to be effective in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases. In fact, it is called your companion on total health.

How does it work and why the rush for it by Nigerians?
Magnet has its own points and we have 1,860 magnetic points on human body called meridians. But the Titanium biomagnetic bracelets is special with unique features. You only wear it on your wrist day and night to experience natural and total health and it is designed just like a hand chain.

The theory that vaccination causes autism has been challenged as false:

A British doctor has committed an “elaborate fraud” to falsify data in a data-retracted 1998 study that linked autism to childhood vaccines. This is, according to a report released Wednesday by the British Medical Journal that accuses Andrew Wakefield to misrepresent or distort the history of the 12 children studied. Published in the journal Lancet, the study by Wakefield, who linked the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine to autism, prompted thousands of parents to skip the shot. Some experts say that vaccination rates have never fully recovered. U.S. reported cases of measles has hit a peak of 12 years to 140 in 2008, and the majority of sick children have been vaccinated, according to the federal Centers for Control and Prevention.

The results were subsequently withdrawn for 10 of the 13 authors of the study and portrayed by Lancet. In the new analysis BMJ, the British journalist Brian Deer from diagnosis of 12 children for their hospital records and found that the facts on all 12 had been altered. Wakefield claimed, for example, who has studied 12 children were normal until they have been vaccinated, but in reality, five had previously documented problems of development. “Those who perpetrated this fraud? There is no doubt that it was Wakefield, BMJ journal editors wrote in a commentary, adding that the work” was not based on bad science, but on a deliberate fraud. ” But Wakefield, who was stripped of his medical license in May, have protested the charges. “The study is not a lie. The results that we have been replicated in five countries around the world,” he told reporters on Wednesday, the Washington Post.

How to be a better parent in 2011

If you guys get back in the groove after the holidays you have to tear your hair, you are not alone. Nancy Shute U.S. News employee has taken the heart of David Palmiter, a clinical psychologist and father of three children in Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania, whose new book, working parents, Thriving Families: 10 strategies that make the difference (Sunrise River Press, .95), focuses on how busy parents with little time and energy can do better for their children in 2011.

CAM handles 80% of health issues, one doctor claims:

Every day thousands of people head to their chiropractor’s office for an adjustment. They have a variety of complaints and ailments and the chiropractor is there to assist them in feeling better. But what if chiropractic could be combined with other alternative therapies to assist these patients to obtain optimum health and wellness?

That’s the question that chief medical officer of Intemedica, John Diamond, is answering. Dr. Diamond, a physician trained as a pathologist, got into alternative healing almost twenty years ago as a result of his own health crises. “As far as I’m concerned, complementary and alternative medicine takes care of 80% of health issues in the general population.”

Diamond believes the medical field is about to undergo an amazing transformation in the way it operates and delivers healing to patients. He believes primary care physicians will become obsolete by the year 2015 and in their place will spring alternative healing concepts such as chiropractors, Chinese medicine practitioners, acupuncturists and naturopaths. This is in reaction to the insurance crises going on in our country today. “The way medicine is going right now we’re moving away from the disease model. We’re moving to what we call the stress and coping model.” Diamond believes that alternative and natural healing methods will best complement these changing models.

Dr. Diamond, working with other individuals, has come up with a new and fascinating way to utilize this stress and coping model with what he calls GSR biofeedback, a process similar to electro acupuncture. By simply placing a hand in an electrical cradle, the machine interrogates the patient’s body and provides a wealth of information about where the stresses are occurring in the body. Connected to a computer program, information is also compiled regarding which specific formulas of Chinese herbs would best be suited to help the patient with whatever their specific needs are – and all in about three and a half minutes.

How can chiropractors utilize this technology in their offices and how can it help them not only increase value for their patients but also increase their bottom line? According to Diamond it’s simple. “We have a whole system that is very easily put into anybody’s office with minimal outlay,” says Diamond.

Once doctors have this equipment and stock in their offices, it takes only about thirty minutes to learn how to use it. All it takes is the ability to point and click the mouse. All updates to the software are done via the internet, as well as anything that’s added to the program.

But can this program really add value to the chiropractic practice? Do alternative healing methods really work? According to Diamond the answer to both questions is a resounding yes. Any staff member, such as a chiropractic assistant, can operate the equipment, which leaves the chiropractor free to do adjustments. Also, Diamond has had independent data taken on the effectiveness of his healing methods and found that out of 100,000 patient visits over the last eighteen years, the average efficacy of his formulas was 86% – some formulas were as high as 97%. He’s also found that with the minimum outlay of investment, the average practice can see anywhere between $5-8000 a month in extra income while providing added value for their patients.

Concerning any negative side effects, Diamond also has found there are fairly few. With sensitive patients the Chinese herbs can cause gastric irritation and in some patients there may be a problem with over detoxification, but these negatives are easily resolved. Says Diamond, “Traditional Chinese medicine is easily adapted to our physiology because it’s plant based. Anything plant based we’re very used to responding to. It’s not really an issue.”

If you have legal questions concerning telemedicine and telehealth practices, HIPAA legal issues, health care reform questions, or other health law matters in New York, California, Massachusetts, Washington DC, and other states, contact a lawyer who knows the rules.

Consult an experienced health care law attorney who knows complementary medicine and integrative medicine for legal advice pertaining to any project involving allied health or CAM professionals.

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Michael H. Cohen is a health care law and business law attorney providing business legal advice to green entrepreneurs and companies, and health care law advice to businesses and physicians, acupuncturists, naturopathic doctors, homeopaths and others in the holistic health, wellness, and green industries. He works with telemedicine, medical devices, and cutting-edge technologies and gives clear legal advice to grow your business.

As a founding attorney of a law firm at the cutting edge of health care and business law, he represents enterprises poised for vertical lift, whose leaders are conscious, intuitive, and committed to shaping a better world. Michael also advises medical spas and integrative medicine clinics, physicians, chiropractors, naturopathic physicians, massage therapists, energy healers, nutritionists and herbalists, dietary supplement and cosmetics companies, and businesses with bio-energy and other technologies and medical devices. The website also offers the Entrepreneur’s Legal Toolkit as a series of legal guides to businesses.

See what clients say about his work, visit the Legal Services page for information on business law and healthcare legal services where alternative billing arrangements (such as a flat rate or project fee) can be discussed for discrete projects such as incorporation for entrepreneurs, review and drafting of business contracts, trademark, and package health law services.

Our healthcare law and business law firm also provides special expertise to attorneys and law firms whose clients are involved in wellness industry projects or who require guidance regarding fee-splitting, Stark, anti-kickback, medical board discipline, medical malpractice liability, HIPAA, Medicare, and other health law and regulatory compliance issues.

To speak with a lawyer about health care law issues pertaining to complementary and alternative medicine, or to consult a business lawyer about laws and legal issues for entrepreneurs and new enterprises that are seeking legal advice, contact our law firm today.