Gulf News Profiles Complementary and Alternative Health Care

Gulf News profiles alternative and complementary therapies in its e-newsletter on breaking Gulf (GCC) stories. Thanks to friend and colleague Sassan Behjat for passing along this article from Gulf e-News entitled Other Remedies: Opening mind, body and spirit to alternative cures. The article first profiles U.S. physicians who have pioneered or popularized alternative medicine, such as:
Dr Mehmet Oz, one of the world's most respected cardiac surgeons. He uses yoga, aromatherapy, hypnosis, energy healing, music therapy and acupuncture in combination with cardiac care. Then there's the pioneer in the area of mind-body medicine, Deepak Chopra, whose education in conventional medicine has not interfered with his faith in ancient healing traditions such as Ayurveda. Dr Andrew Weil, a best-selling author and physician, is another example of prominent conventional medical practitioners using integrative medicine to treat and heal patients.
The article goes on to discuss related CAM developments in Dubai:
In Dubai, Dr Ludmila Vassileva, a certified medical doctor specialising in homoeopathy, also adopts an integrative approach to healing. She runs the Holistic Healing Medical Center, where conventional medical services are offered in conjunction with homoeopathy, iridology, acupuncture and yoga therapy.....

Dr Sean Penny, a homoeopath at the Dubai Herbal and Treatment Centre, which also uses a holistic approach in the treatments they offer, says it is interesting to see how many of these therapies are now becoming first-line treatment options for patients and no longer 'last resorts'.
One public relations professional in Dubai, according to the article, receives treatments from the work of Barbara Brennan (Barbara Brennan School of Healing). Therapies (and whole medical systems) such as Ayurveda, Reiki, homeopathy, massage therapy, chiropractic, and reflexology. While in Dubai and Bahrain a few years ago, I was amazed by the receptivity to complementary therapies and the strong interest in judiciously integrating CAM therapies into mainstream medical settings. Of course, within the Gulf and in nations such as India, much of what the U.S. calls "complementary care" is considered traditional and widely accepted. Ayurvedic medicine, for example, and acupuncture and traditional oriental medicine are broadly used and referrals go back and forth between practitioners of these healing arts and medical providers.

Sassan Behjat has vast knowledge of the regulatory structure for complementary therapies in the Gulf, particularly Dubai. From his bio:
Sassan Behjat BHMS, MPH offers Homeopathic practice and Integrative Medicine Consultancy services in Cupertino and Los Gatos, California. Sassan Behjat is an internationally known Complementary & Alternative Medicine (CAM) consultant, who has on numerous occasions served as an advisor and expert to the World Health Organization (W.H.O) on CAM related projects and international assignments. He has been a recipient of ‘Dr. Arthur L. Bloomfield Award for Excellence in Medical Education’ by the American Academy of Continuing Medical Education. He is also serving on the TCAM Policy and Regulatory Affairs steering committee for Dubai Healthcare City, a strategic partner of Harvard Medical International. He has served as a speaker and contributor to several international conferences on homeopathy, Traditional Chinese Medicine and CAM in Europe and Asia. Currently, beside his regular homeopathic practice, he is developing expansion and development strategies for making high quality homeopathic medicines to be accessable and affordable for the public use.
He is a go-to person for knowledge about CAM both within California, where he now offers homoepathic consultations and other services, as well as within the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
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The Law Offices of Michael H. Cohen offers corporate legal services, litigation consultation, and expertise in health law with a unique focus on holistic, alternative, complementary, and integrative medical therapies. The law firm represents medical doctors, allied health professionals (from psychologists to nurses and dentists) and other clinicians (from chiropractors to naturopathic physicians, massage therapists, and acupuncturists), entrepreneurs, hospitals, and educational organizations, health care institutions, and individuals and corporations.

Michael H. Cohen is Principal in Law Offices of Michael H. Cohen and also President of a nonprofit organization exploring legal, regulatory, ethical, and health policy issues in the judicious integration of complementary and alternative medical therapies (such as acupuncture and traditional oriental medicine, chiropractic, naturopathic medicine, homeopathy, massage therapy, energy healing, and herbal medicine) and conventional clinical care. Michael H. Cohen is author of books on health care law, regulation, ethics and policy dealing with complementary, alternative and integrative medicine, including Healing at the Borderland of Medicine and Religion, Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Legal Boundaries and Regulatory Perspectives (1998), Beyond Complementary Medicine: Legal and Ethical Perspectives on Health Care and Human Evolution (2000), and Future Medicine: Ethical Dilemmas, Regulatory Challenges, and Therapeutic Pathways to Health Care and Healing in Human Transformation (2003).
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Health care and corporate lawyer Michael H. Cohen has been admitted to the Bar of California, Massachusetts, New York, and Washington D.C. In addition to qualifying as a U.S. attorney, he has been admitted and to the Bar of England and Wales as a Solicitor (non-practicing). For more information regarding the law practice of attorney Michael H. Cohen, see the FAQs for the Law Offices of Michael H. Cohen. Thank you for visiting the Complementary and Alternative Medicine Law Blog.
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