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Thread: Well, it's about time!

  1. #1
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    Well, it's about time!

    Queen's Park (the provincial legislature of the province of Ontario in Canada) has tabled a bill to regulate traditional chinese medicine practice.

    This is a huge step forward in legitimizing the various practices and only moving toward the amalgamation of eastern and western medical practices on a field of the best of both worlds being available under a universal health care system ranked...well somewhere down the list but hey, not bad! like 7th, or 30th depending on how you compile the statistics.

    Anyway, here's the official article:
    http://www.health.gov.on.ca/english/...nr_102406.html

    Of course there is some protestation, but overall the feeling appears mutually positive.

    Depending how you look at it...
    Last edited by David Jamieson; 11-15-2006 at 03:52 PM.
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  2. #2
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    Yeah, regulation can be a funny thing... Here in the verdant, sunny climes of Northern Cali, we have our daily struggles with the profession and are constantly battling off regulatory bills presented by western medical lobbying organizations, while seeking to promote our legitimacy by promoting our own regulatory opinions.

    Recently, Gov Arnold Schwarzenegger turned down a bill to better define the term "Asian bodywork" to imply a legitimate practice of various traditional modalities of massage as used in Asia. Practicioners would require certification, registration, etc, etc. The bill was declined by the Governor with the circular reasoning that the bill to define the term could not be approved since there is no currently acceped definition for "Asian bodywork"... Funny, I say... funny.

    I'm glad to hear Ontario is acknowledging TCM as a legit form of healthcare requiring regulation. Good move, Ontario!

    Thanks for the update, Sir!

    herb ox

  3. #3
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    I'm dubious about regulation if there's a likelyhood that the regulators know less about the subject than many of the practitioners.

  4. #4
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    It's better than having any nick, johhny or sammy out there prescribing potentially harmful herbs or practicing highly questionable acupuncture treatments etc without any accountability to the patient whatsoever.

    It seeks to put a house in order and give it recognition that it deserves and frankly, I'd rather it be a little tougher to get a smoother service and a better selection of services made available to people who are genuinely suffering.

    It will also put to end quickly any and all charlatans and hobby healers out there who really should not be doing a lot of the things they are doing.
    Kung Fu is good for you.

  5. #5
    Sorry, Gubment intervention in private enterprise is seldom a good idea. Legislation is beneficial to the TCM, massage, whatever schools is all. You see what a horrific job they have done with education, healthcare, etc.

  6. #6
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    PR-

    I don't think it's intervention beyond wanting to have accountability and regulation attached to this practice the same as any other thing that can benefit society.

    Regulation in Health care is very important. Especially when we are talking about how life changing treatments can be on both positive and negative levels.
    Kung Fu is good for you.

  7. #7
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    Prince Charles

    Ban herbalists? 'ear dat, herbox? You may be banned across the pond!
    Prince Charles calls for herbal medicine to be formally regulated
    By Fiona Macrae
    Last updated at 4:29 PM on 01st December 2009

    Prince Charles has clashed with the medical establishment by calling for alternative medicine to be given the official seal of approval.

    The Prince, a long-standing supporter of complementary therapies, wants herbalists and acupuncturists to be formally regulated like physiotherapists and osteopaths.

    His Foundation for Integrated Health says a system of registration will protect livelihoods under threat from new EU rules on the therapies.

    But the Royal College of Physicians says it would confer an air of 'respectability' on a branch of medicine that is not proven to work.

    The row centres on an EU directive that will from next year ban herbalists, including practitioners of Chinese medicine, from prescribing many treatments unless the law recognises them as health professionals.

    The Foundation, which was set up by the Prince of Wales in 1993, says the solution is a system of registration, that would put herbalists on equal footing to physiotherapists and osteopaths. Acupuncturists would also be registered.

    A spokesman for the charity said that without the scheme the therapies could be driven underground, and lives put at risk.

    He added: 'The Government is under pressure from a small but vociferous group of scientists who claim that regulation is about recognising professional status rather than protecting the public.

    'That is absolutely wrong. If Government caves in to their demands, public health will be put at risk.

    'Millions of us use herbal medicine - around a quarter of the population have done so at some time in their lives and about one in twelve have consulted a herbalist.

    'The Prince’s Foundation for Integrated Health fears that many will be unwilling to give up the remedies they believe help them, and instead resort to unregulated internet retailers or bogus practitioners.

    'There have been cases where the products they use have been found to be adulterated with unsafe, illegal pharmaceuticals - and to contain lead, mercury or arsenic.'

    Dr Michael Dixon, the charity's medical director, said: 'No one deserves to die for no better reason than preferring herbal remedies to conventional medicine.'

    A spokesman for the Prince said he had recently met Health Secretary Andy Burnham.

    He added that one of the Foundation's main objectives was to 'safeguard the millions of people who regularly use herbal medicine.'

    But the Royal College of Physicians is against statutory regulation on the grounds that it would make such treatments appear 'credible'.

    In a submission to the Department of Health, which is consulting over the possibility of introducing registration, it said that herbalism, in particular, carries 'significant' risks. And registration could 'increase the possibility of harm'.

    David Colquhoun, a professor of pharmacology at University College London, said: 'Registration is a nonsense.

    'You can't make sensible rules for registering something until you know if it works or not. There is quite good evidence that most of it doesn't work.

    'This particular form of registration will give what appears to the public to be an endorsement and that is going to endanger patients.

    'As for Charles, his behaviour is desperately unconstitutional. The monarchy doesn't interfere in public affairs but he does it unashamedly.'
    Gene Ching
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  8. #8
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    * sigh... *

  9. #9
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    Professional registration is always a good thing but the established Royal Physicians Association fear that their revenue will decrease so they are up in arms. Professional registration should be a easy process.

    I have added some abstract verbiage here as an example, to wit,
    Those who practice acupuncture must have graduated from a recognized school of acupuncture and have passed xxx exam.......add info to designate specialty if any, along with a CV documenting experieince paid or internship. The spokesperson of the Royal Physicians gives the impression that it is about respect recognizing a 'bogus' profession but I see it as protecting the public while ensuring educational standards. Herbal medicine is far more challenging but again the individual must have completed xxx years of training and education.
    The UK/Prince of Wales trust can easily follow/copy WHO criteria for acupuncture as a template!

    This is not a difficult. The more pages you have towards regulation and healthcare simplification, it tells of the hidden agendas where each middle person wants thier share of the pie. This is the sad case of what is going on regarding pretense and hypocracy off the backs of those really needing the care!

    Look at the present US health care system. It appears that people would rather spend money on war than on their own citizens health and even attempt to help those companies that routinely deny benefits because it would decrease the salary of the CEO! and they call that free market enterprise! Right! my backside.

  10. #10
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    some more...

    Regulation of complementary therapists 'may harm patients'
    03 Dec 09
    By Nigel Praities

    Statutory regulation of herbalists and Chinese medicine practitioners is ‘completely inappropriate’ and will put patients at risk, according to doctors' leaders.

    In comments that put the college on a direct collision course with the Government and prominent pressure groups, the Royal College of Physicians said plans to extend regulation would legitimise therapies that have no proven benefit.

    Alternative medicine practitioners are currently subject to voluntary regulation by the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council, but this system has been criticised as ‘misleading and dangerous’.

    The Government plans to introduce statutory regulation for acupuncturists, herbalists and Chinese and other traditional medicine practitioners before new EU rules on the supply of complementary therapies come into force in 2011.

    As part of a consultation on the plans that closed last month, the RCP has weighed in with a strongly worded response – seen by Pulse – saying those offering ‘unproven’ complementary medicines should not be allowed the status of a regulated profession.

    ‘This approach would be completely inappropriate for those “disciplines” of complementary therapy whose therapies are neither of proven benefit nor appropriately tested,' reads the response.
    Click here to find out more!

    ‘Extending the imprimatur of statutory regulation analogous to that applied to medical, nursing, dentistry, and physiotherapy, to practitioners whose therapies are neither of proven benefit nor appropriately tested, has the potential to increase the possibility of harm.'

    The RCP said it supported statutory regulation of acupuncture, but not for other complementary therapies: ‘Herbal and traditional medicine which are largely or completely of unproven benefit should be regulated in terms of consumer protection,’ the statement says.

    The comments are in direct opposition to those issued by the Prince of Wales’ Foundation for Integrated Health this week.

    A spokesperson for the foundation said patients will be ‘abandoned to quackery’ unless the Government introduces statutory regulation of herbal medicine.

    The EU rules due to be introduced in 2011 dictate that only statutory registered professionals will be able to prescribe herbal medicines. The foundation argues this will result in patients seeking ‘bogus’ practitioners to access herbal medicines.
    Can I get another * sigh... * from herb ox?
    Gene Ching
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  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by David Jamieson View Post
    Queen's Park (the provincial legislature of the province of Ontario in Canada) has tabled a bill to regulate traditional chinese medicine practice.
    aaaahhhhh yes... more government meddling.

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by uki View Post
    aaaahhhhh yes... more government meddling.
    well, it's fitting, if you consider that the inception of TCM itself is the product of one of the biggest government "meddles" in 20th c. history...

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by taai gihk yahn View Post
    well, it's fitting, if you consider that the inception of TCM itself is the product of one of the biggest government "meddles" in 20th c. history...
    up there with yoga, McMA, and organic natural foods.

  14. #14
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    Not sure how government is meddling by enacting accountability statutes into law.

    Is it government meddling to tell people who do not have engineering degrees that they are not eligible to put engineering stamps on architectural drawings?

    Is it government meddling to tell people who have never studied physiology that they will not be able to have a daily job whereby they perform life saving surgeries?

    Why is government to you anyway? Do you honestly regard it as something whole and apart and separate from you? You elect the person you want to represent your views and concerns.

    If you don't participate at all in the political process, then I can see why you would fear or despise government. Fear and loathing directed towards something is generally the first product of not knowing.

    You have to realize that you have a voice and that your voice counts. If you give up your voice and remove yourself from your community, then why complain? You don't want to be part of it, you don't want to exercise your freedom and rights and you don't care about anyone else's.

    recognize.
    Kung Fu is good for you.

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by David Jamieson View Post
    Not sure how government is meddling by enacting accountability statutes into law.
    meddling = restrictions/penalties
    Is it government meddling to tell people who do not have engineering degrees that they are not eligible to put engineering stamps on architectural drawings?
    to think anyone needs a degree to define understanding is ridiculous...
    Is it government meddling to tell people who have never studied physiology that they will not be able to have a daily job whereby they perform life saving surgeries?
    what if the people have a uncanny natural ability to preform the appropriate tasks and procedures without "sanctioned" training??
    Why is government to you anyway? Do you honestly regard it as something whole and apart and separate from you? You elect the person you want to represent your views and concerns.
    i acknowledge no government... i live according to my own moral judgements according to the experience i have gained in life. i need no other person to dictate on how to live... i see my childrens smiling faces, i smile at the morning sun... i do my best not to infringe another person pursuit of happiness. i watch over my fellow man, my neighbor. i value the faces of parents who have found joy in life thru their children... i do not need to obey some man-made laws in order to live a good and honest life. governments are for people too afraid to make their own desicions in life.
    If you don't participate at all in the political process, then I can see why you would fear or despise government. Fear and loathing directed towards something is generally the first product of not knowing.
    there is no government...
    You have to realize that you have a voice and that your voice counts. If you give up your voice and remove yourself from your community, then why complain? You don't want to be part of it, you don't want to exercise your freedom and rights and you don't care about anyone else's.
    my voice is here on the broadband... it reaches and affects those who it does... i am exercising my freedom right here, right now. thought creates... people need to be empowered... power to the people.
    recognize.
    understand.

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