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Integrative Medicine, Complementary and Alternative Medicine and Health Round-up #72: October 2013 |
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Written by John Weeks
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Integrative Medicine, Complementary and Alternative Medicine and Health Round-up #72: October 2013Policy
-U.S. Senate offers powerful, supportive statements on naturopathic medicine in declaration of "Naturopathic Medicine Week"
-State of Oregon Health Authority creates "Integrative Medical Advisory Group"
-The Physicians Foundation reports (positively) on MD-medicine's scope campaigns against other disciplines
 $250,000 award to Sunita Vohra, MD
Charting the Mainstream
-Study puts annual deaths from regular medicine at 210,000-440,000 - the nation's 3rd largest killer
Organizations
-National, multidisciplinary certification group for health coaches gains not-for-profit status
-Boston Medical Center group receives $1.6-million PCORI grant to explore group-delivered integrative medical services
-National Center for Homeopathy "re-booting" under new executive director
Natural Products
-Council for Responsible Nutrition report estimates billions saved via appropriate use of dietary supplements
-Israelsen's UNPA and Bland's PLM link for exploration of dietary supplement-personalized medicine opportunities
Professions
-AAAOM declares ambitious plan for 5 pieces of federal legislation
-American Chiropractic Association House of Delegates focuses on guidelines, evidence
-Naturopathic doctors face regulatory challenges over prescription rights in Vermont, Alaska
-American Holistic Nurses plans cruise to explore the "evolution of integrative health and holistic nursing"
 Bland - partnering with Israelson on personalized medicine
Perspectives
-Calling the Question: Is
battle over non-discrimination in health care (Section 2706) rightfully
spoken in the same breath as battles for people of color and women?
-Update from Dana Ullman: Indian Institute of Technology
delivers compelling evidence for homeopathy/nanomedicine
Awards
-Integrative pediatrician Sunita Vorha, MD awarded 2013 $250,000 Dr. Rogers' Prize
-Integrative researcher-clinician Dugald Seely, ND chosen one of Ottawa's Top 25 People
People
-Horace Elliott to step down after 27 years with the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners
-Disease Proof: new book from Yale integrative and preventive medicine leader David Katz, MD, MPH
-American Chiropractic Association selects James Potter as new CEO
_________________________________
Policy
U.S. Senate offers powerful, supportive statements on naturopathic medicine in declaration of "Naturopathic Medicine Week"
On September 10, 2013, the U.S. Senate, via U.S. Senate Resolution 221,
declared October 6-13, 2013 "Naturopathic Medicine Weeks." The
initiative, championed by Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), was the brainchild of
the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians. As argued in this column,
the power in the passage of the resolution was the way naturopathic
medicine and naturopathic physicians are described in the series of
"whereas" statements that explained the reason for the action (see
comment field). Jud Richland, CEO of the AANP, states on the organization’s website
that “passage of this resolution is a historic achievement for
naturopathic medicine.” This is the first explicit inclusion of the
naturopathic medical profession in any act of either branch of Congress.
The profession is promoting Naturopathic Medicine Week celebrations to celebrate the healing power of nature in communities around the country.
Comment: How about these endorsements from the U.S. Senate for your profession's calling card: "Safe,
effective and affordable health care." Or: "Focus(ed) on patient-centered care, the prevention of chronic illnesses, and
early intervention in the treatment of chronic illnesses." Or: "Aspects have been shown to lower
the risk of major illnesses such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes." How about a recommendation from the U.S. Senator that citizens
"learn about the role of naturopathic physicians in preventing chronic and
debilitating conditions." These are all part of the resolution - a nice introduction into the mainstage of healthcare politics for naturopathic medicine.
 Goldberg: advised on integrative medicine
State of Oregon Health Authority creates "Integrative Medical Advisory Group"
A brief note in a business news piece captures a piece of history simply: "Advisory appointment: Bruce Goldberg, MD, Director of
the Oregon Health Authority has appointed Albany chiropractor Dr. Vern
Saboe to a new 'Integrative Medical Advisory Group.' The advisory group
will provide advice to the Oregon Health Authority about how to best
integrate a variety of complementary and alternative medicine health
care services, assure access and choice of care to OHA clients, promote
and assure quality of care, appropriately credential practitioners, as
well as other items that arise." A contact in Oregon gave me a preview of the make-up. It will include representatives from MDs, DCs, NDs, LAcs, LMTs and midwives
spanning Oregon's newly formed medicaid Accountable Care Organizations, which we call Coordinated Care
Organizations, plus representatives from Independent Physician Associations, commercial insurance plans
and the Oregon state health department.
Comment: This may be the first state level authority to recognize the "integrative medicine" brand in a formal body.
 Positive report on AMA's scope suppression
The Physicians Foundation reports (positively) on MD-medicine's scope campaigns against other disciplines
A well-funded organization called the Physicians Foundation has published what it calls a "White Paper on Expanding Scope of Practice for Non-Physician Providers and Implications for Patients and U.S. Healthcare System." The formal title of the publication, by authors
Stephen Isaacs
and Paul Jellinek titled, "Accept No Substitute: A Report on Scope of
Practice,"
The editorial line is clear in the initial paragraphs of the executive summary:
"On the whole, physicians and their advocates have so far been remarkably successful in holding the line on many of these expansionary forays. For example, after many years of concerted effort by nurse practitioner advocates, currently only 14 percent of the nation's nurse practitioners practice in states judged by the American Journal of Nurse Practitioners to allow nurses full autonomy. Optometrists have gained surgical privileges in only three states, and psychologists have won prescribing rights in only two." The authors immediately speak to the potential loss of control and income to medical doctors.
Comment: One may wonder what "public" or "charitable" purposes is being performed via this tax-deductible work that begins with a presumptive charge that no good to human health will come from expanded scope of other providers. This will be useful reading for any political activists who are on the front-line. Now, one wager: I'd be willing to bet that neither naturopathic physicians nor chiropractic physicians are welcome members in the Physicians Foundation. Any takers?
Charting the Mainstream
 3rd largest killer
Study puts annual deaths from regular medicine at 210,000-440,000 - the nation's 3rd largest killer
The title of the story was a question: "How Many Die from Medical Mistakes in the U.S.?" A new study in the current issue of the Journal of Patient
Safety estimates that number as between 210,000 and 440,000 patients
each
year "who go to the hospital for care [then] suffer some type of preventable
harm that contributes
to their death." The seminal Institute of Medicine report from 2000 that
brought deaths from medical errors into the light put the figure at
98,000. Then, in 2010, the Office of Inspector General for
Health and Human Services suggested that hospital care contributed
to the deaths
of 180,000 patients in Medicare alone in a given year. The new estimates
were
developed by John T. James, a toxicologist at NASA's
space center in Houston who runs an advocacy organization called Patient Safety America.
The story notes that this "would make medical errors the third-leading cause of death in America,
behind heart disease, which is
the first, and cancer, which is second." A spokesman from the American
Hospital Association reportedly stated that they are "more comfortable
with" the IOM's 98,000 estimate.
Comment: One possible response to this
information is what a friend does when thinking of the extinction of
species. She opens her heart and takes it in the magnitude of the news.
This causes wailing. Snide asides are an easier, protective response: And this from a system that had us believing that it's the best in the world? Or: And they've the gall to lambaste "CAM" for questionable safety?! How does one cross the bridge from the Hippocratic "above all do no harm" to become the nation's 3rd largest killer? Plenty
of shame to go around. Question is, can shame corrode the finery and
lifestyle that shell-up the captains of the $2.8-trillion industry?
Organizations
 Jordan: reports on coaching advances
National, multidisciplinary certification group for health coaches gains not-for-profit status
A newsletter from Meg Jordan, PhD, RN and the California Institute of Integral Studies reports that the National Consortium for Credentialing of Health and Wellness Coaches has recently gained status as a formal not-for-profit organization. Jordan is a member of the organization's illustrious board of directors.
The group first assembled in 2009 then convened a national meeting of 75 interested leaders in
September 2010 shortly after the Affordable Care Act was passed. The
group is multidisciplinary and is working to set credentialing standards
that would work across disciplines in order to, as their mission
states, "improve the health and well-being of all Americans who are struggling to
start and sustain health-giving behaviors and lifestyles, manage
chronic diseases, and make important health decisions."
Comment: In the best of all worlds, I would add
required education in health coaching to that in self-care and in health
and well-being (see Institute of Medicine web-accessible workshop includes focus on health and well-being in "transdisciplinary professionalism) as
mission critical remedial actions to lever our disease focused system
toward health. And yes, I also include anesthesiologists and brain
surgeons as those who should be forced to ground their view of where the medical
system needs to go by immersing themselves in these arts and sciences.
Here's hope that the group has had a set of significant donors waiting
in the wings for the tax-deductible status to come through.
 Gardiner: PI on the integrative group services study
Boston Medical Center group receives $1.6-million PCORI grant to explore group-delivered integrative medical services
The Program for Integrative Medicine and Health Care Disparities
at Boston Medical Center has been approved to receive a research award
from PCORI to study Integrative Medicine Group Visits (IMGV) for chronic pain and
depression in a low-income, minority population. Paula Gardiner, MD, MPH will
lead the project at BMC. Basic research questions: "Will patients with chronic pain and associated conditions
report less pain compared to control (those who do not participate in
the IMGV) participants? Will patients
with chronic pain and related conditions feel less depressed than those
who are not in the IMGV? Will
patients in the IMGV have more self-motivation to reduce pain compared
to those who are not in the IMGV?"
 Kahn: comments on the unique BMC team
Comment from Janet Kahn, PhD: Via work with the
Research Working Group of the Academic Consortium for Complementary and
Alternative Health Care, massage therapist-researcher-integrative
medicine policy leader Janet Kahn, PhD, CMT commented on the study. I
received her approval to publish these here: "Paula Gardiner and Rob
Saper, the folks
who head up the Boston Medical Centers Program
for Integrative Medicine and Health Care Disparities are, in my mind,
heroes. They are some of the relatively few integrative health care folks in either
the allopathic or CAM worlds who are totally dedicated to bringing
integrative
health care to underserved poor folks. They are not working in
boutique
practices for folks who can pay out of pocket. While even rich folks
suffer and deserve help for their suffering, the professionals who are
treating
poor folks are way less likely to be getting wealthy doing it. If the
Boston Medical Center study shows these treatments to be cost-effective
and
successful for poor, underserved people with depression it is one more
argument
we can bring to CMS to start making integrative health care available
through
Medicare and Medicaid." One additional note: the subject of this study, integrative group visits, is very exciting. From perspectives of values, effectiveness and efficiency, all integrative practitioners and their educators should be all over these approaches.
 Teitelbaum: at the helm of the NCH
National Center for Homeopathy "re-booting" under new executive director
A September 25, 2013 e-newsletter from Alison Teitelbaum, MS, MPH,
the recently named executive director of the National Center for
Homeopathy, boasts a series of changes in the organization. Chief among
them is a new website that includes additional information for "newcomers," and expanded news and research sections. Other changes: a new bi-monthly e-news "about all things homeopathy." Teitelbaum pledges many more changes in upcoming months.
Comment from Dana Ullman, MPH, CCH: I asked long-time observer-participant in the homeopathy field
Dana Ullman, MPH, CHC, for a perspective:
"Alison Teitelbaum has
recently become the Executive Director of the National Center for Homeopathy
and has hit the ground running. It has been only around 9 months since
Alison has assumed this position, but she is off to a great start." Then he added: "She is working and
rebooting the organization from the inside out. Now, if only the medical
and scientific community will finally actually look at the growing body of
scientific evidence that verifies the biological basis to and the clinical
efficacy of nanodoses, the medical revolution will finally begin."
(See related piece, under Perspectives in this Round-up.) My additional comment: a tough business in homeopathy is how does one provide
maximal voice for those who focus on using the minimal dose. Herding cats is
one thing. Herding minds-in-search-of-remedies is a challenge of another
order. Good luck, Teitelbaum.
Natural Products
 Study underscores possible cost benefits
Council for Responsible Nutrition report estimates billions saved via appropriate use of dietary supplements
The Council Responsible Nutrition, a major Beltway player in the wars over dietary supplements, has released a new report entitled Smart Prevention—Health Care Cost Savings Resulting from the Targeted Use of Dietary Supplements. The
report is subtitled "An Economic Case for Promoting Increased Intake of
Key Dietary Supplements as a Means to Compat Unsustainable Cost Growth
in the United States." The organization contracted with Frost &
Sullivan for the report. They focused on 4 conditions: 1) coronary heart
disease (CHD) and the potential health care cost savings when using
omega-3 fatty acids, three B vitamins (folic acid, B6, and B12),
phytosterols, and psyllium dietary fiber; 2) diabetes-attributed CHD and
the potential health care cost savings when using chromium picolinate;
3) age-related eye disease (ARED), specifically age-related macular
degeneration and cataracts, and the potential health care cost savings
when using lutein and zeaxanthin; and 4) osteoporosis and the potential
health care cost savings when using the combination of calcium and
vitamin D or when using magnesium. Some estimates: $6.8 billion annual
savings from increased use of magnesium in women over 55 with
osteoporosis; $12-billion annually from Calcium and Vitamin D if
routinely given to the same population; and $4.3 billion annually from
affirmative use of Omega 3s. These are each reported in this summary. The full report is available here.
Comment: One day perhaps the estimate of harm from the present system, such as was estimated in the article referenced above, will include the opportunity costs - the best foregone alternatives from not deploying appropriate complementary and integrative practices - in this case supplementation.
 Israelsen: partnering with Bland in personalized medicine initiative
Israelsen's UNPA and Bland's PLM link for exploration of dietary supplement-personalized medicine opportunities
The United Natural Products Alliance (UNPA), founded by natural products regulation maven Loren Israelsen, and Personalized Lifestyle Medicine (PLM), founded by Jeff Bland, PhD, are uniting to co-sponsor Personalized Medicine: Opportunities and Challenges for the Dietary Supplement Industry.
The event will take place in Salt Lake City on October 25, 2013. The
organizations argue that "the age of 'personalized health' is upon us,
and it's a game changer for the natural health, nutrition and wellness
industry." And again: "To stay relevant, the natural health
products industry must move from providing a 'shotgun' prevention
approach to one that is patient-centered, utilizes a wide range of
integrated approaches and addresses specific concerns."
Comment: The Israelsen-Bland connection brings together
two of the more significant influencers in the natural products
industry over the past 30 years, for Israelsen, and 40 years, for Bland.
Notably, the Council for Responsible Nutrition study on cost savings
from dietary supplements, reported above, also invokes the growing interest in personalized medicine as background for the importance of its report.
Professions
 Laying out ambitious federal agenda
AAAOM declares ambitious plan for 5 pieces of federal legislation
The American Association of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine has declared a 5-bill agenda for its work with the U.S. Congress. The priorities, as laid out in this interview in Acupuncture Today, target: "1) Defense Health, our nation's program serving active duty service
members, National Guard and Reserve members, retirees, their families,
survivors and certain former spouses worldwide. 2) Veterans Administration, America's largest integrated health care
system with over 1,700 sites of care, serving 8.3 million Veterans each
year. 3) Medicare, the federal health insurance program for people who are 65
or older, certain younger people with disabilities, and people with
End-Stage Renal Disease. 4) Federal Health Employees Benefits which provides healthcare to
federal employees, retirees and their survivors who enjoy the widest
selection of health plans in the country. 5) Public Health Service Corps, a team of more than 6,500 highly
qualified, public health professionals. The Commissioned Corps officers
work for Federal agencies, such as the Indian Health Service and Bureau
of Prisons, on the forefront of public health treating individuals that
need it most. The Corps' officers are dedicated to public health
promotion, disease prevention, and the advancement of public health
science." In a significant effort to engage the whole profession in the agenda, the AAAOM has asked for input on the DRAFT bills, which are posted here. The AAAOM site indicates that thus far $20,500 has been raised to support what they see as a $3.14-million strategic plan.
Comment: One sort of Congressional strategy for an under-resourced profession is to choose a relatively undemanding goal that might give you a win but may not add up to much except some PR. The naturopathic doctors did this with SR221 and "Naturopathic Medicine Week." (See Policy, this issue.) It follows Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals: Choose winnable goals. Another strategy is to announce the big audacious goal in hopes that it will magnetize. That appears to be the AAAOM strategy. Credit the AAAOM for its big tent process. As the comment field in the Acupuncture Today interview shows, integration, inclusion and insurance coverage are hotly debated by members of this profession as they are by all others. At present, this news is under Professions. Here's hoping there will soon be positive reports of sponsorship and engagement under Policy.
 Chiropractic group focuses on guidelines, evidence
American Chiropractic Association House of Delegates focuses on guidelines, evidence
In a report on the September 27-29, 2013 meeting of the House of Delegates of the American Chiropractic Association (ACA), the ACA highlighted one key action: "Best Practices and Clinical Guidelines: With
more of health care payers transitioning to models supporting
evidence-based health care practices, delegates approved a resolution to
develop an ACA work group to review current and future best practice
and guideline documents for potential adoption. The resolution points
out that management of many commonly encountered disorders by
chiropractic physicians is under scrutiny by third-party payers, and
notes that 'evidence-informed practice incorporates evidence-based
research, established clinical guidelines, standard and accepted
diagnostic algorithms and, diagnostic procedures and patient preference
used in conjunction with the clinician's clinical skills.'" In a lead-in
to the report, ACA president Keith Overland, DC, reinforced this view:
"We have an opportunity facing us like never
before in history. Our entire U.S. health care system is transforming.
The payment mechanisms and delivery system are changing. Evidence and
cost-effectiveness are required. We must stop clinging to the past if we
want to create the future."
Comment: A number
of recent reports on the evidence for cost-savings through doctors of
chiropractic suggest that any system should start proactively creating
managed access to these practitioners. The question for the chiropractors is partly whether evidence is enthroned; prejudice must also be dethroned, and the tool there may be less evidence than relationships.
 Scope issues in two states
Naturopathic doctors face regulatory challenges over prescription rights in Vermont, Alaska
The story in the Rutland Herald reports that "a set of rules proposed by the Secretary of State's Office of
Professional Regulation to revise the prescribing authority of
naturopathic physicians has been rejected, at least temporarily, by a
legislative panel." The legislature had passed "a
special license endorsement authorizing [naturopathic doctors] to
prescribe, dispense, and administer prescription medicines," eliminating
a prior formulary. However, within a week, the panel reversed itself and backed the law: In an about-face, lawmakers expand prescription authority for naturopaths.
The same September 27, 2013 daily e-news of the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians (AANP) shared an article in the Juneau Empire
that reports concerns of that state's naturopathic doctors that new
rules in the state will take away their rights to prescribe inject-able
vitamins. The story notes that NDs have some form of prescriptive
authority in 13 of the 17 states in which they are regulated. In both Vermont and Alaska, the naturopathic doctors were opposed by the respective state's
MD medical boards.
Comment: Credit the AANP for directly informing their members
of these two conflicts. The NDs can at least take solace that they shouldn't take the opposition
personally. Prescription issues are front and center for the AMA's Scope of Practice Partnership that seeks to limit scope, and drug rights, to multiple disciplines.
 Cruising for holism
American Holistic Nurses plans cruise to explore the "evolution of integrative health and holistic nursing"
The expectation is of some 400 nurses and other practitioners gathering in Miami on November 2, 2013 for a week-long tax-deductible "Evolving Consciousness Community Cruise" through the Caribbean. Literally a boatload of integrative medicine and holistic nursing speakers, and a promise to "get silly, creative and profound, in ways that help us evolve into greater…" - and the list includes self-awareness, self-empowerment, professional satisfaction, and more.
Comment: This is the sort of moment when any sometimes speaker thinks: Now, why didn't I have the right content to be forced to have my way paid to attend that event ...? As a present resident in the Caribbean town of Rincon, Puerto Rico, I can attest to the possible co-habitation of actual work with the tropical pleasures.
Perspectives
 Cates: calling the discrimination question
Calling the Question: Is
battle over non-discrimination in health care (Section 2706) rightfully
spoken in the same breath as battles for people of color and women?
In a recent family trip to a book fair at the nation's capitol, massage therapist Lauren Cates, CMT
purchased "a beautifully illustrated book and CD following Martin
Luther King's 'I have a dream' speech." Cates, the founder of the Society for Oncology Massage, heard echoed in King's words the battle over Section 2706 of the Affordable Healthcare Act. The section is entitled "Non-Discrimination in Health Care." Cates reflected on the connection and blogged on it in 2706 Redux (Not that it died ... yet).
The post is something of a ramble but raises the question and the
uneasiness of the association with these two powerful cultural change
movements directly: "You might feel that I'm stretching to compare the
position of massage
therapists in the world of healthcare with the civil rights movement or
the feminist movement." Then, before speaking to the American Medical
Association's efforts to overturn 2706, she makes her own view clear:
"If, in your role as a massage therapist, you feel respected and 'seen'
by doctors, physical therapists, nurses and hospital administrators,
then you should stop reading now. Don't waste this beautiful day
staring at your computer when you could be out riding your unicorn."
 King: was his a parallel dream?
Comment: I hold strong personal view that frank
prejudice is at play in much of this "integration" work. The evidence
game, for instance is hardly a jury of one's peers: whole system methods
in front of the NIH review panels have a black man's chance with a 1962
Selma jury. Access to care is subject to insurer red-lining. (Note that
the insurers, did, however, pay for virtual all the murder and mahem
captured in the article on deaths via medicine, above.) The night-riders
for the old system of medicine get away with throwing figurative ropes
over tree branches, as judge and jury, dissing integrative medicine as
"quackademic medicine" and blithely referring to "naturopathic medicine
week" as "quack week." Cates refers to massage therapists not being
"seen" by medical doctors. Hello Ralph Ellison and the seminal Invisible Man.
The parallels go on, even to the ways that the imprint of the dominant
system on the "alternative" outsiders create psychic chains explored in
such works as Albert Memmi's The Colonizer and the Colonized.
Good for the outspoken Cates to have called the question. Now: what are
its full implications for those who have a dream? (Thanks to David
Matteson for bringing Cate's post to my attention.)
 Ullman: key evidence for homeopathy discovered
Update from Dana Ullman: Indian Institute of Technology
delivers compelling evidence for homeopathy/nanomedicine
After an e-exchange with Dana Ullman, MPH, CCH, regarding changes at the National Center for Homeopathy (reported above), Ullman added an update on recent research published out of India. He said I could share: "Speaking of these
nanodoses, the work of Iris Bell, MD, PhD is of special importance here.
Dr. Bell [has been a researcher with] Andy Weil's University of Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine and she has been a tireless researcher and a
collector of evidence from mainstream science that has now verified a wide body
of evidence to show that nanodoses of the original medicine PERSIST in water
solutions and remain in measurable doses that are known to active biological
and physiological effects. Bell also draws some of her evidence from the body
of research conducted at the famed India Institute of Technology (India's
leading governmental research agency), which recently had a team of researchers
conduct studies, using three different types of spectroscopy, to confirm the
persistence of nanodoses. This team published their newest review of
their (and others') research in the highly respected journal in the field of 'material sciences' called Langmuir. (Chikramane PS, Kalita D, Suresh AK,
Kane SG, Bellare JR. Why Extreme Dilutions Reach Non-zero Asymptotes: A Nanoparticulate
Hypothesis Based on Froth Flotation.) Based on this
research, people who now say or suggest that there is 'nothing' in
homeopathic medicines have been PROVEN to be wrong (or misinformed).
Ullman continues: "Bell's work is an exceptional review of the basic sciences literature that explains
how homeopathic medicines may work. (Bell IR, Koithan M. A model for homeopathic remedy effects:
low dose nanoparticles, allostatic cross-adaptation, and time-dependent
sensitization in a complex adaptive system. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2012 Oct
22;12(1):191.) Further, it is widely
recognized that MANY common hormones and cell signaling agents in the human
body are known to react powerfully to extremely small doses. A review of
some of this evidence was published [some years ago] in Archives of Internal Medicine: Eskinazi, D.,
Homeopathy Re-revisited: Is Homeopathy Compatible with Biomedical Observations?
Archives in Internal Medicine, 159, Sept 27, 1999:1981-7. I hope this
intrigues you and your readers...and this body of scientific evidence leads me
to tell fellow homeopaths that we must now seriously consider referring to
homeopathy as a type of 'nanopharmacology' and a 'nanomedicine.' When homeopathy gets re-framed this way, I
predict that it'll be better understood and accepted. Nanomedicine IS
part of the future of medicine."
Comment: I am not a big homeopathy guy, as my spouse, Jeana Kimball, ND, MPH, who is, will attest. (I take the remedies, and do reach for Traumeel on my own ...) I am, however, a big fan of Iris Bell. I have heard repeatedly, from my spouse, that one day the science will support the activity in these infinitesimal doses. If what Dana reports is correct, that day may be upon us. On me, a spousal I told you so.
Awards
 Vohra: winner of Dr. Rogers prize
Integrative pediatrician Sunita Vorha, MD awarded 2013 $250,000 Dr. Rogers' Prize
In a gala ceremony in Vancouver, B.C. on September 26, 2013, integrative pediatrician Sunita Vohra, MD, MSc won the $250,000 Dr. Rogers' Prize for excellence in complementary and alternative medicine. An account in the Vancouver Sun notes that Vorha, 42-years-old, started Canada's first integrative pediatric program. She presently directs the Complementary and Alternative Research and Education or CARE
at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. After asking what she planned to do
with the award funds, Vohra, a clinician-researcher, the Sun reported that she
"didn't have specific plans for the money other
than she would use it to help get the kind of research she does out of
books and into policy that makes changes in the world." The Dr. Rogers' Prize,
awarded every two years, is named after a pioneering integrative
medical doctor in British Columbia, Roger Rogers, MD. It is the largest prize of its kind in the world
in complementary, alternative and integrative health and medicine.
Comment: Vohra's response on her planned use is quite practical and down-to-earth and gives a little hint to what drives her. Her eye is on the real prize: translating what we are learning to shift practice toward better care.
 Seely: one of Ottawa's people to watch
Integrative researcher-clinician Dugald Seely, ND chosen one of Ottawa's Top 25 People
The Ottawa Integrative Cancer Center (OICC) founder and executive director Dugald Seely, ND, MSc, FABNO has been selected as one of the Top 25 People in the Capital in 2013
by Ottawa Life "for his vision and leadership in starting the first
integrative cancer care and research centre in central and eastern
Canada."
Seely also serves as the director of research at the Canadian College of
Naturopathic Medicine where this year he successfully had published in
the Canadian Medical Association Journal the first positive article about outcomes of a whole person naturopathic protocol. OICC offers a whole person, integrative oncology approach.
Comment: Having not known the winner of the Dr. Rogers' Prize,
but with close familiarity with Seely's remarkable trajectory and
influence as a clinician-researcher (like the winner, Sunita Vorha, MD),
I'd supported a nomination for Seely to win that prize. Perhaps
another year. While no prize money for this, quite an honor in Ottawa.
People
 Elliott: stepping down from NBCE
Horace Elliott to step down after 27 years with the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners
Twice granted honorary doctorates by the chiropractic organizations, Horace Elliott will be celebrated on October 30, 2013 in Greeley, Colorado, by the National
Board of Chiropractic Examiners (NBCE). The organization is holding a reception "to honor for his 27 years of service to the
chiropractic profession." The executive vice president to the chiropractic profession's testing agency, is a strong believer in the value of
collaboration and interprofessional teams in providing optimal care,
Elliott was a champion of NBCE's decision to become a member of the
interprofessional Academic Consortium for Complementary and Alternative Health Care (ACCAHC) for which he has served on the board and as chair of the finance committee.
Comment: Fine man. It has been a personal pleasure to
have had a chance to work closely with Horace from time-to-time via his
ACCAHC role.
 Katz: new book from Yale leader
Disease Proof: new book from Yale integrative and preventive medicine leader David Katz, MD, MPH
The new book by Yale integrative and preventive medicine leader David Katz, MD. MPH, is Disease Proof: The Remarkable Truth about What Makes Us Well. Katz argues that 80% of disease risk can be limited through "four simple things—not
smoking, eating well, being active, and maintaining a healthy weight."
An ad for the book says Katz "equips readers with the knowledge to
manage weight, improve immune
function, reprogram our genes, and prevent and reverse life-altering
illnesses."
Comment: Katz, who founded Yale Integrative Medicine,
has perhaps the strongest prevention and public health pedigree of any
integrative medicine leader. He serves as the chair of the steering
committee of the Health Resources Services Administration-funded
National Coordinating Center for Integrative Medicine, a.k.a., Integrative Medicine in Preventive Medicine (IMPriME).
American Chiropractic Association selects James Potter as new CEO
The American Chiropractic
Association announced that it has selected James G. Potter as its Chief Executive Officer. Potter is an experienced association director who comes from the American Academy of Physician Assistants where he served as Senior Vice President and
Interim CEO. Potter previously directed government relations at the American
Speech-Language Hearing Association and held positions with radiologists and with the American Medical Association. He
joined ACA in mid-September, replacing Bill O'Connell.
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