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some CAM/IM publication links |
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Integrative Medicine, Complementary and Alternative Health and Medicine Round-up #88: February 2015 |
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Written by John Weeks
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Integrative Medicine, Complementary and Alternative Health and Medicine Round-up #88: February 2015
Policy
-Toward
Patient-Centered Federal Funding: Chiropractors Going After Participation
in Federal Student Loan Repayment Program
-Michael Levin: "NY Attorney General Issues Cease and Desist
Order Against Retailers and Supplement Companies - Using a Screwdriver to Hammer a Nail?"
 Pushing inclusion in NHSC
Organizations
-The Gift That
Keeps on Giving:
New Publication on Care Outcomes from the Penny George Institute
-Another
Perspective on SIO Founder Cassileth's View of the Maturation of Integrative
Oncology
Academics
-Albert Einstein
College is the New Coordinating Center for the BraveNet Research Network
-Report
Puts Economic Impact of New York Chiropractic College at $67-Million
Integrative Care Industry
-Consumer
Use of Complementary Health Approaches Drops in Recent NCCIH Data; Increases
for Yoga, Melatonin, Probiotics, Fish-oil
-Experience-Based
Medicine:
Share Practice App Continues to Pick-up Steam as Integrative Care Communicator
for Clinicians
-The
Most Visible PR for Integrative Medicine: Advertisements from Cancer Treatment
Centers of America
-Home
Depot Founder Gives $14-Million Gift to Jefferson's Myra Brind Center for
Integrative Medicine
-Two
More Children's Hospitals Announce Integrative Programs: Cleveland Clinic and U
Minnesota
-City
of Asheville Continues to Promote Itself as Destination for Integrative Care
-FON
Consulting Publishes Updated Lists of 2015 Integrative Conferences
 Changing its name to ACIMH
Identity
-Analysis
of Multiple Definitions of Integrative Medicine and Health Finds Significant -Differences
-While We Are at
It (The M-Word):
The Distinction Between "Modalities," "Therapeutic Procedures," and Human
Beings
-Consortium
of Integrative Medicine Academics Changes Name from CAHCIM to ACIMH and Takes
on New Partners for 2016 Congress
-Don't Want to Be
Part of Any Club That Would Have Me Department: Chiropractic
Students See Themselves as Mainstream not CAM
People
-Tom
Newmark Elected Board Chair at the American Botanical Council
-Richard
Miller Named Acting Executive VP of American Chiropractic Association
-Standard
Process Selects Ibrahim Abou-Nemeh, PhD as New Director of Research and
Development
_____________________________________
Policy
.jpg) NHSC: Federal Club closed against DCs, NDs, LAcs
Toward Patient-Centered Federal Funding: Chiropractors Going After Participation in Federal
Student Loan Repayment Program
Following lobbying from the American
Chiropractic Association (ACA), U.S.
Rep. Gregg Harper (R-Miss.) has
introduced H.R. 542, "The
National Health Service Corps Improvement Act of 2015." According to this ACA release, the legislation would specify that chiropractors are among
the designated provider types allowed to compete for student loan repayment and
scholarships through federal programs managed by the National Health Service
Corps (NHSC). Presently approved, as noted in the release, are "medical
and osteopathic physicians, nurse practitioners, certified nurse midwives,
physician assistants, dentists, registered dental hygienists, health service
psychologists, licensed clinical social workers, licensed professional
counselors, marriage and family therapists, and psychiatric nurse specialists." ACA President Anthony Hamm, DC, FACO states:
"Enacting it into law would eliminate one more disparity in federal
programs relative to the chiropractic profession and our students." The ACA
plans to focus on this legislation during their lobbying during their leadership
conference in the Beltway February25-28, 2015.
Comment: Federal
funding of medicine includes many exclusive clubs in. One biggie is which residencies
get a chunk of the billions of Medicare dollars that supports residencies. A
relatively small one was federal support for developing electronic health
records system- a club into which chiropractors, as included Medicare
providers, got membership. Entrance to the loan-payback clique has been long
sought by chiropractors as well as naturopathic doctors, and coming on the
horizon, licensed acupuncturists. A concept of patient-centered federal funding,
rather than guild-based, must at a certain time support patient-centered care. Actionable
evidence for the ability of these field in enhancing
patient experience and lowering
per-capita costs is in hand. Good luck this round.
.jpg) From the NY AG's website
Michael Levin: "NY
Attorney General Issues Cease and Desist Order Against Retailers and Supplement
Companies - Using a Screwdriver to Hammer
a Nail?"
Integrator columnist and natural products
expert Michael Levin
sent this quick alert after the New York Attorney General's office ordered four
major retailers to stop selling six dietary supplements types on February 3,
2015. Levin shared a NY AG release sub-headed: "Mislabeled
Consumer Products Pose Unacceptable Health Hazards." Here is Levin's alert and
perspective:
Levin notes that
the AG release reported as follows: "The
letters [to the retailers] come as DNA testing, performed as part of an ongoing
investigation by the Attorney General's Office, allegedly shows that, overall,
just 21% of the test results from store brand herbal supplements verified DNA
from the plants listed on the products' labels - with 79% coming up empty for
DNA related to the labeled content or verifying contamination with other plant
material. The retailer with the poorest showing for DNA matching products
listed on the label was Walmart. Only 4% of the Walmart products tested showed
DNA from the plants listed on the products' labels."
 Integrator columnist Levin
Levin writes:
"At issue is the technology used to reach the conclusions behind the AG's
unprecedented actions. DNA sequencing is a powerful tool that can be used
expertly on whole plants, but NOT on herbal extracts. Experts agree that the
extraction process undermines the value of this technology. Experts from the
American Botanical Council, a 501©(3) organization, provided the following helpful insights in a member advisory.
American Botanical Council perspective: "The AG's
study is not based on adequate science and its actions are thus premature. The
use of DNA barcoding technology for testing of the identity of botanical
dietary supplements is a useful but limited technology. DNA testing seldom is
able to properly identify chemically complex herbal extracts as little or no DNA is
extracted in many commercial extraction processes. Basing its actions on the
basis of only one testing technology from only one laboratory, the NY AG
results are preliminary and require further substantiation. Additional testing
using microscopic analysis and validated chemical methods should be conducted
to confirm the initial results upon which the AG is acting."
Levin continues: "The AG's
premature and irresponsible action taken by the AG unfairly undermines consumer
confidence and may cause substantial economic damages to the corporations named
in particular, and to the industry in general. This is tragic. If the AG's
office keeps using screwdrivers to hammer nails, it would be well advised to
heed this advice from a carpenter before taking actions it will later
regret: Measure twice, cut once!"
 Among the industry challengers
Comment: Not
surprisingly, the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) also
weighed in the same day. APHA's chief science officer supported ABC's view:
"Even after maturity, DNA testing is foreseen by the scientific community
to play a complementary role to other well-established and validated techniques
such as various forms of chromatography, microscopy and organolepsis," Another
industry organization, the Council for Responsible Nutrition, weighed
in here as did the United
Natural Products Alliance.
However this falls, the issue foists in front of the public
an issue that many know has been problematic for the herb industry: label over-statement
of amounts and potencies of products. The fact that the big, cheap, Wallmart
came in lowest appears to add veracity. The ABC release notes that both the New York Times and the Washington Post had already splashed
stories on the AGs action. The former failed to print ABC's corrective letter.
When I told Levin I would publish his note, he replied: "Thanks. This is a Big
Deal. The AG acted recklessly on unproven science - we will see a lot of
fallout from this - and, I suspect, lawsuits."
Breaking News: Just before sending this off an alert from
AHPA shared that Prevention had published an article in which two
long-time critics of botanical product quality sided with industry's position.
Organizations
 Dusek: tremendous outcomes chain
The Gift That Keeps on Giving: New Publication on Care Outcomes from the Penny
George Institute
The director of research at the Integrative Health Research
Center at the Penny George Institute for Health and Healing, Jeffrey Dusek, PhD, recently sent links to
three recent publications from that robust, nation-leading integrative care
hot-spot. They evaluate the effectiveness of integrative health and medicine on
pain and anxiety in hospitalized patients. The first, in
the Journal of the National Cancer Institute picked up significant media,
including this in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune
on the value of integrative care to ease cancer pain. A second, published in
the BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine
found that cardiovascular inpatients reported statistically significant
decreases in pain and anxiety following care with "adjunctive IM interventions."
The third, published here
in Pain Medicine, looked at group
acupuncture and found short-term pain relief for patients receiving total joint
replacement. Dusek notes that more publications are expected this year, and a
major economic analysis is in process. The
research was supported by an going R01 grant from NCCIH to Dusek and his team.
 The Georges: delivering transformative evidence
Comment: Credit the then
NCCAM, now NCCIH, for living up to the strategic objectives of its 2011-2015
plan with this cross-cutting R01
grant.
The work of the Penny George Institute team speaks to that plan's elevation of
both research on pain conditions and on the NCCIH objective of examining more
"real world" approaches. I imagine that the very generous Georges must be pleased
to see the NIH's public investment in their vision for evidence-driven
transformation of medicine to an integrative model generating such bounty.
 Cassileth: the origins of integrative oncology
Another
Perspective on SIO Founder Cassileth's View of the Maturation of Integrative
Oncology
The
founding president of the Society for Integrative Oncology (SIO), Barrie Cassileth,
MS, PhD,
offer a short view of the Long and Winding
Road to Modern Integrative Oncology in a recent ASCO Post. The memories of
Cassileth, the point person on Memorial Sloan Kettering's integrative cancer
program, regarding her initial work as an advisor in the mid-1990sto the NIH
Office of Alternative Medicine, offer an unflattering look at what were then her
new colleagues: "Most in the room felt that science was neither necessary nor
applicable to ‘alternative' cancer therapies. Belief in scientific research was
the ‘other side.' Their side was a multibillion-dollar industry that was beyond
scientific inquiry. The SIO guidelines are a potent answer."
Cassileth
notes that she herself was suspect to those with whom she was sharing the room.
She derides the original establishment of that NIH office as politically rather
than scientifically motivated. Cassileth does note what to her was "their side"
- the "CAM" people - ultimately had value: "It turned out that not all interventions
in the catch-all ‘alternative therapies' category were bogus. Although none was
curative, many non-pharmacologic approaches were potentially helpful for
symptom control."
 Konrad Kail,ND,PA: an early "CAM" leader at NIH
Comment: I recall from
colleagues who served with her that Cassileth was in fact viewed as a
controversial appointment. Her sharply skeptical stance landed her on "the
other side" amongst the triumphant-feeling CAM-ish folks who had, in their
minds, by sitting at the NIH, successfully stormed the gates of the citadel. Many
did storm it believing that more alternatives to regular care would have been
proven by NIH science by now. Cassileth is right about that. The era was
ugly-polarized. One can still feel it in Cassileth's writing.
I
was then a person who had a decade of work with the naturopathic profession
behind me. Since that tribe for the first time had a perch in a place where it
thought it might get some of its questions funded and answered, finally, I've a
more sympathetic recollection of the unruly mob. Regarding the level of interest
in science, I beg to differ with Cassileth's view. I'd been working with some
represented at that table for 10 years trying to gain access to research funding.
I recall how some 435 submissions shocking the administrators of NIH's first
exploratory grant program that funded 30 projects at $30,000 each. The shock I
refer to was at the volume even more than by the relatively unschooled methods.
Hardly an anti-science stance, however.
 Greenlee: the unwashed, cleaning up good
"Integrative
oncology" is in fact an actual
alternative to regular cancer treatment. The change has many dimensions. Witness
this: work on the most in-depth of the SIO's guidelines, those for breast
cancer
that Cassileth celebrates, was headed up by naturopathic physician Heather
Greenlee, ND, PhD. She, like Suzzanna Zick, ND, PhD, who has now succeeded
Greenlee as president of the organization Cassileth co-founded. Each is a
member of one of those tribes for whom the locked door to the NIH was busted
open by the apparently witless politicians, in Cassileth's account, whose job
was merely to respect the public interest.
It
would have been nice if, perhaps as an olive branch, Cassileth had noted that this
high-quality scientific work was headed by the formerly unwashed. Good on
Cassileth for declaring for integrative methods and founding the organization
many moons ago. A haiku-view of the present moment in Cassileth's long and
winding road might be: "A skeptic leader/Opens doors to new top dogs/Naturopathic."
Academics
 Bravewell: legacy project moved to MSBI
Albert Einstein College is the New Coordinating Center
for the BraveNet Research Network
On January 12, 2014, the Bravewell
Collaborative announced that Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva
University will lead the Bravewell Integrative Medicine Research Network
(BraveNet). This practice-based consortium of now14 integrative medicine
centers was formed by Bravewell in 2007. The project is now located at the academic
base of Bravewell's medical director Ben Kligler,
MD, MPH, who also chairs the BraveNet group. The release notes that the
coordinating center will also manage the network's Patients
Receiving Integrative Medicine Interventions Effectiveness Registry (PRIMIER),
the first patient registry for integrative medicine. PRIMIER is one of the two
"legacy projects" of the Bravewell Collaborative of philanthropists in integrative
medicine.
 NYCC: huge impact upstate NY
Report Puts Economic
Impact of New York Chiropractic College at $67-Million
The
gorgeous campus and facilities of Seneca Falls, New York-based New
York Chiropractic College in upstate New York contribute a great deal more to
their community than places and fields for meetings, gatherings and sports
teams. According to a recent report, NYCC, which also
houses the Finger Lakes School of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine and other
programs, has an estimated $67.6-million economic impact on the surrounding
community. One factor is jobs, with direct employment at 330 and "spillover"
totaling 690. The report was developed by the Center for Governmental Research
(CGR), which was released by the Commission on Independent Colleges and
Universities (CICU).
Comment: In the release, NYCC's
president Frank Nicchi, DC, MS, notes that the "while our focus is on education,
we are particularly proud of our ongoing contribution to the Finger Lakes
Region, which has been our home since 1991." Yes, and it is not a bad thing to
remind a community that while the care practices may still be a step removed from
full embrace, the contributions to the economic web that binds together the
community are fully integrated and enjoyed by all, thank you.
Integrative Care
Industry
.jpg) NCCAM as NCCIH
Consumer Use of
Complementary Health Approaches Drops in Recent NCCIH Data; Increases for Yoga,
Melatonin, Probiotics, Fish-oil
Consumer use data from the newly renamed National Center for
Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) finds a slight decrease among
those using any complementary approach in the previous 12 months: 32.3% in
2002, 35.5% in 2007, to 33.2% in 2012. The pattern of upward trend to 2007 and
then downward turn over the next five years was found repeatedly. It was most
significant however among Hispanics, those with high-school education or less,
and the poor and near-poor. Significant growth was seen in the use of yoga,
nearly doubling since 2002 for people 18-44 and up 38% for seniors. The NIH
press release speculated that this may in part be due to access. The number of
yoga teachers has soared. On the natural products side, use of fish oil, prebiotics,
probiotics and melatonin increased while that of Echinacea and
chondroitin-glucosamine dropped. The data are from most recent complementary
health questionnaire developed by NCCIH and the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS).
Comment:
The data are surprising. Due to deadlines, I cannot include commentary from the
planned February 10, 2015 press-conference so haven't the opportunity to share
any insights provided there. One measure of solace for energetic integrative
health advocates whose "movement" appears to be stalled is that the general
health of the U.S. public continues on a downturn in the same time-period. At
least the field is not seeing use dropping even while general health is on an
upswing. That would be an ugly association.
.jpg) Brandeis: SharePractice co-founder
Experience-Based Medicine: Share Practice App Continues to Pick-up Steam as
Integrative Care Communicator for Clinicians
The
open-access to practitioners Share Practice, dubbed a "free
social medicine application"is increasingly capturing the attention of
integrative medical doctors, naturopathic physicians and other licensed
practitioners, according to this
story.
Developed by Bastyr University graduate Andrew Brandeis, ND and boasting and
MD/ND staff, the venture is backed by $1.3-million in Silicon Valley
investment. It offers a practitioner rating system for diverse therapies and
products for over 2000 conditions with the top-rated made clear for each
condition. The story notes that the app is able to be free to users via a
business model through which industry members can to purchase data on integrative
practices and product use. A New York-based medical doctor who blogs on the
Share Practice site, Vani Gandhi, MD, offers this
perspective on the site's interprofessional value: "It's very interesting to
see the interaction between the MDs, NDs, nurses and students. It's very
healthy, I think. It promotes good discussion. And it's good for patients."
Comment: Waving the flag
of "Experience-Based Medicine" at the Share Practice portal is more than a
little nose-thumbing at the other
EBM. A difference here is that Share Practice convenes a crowdsourced expertise
rather than the pros and cons of a controlled by-invitation expert panel. Thus
the app promises to offer a collective, interprofessional "clinician
experience" portion of the EBM triad. Not a bad tool to inform one's practice.
 Markets IM in marketing CTCA
The Most Visible
PR for Integrative Medicine: Advertisements from Cancer Treatment Centers of
America
"What
exactly is integrative care?" The last two words are bolded and green in the
two-page spread in the New Yorker.
Listed below, to go with conventional treatment, are chiropractic, naturopathic
medicine, mind-body, acupuncture, meditation, physical therapy, spiritual
support and more. A separate segment speaks to the importance of nutritional
therapy. Flip the page and an eye-catching graphic wheel with " integrative
care approach" at its hub covers the upper right quarter of the page with each
of these contributors as spokes of options radiating out from the patient at
the middle. Upper left: "Naturopathic medicine" with the second word again
bolded, in green, above a paragraph on this profession from which practitioners
are deeply integrated at CTCA but regulated in only 18 states. "Team
work" is similarly featured, same page. At the bottom of the page, right
corner, is the logo of the advertiser: Cancer Treatment
Centers of America (CTCA), with its hospitals in Philadelphia, Chicago,
Atlanta, Tulsa and Phoenix called out. One Carolyn
Lammersfeld, MS, RD, CSO, LD, CNSC is quoted: "Integrative clinicians work
with oncologists with one goal: maintaining patient quality of life."
Comment: A philanthropic foundation
in the integrative space recently sent out a query to a few others seeking
input on the potential of a multi-year, multi-media, collective effort to brand
integrative medicine for the public. Until that happens - if it does - what we
have is CTCA educating the public on its own. Integrator adviser Glenn Sabin of FON Consulting
has written about the phenomenon: "CTCA: 800 Pound
Marketing Gorilla."
I was taking a break from work when I encountered the New Yorker ad. At the very bottom of the second page is CTCA's
byline: Care that never quits. A nice
characteristic that separates the CTCA campaign from even a 5 year effort by a
consortium of philanthropists: this is for-profit marketing that never quits.
Home Depot Founder
Gives $14-Million Gift to Jefferson's Myra Brind Center for Integrative
Medicine
In
what may be the most significant single charitable investment in integrative
medicine, Home Depot's Bernie Marcus has given a $14-million grant
to the Thomas Jefferson University integrative medicine program. Marcus
explains: "The
Marcus Foundation chose Jefferson for this grant because of our shared vision
for the future of medicine. Jefferson is at the forefront of innovating
integrative medicine - a transformation I want to be part of." The 14,000
square foot Marcus Integrative Health of the Myrna Brind Center
of Integrative Medicine will be the "first satellite clinic" of the Center
which was founded by philanthropist Ira Brind in the
name of his spouse. Daniel Monte, MD, the medical director IM, points attention
to one part of the Marcus package, "new PET-MR imaging that will be a major differentiator."
Comment:
Marcus' decision sets a new bar for philanthropy in integrative medicine,
surpassing the one-time $10-million grant from Christy and John Mack to fuel
the Duke program. Great for Jefferson and the people of Philadelphia. Great
also to see Marcus' outspoken personal commitment.
 Opens new IM pediatric unit
Two More
Children's Hospitals Announce Integrative Programs: Cleveland Clinic and U
Minnesota
The
January Integrator Round-up featured a short
piece on Seattle's Childrens' Hospital boasting its new inpatient
acupuncture program.
Since then, two major pediatrics centers have published releases about major
expansions of their integrative services for children. One is an expansion of
an already robust Cleveland Clinic integrative medicine program to now include
the associated Children's Hospital. The other is the
opening of doors at the 10,000 square foot
Integrative Medicine Center at Minneapolis Children's Hospital following a
reportedly $1.5-$2.0-million donation from Aveda founder Horst Rechelbacher.
Comment: It is an
interesting irony that in the early "CAM" years, concern over protecting
children from "unproven" therapies created even slower adoption in mainstream
medicine of integrative care's high-touch, non-pharmacologic treatments. It's good
corrective movement for more kids to be getting these, at worst, even if they don't work, I feel better treatments.
City of Asheville
Continues to Promote Itself as Destination for Integrative Care
The
Asheville, North Carolina Mountain Express has run a 5-article series in a wellness supplement
that celebrates the city's embrace of integrative medicine. The series "reports
the results of our wellness survey, which underscore the broad support for
integrative care in the Asheville medical community, as well as the wide range
of complementary therapies utilized by integrative providers."
Comment: A few years ago the Asheville, North Carolina
Chamber of Commerce began promoting the city as an integrative care mecca. This series waters and fertilizes the image.
 FON's Sabin: great conference list
FON Consulting
Publishes Updated Lists of 2015 Integrative Conferences
On
January 1, 2015, integrative care branding and marketing aficionado Glenn Sabin
re-branded his own former FON Therapeutics to FON Consulting to match his core
business. He notes: "Considering our
firm advises on brand names and identity, simply put, we weren't fully ‘walking
the talk'." In
the same push to his list, Sabin promoted his updates his useful resource of 2015 Integrative
Health Conferences.
The "FON" is from Force of Nature, and references his own long-term cancer.
Identity
 Rosenthal: lead on IM definitions paper
Analysis of Multiple
Definitions of Integrative Medicine and Health Finds Significant Differences
An
analysis of eight definitions of integrative health and medicine terms finds significant
commonalities and distinct variations across 11 themes. The core findings by
the team of Beth Rosenthal, PhD, MBA, MPH
and Anthony Lisi, DC: "The most common
elements included whole person focus, evidence-informed, optimal
health/wellness, and combination of complementary and alternative medicine
(CAM) with conventional medicine." On the other hand: "Differences existed with
respect to terms such as modality/therapy versus profession/discipline."
The
definitions examined come from such organizations as the Institute of Medicine,
the Bravewell Collaborative, the Consortium of Academic Health Centers for
Integrative Medicine, the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine, and the Canadian
IHM leadership. The article, "A
Qualitative Analysis of Various Definitions of Integrative Medicine and Health,"
was
completed via a project of the Academic Consortium for
Complementary and Alternative Health Care
via a philanthropic investment from the Leo S. Guthman Fund. It was
published in Topics
in Integrative Health Care.
 Project through academic group
Comment:
Good integration begins with the language we choose ("integrative health"?
"integrative medicine"? "integrative medicine and health"? "integrative health
and medicine"?) and also to the meaning we affix to our chosen terms. A key
issue at stake for the field's self-definition is the extent to which the
definition projects interprofessionalism and team care, verses mere integration
of modalities into one's own practice, or to the use-as-thing/modality of
another. The second issueis the prize on which we most focus our sights:
"health" or "medicine." What is your favored definition? Check out how it
measures up!
 McClelland: Medicare expert on definitions
While We Are at It (The M-Word): The Distinction Between "Modalities," "Therapeutic
Procedures," and Human Beings
Colleague
Pamela Snider, ND recently sent this link to a chat
involving Medicare coding expert Susan McClelland on a wonk-ish question from a
chiropractic pediatric group: "Is there a difference between ‘modality' and
‘therapy'?" More specifically: "Does it have to do with attended/non- attended?" and "Do different
insurance companies have different wording for them?" With reference to CPT
coding language, McClelland responds that "therapeutic procedures" are always attended while modalities can be,
or not. "Therapies," McClelland write, "is a kind
of general term used by many people to describe all physical medicine
procedures -- modalities, therapeutic procedures, acupuncture, and sometimes,
even [chiropractic manipulative therapy]."
Comment: This
is a guide to proper integrative English. One additional guide to propriety is
here by way of its absence. McClelland never suggests that a chiropractor is either
a modality, or a therapy. These professionals are of course much more than that.
Never mind for now that Medicare treats chiropractors as less-than-professionals
by refusing still to pay for their independent evaluation and management. The
result: the practitioner is equated to the modality. It is shocking how often
the historical-cultural diminishing, de-humanizing, and objectifying of
chiropractors, massage therapists, and acupuncturists with the "M-word" or the
"T-word" has left members of these professions using the same belittling
language on themselves. Listen for it. Correct it. Thanks Dr. Snider.
.jpg) ACIMH: new brand for "the Consortium"
Consortium of
Integrative Medicine Academics Changes Name from CAHCIM to ACIMH and Takes on New
Partners for 2016 Congress
The
former Consortium of Academic Health
Centers for Integrative Medicine (CAHCIM) has announced a name change to
Academic Consortium for Integrative Medicine and Health (ACIMH). Meantime, the
re-fashioned integrative medicine organization with 64 medical school members
has also chosen to rename its main conference to International
Congress on Integrative Medicine and Health (ICIMH). "Research" was
dropped as the May 18-20, 2014 iteration will have four tracks: research,
education, clinical and policy. ACCIHM has an external organization partner for
each of these tracks, as reflected in the Program Committee. For research,
ACCIMH continues its historic link with the International Society for
Complementary Medicine Research (ISCMR). For education, ACCIMH has reconnected
with its 2012 partner on a separate education Congress, the Academic Consortium
for Complementary and Alternative Health Care (ACCAHC). For, clinical and
policy, ACCIMH has new partners in the Academy of Integrative Health and
Medicine (AIHM) and Integrative Healthcare Policy Consortium (IHPC),
respectively.
Comment: Sounding out the
Consortium's new acronym appears to trade in one lower-chakra body part for
another: CAHCIM to ACCIMH. I can't think
of the minutiae of these acronymic differences between these organizations without
recalling my father's unkind line about lawyers: ... the kind of people who like to separate fly-shit from pepper. What,
most distant observers may ask, is the difference
between these organizations? Short of answering that, one must at least sort
them. ACCAHC, an organization that also has roughly 60 acronymed members, has
gathered these in a document called
ACCAHCronyms
to help one through the trees. Credit ACCIMH for reaching out and connecting to
new partners for the 2016 event. This too marks a transition for this academic
entity. This Congress promises to be terrific and geographic proof that we are
all in this (alphabet) soup together. Be there! (Alignment of interest note: all of the above.)
.jpg) Gleidt: lead for chiropractic student survey
Don't Want to Be Part of Any Club That Would Have Me
Department: Chiropractic
Students See Themselves as Mainstream not CAM
A
new survey entitled Chiropractic
Identity, Role and Future: A Survey of North American Chiropractic Students has found that
69% think chiropractors should be considered "mainstream health care
practitioners." Just 25% said "complementary and alternative health providers."
However, the overall findings, "may seem to be contradictory" according to the
conclusion of the author team, led by Jordan A Gliedt, DC and Cheryl Hawk, DC,
PhD.
They conclude: "The majority of students would like
to see an emphasis on correction of vertebral subluxation, while a larger
percent found it is important to learn about evidence-based practice. These two
key points may seem contradictory, suggesting cognitive dissonance."
 Co-investigator Hawk: 3rd piece on DC identity
Comments: The data on chiropractic
identification as CAM compare to a 1999 survey of chiropractic doctors which
found that 47% considered chiropractic "alternative" and 49% "a legitimate
medical practice." A 2008 survey, also of chiropractors, found the 70% rejected the CAM identity. In an e-dialogue
with Hawk, an author on all three studies who is also a colleague in the
Academic Consortium for Complementary and Alternative Health Care (ACCAHC), she
off-handedly noted: "If it were up to the students and practicing DCs, I guess
we would not be members of ACCAHC!" Yet thirteen of 16 chiropractic colleges
are Individual College
Members
and three national chiropractic organizations are Organizational Members. To which I
replied: "It's a good point - that reminds me of the Groucho Marx line that I don't
want to part of any club that would accept me as a member. Our collective desires to raise ourselves
from outsider status makes us kick a distance from those who, by values-base
interests, we are actually closest. Thus the poor in the U.S. vote against
the poor." Yet here are these organization and institutional leaders bucking
the data.
Fact
is, no-one loves the CAM ghetto. The political and organizational challenge is
captured in this "value" that ACCAHC added
in 2012 when it excised the reference to "CAM" in the rest of its mission,
vision and values: "We value explicit inclusion of ‘complementary and alternative
medicine' therapies and licensed or nationally certified practitioners,
‘integrative health' and ‘integrative practitioners' in governmental and
private healthcare policy dialogues, reports and recommendations until such
time as these distinct disciplines and practices that are used by significant
subsets of the population are routinely included as part of the
interprofessional communities of medical and healthcare professions." ACCAHC has proved and another
"CAM"-intensive collaboration, IHPC, has proved, that there is great
power in this collaboration of still mainly outsiders.
People
.jpg) Newmark: new ABC Board President
Tom Newmark
Elected Board Chair at the American Botanical Council
The
remarkable and diverse cadre of botanical, industry and integrative health
leaders who constitute the Board of Trustees at the American
Botanical Council (ABC) has elected a new president, Tom Newmark. Newmark is an attorney who later became
employed by his client, New Chapter, and ultimately
served as its CEO and chair. According to the release, the co-owner of the
biodynamic organic herb farm and eco-tourism Finca Luna Nueva in Costa Rica, also
co-founded and chaired the nonprofit Semillas Sagradas (Sacred Seeds). This is
presently "an international network of 16 botanical sanctuaries that preserve
traditional and medicinal plants and the knowledge surrounding their important
uses" that is presently administered by United Plant Savers. He is also chair
of the Greenpeace Fund, the charitable
arm of the activist environmental organization. Newmark succeeds author,
photographer, and botanist Steven Foster, who served ABC as president since
2008.
Comment: As a fan of ABC
since it was a gleam in the eye of herb cowboy Mark Blumenthal nearly 30 years
ago, as a present adviser, as a former trustee -- and as a former resident of
Costa Rica
-- I am excited to imagine the ideas, energy and connectivity Newmark will
bring the organization. What a rich set of life accomplishments!
Richard Miller
Named Acting Executive VP of American Chiropractic Association
Long-time
American Chiropractic Association (ACA) lobbyist Richard Miller has been named
interim director
of the association. According to the ACA. Miller has been on Capitol Hill for
decades, serving as chief of staff to a U.S. Senator and an agency head in the
Reagan administration. Miller's predecessor is not referenced, but was known to
have been a short-timer with just two years of service.
Comment: Those close to Section 2706,
Non-Discrimination in Health Care will be interested in Miller's long
involvement in that work. Here is the release: "Miller also led the creation of
the Patients' Access to Responsible Care Alliance (PARCA), a coalition of
organizations that represent the interests of millions of patients and non-MD
healthcare providers. A central aim of PARCA was to pass a provider
non-discrimination amendment to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
This particular goal was achieved in 2010 when Section 2706 was included in the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that was signed into law by
President Obama."
.jpg) Abou-Nemeh: researcher lead at SP
Standard Process
Selects Ibrahim Abou-Nemeh, PhD as New Director of Research and Development
One
of the most significant players in the dietary supplement space, Standard
Process, has taken a new executive director of research and development, Ibrahim
Abou-Nemeh, PhD.
The release noted that a strength of Abou-Nemeh is his "extensive experience in
new technology platforms related to nutraceuticals, food, lipids,
Ag-micronutrients and functional ingredients." The release boasts his "20 years
of global experience in scientific research, strategic technology planning and
new product development" as background.
Comment: Abou-Nemeh
replaces David Barnes, PhD, a former University of Wisconsin nutrition
researcher who had a personal interest in the value of the broader integrative
health and medicine movement. Abou-Nemeh, a magna
cum laude graduate of the University of Ghent, would appear to be a newbie
to the supplement industry. He brings Standard Process an industrial background
that includes publishing "27 technical peer-reviewed articles and receiv(ing)
19 industrial patents." Interesting choice.
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