Giving (back) an inch A few weeks ago, I wrote about a Texas court case in which a
father is being tried for putting his son "in danger" by giving
the boy complementary medicine therapies for his cancer (Daily
Dose, 12/16). That's what I inferred, anyway, from the father's
own impassioned appeal to me and some of my colleagues for
help. Regrettably, I have no further details about the outcome of the
case, but response to the story from readers like you was quite
heartening. Many wrote in to ask where they could send their
alternative medicine "success stories" in hopes of helping out
with the man's defense. Along with these, however, came one letter from an
alternative-sympathetic M.D. (an anesthesiologist, ironically)
that took me to task. In his letter, the good doctor charges me
with being "closed-minded" about the valuable role conventional
medicine plays in healing - which is the very same assertion I
make almost daily about the mainstream's view of safe, healthy
alternatives… And I have to say: He's got a point, sort of. All too often, I'm so busy pointing out ways in which the
mainstream medical establishment has let us down, sold itself
down the river, or otherwise compromised its very soul that I
fail to mention the many conventional MDs that are, in fact,
concerned only with healing their patients - regardless of
whether the most successful treatments come from the mainstream
or from alternatives not sanctioned by the establishment. If
your doctor is one of these, stick with him (or her). You'll be
getting the very best medicine from both worlds, so to speak. But in my defense, I must reinforce to you the stark reality
that open-minded doctors of this type are few and far between.
Further, I'd like to remind everyone that I'm first and foremost
an M.D. who spent decades practicing medical techniques of a
(mostly) mainstream sort. However, the last few decades have
seen a sea change in conventional medicine -a shift away from
the noble concept of HEALING and toward the nefarious goal of
PROFIT. And, begging the pardon of the precious few conscientious
mainstream doctors out there who are receptive to ALL of
medicine (conventional or otherwise), that's why I write the
Daily Dose the way I do. It's a simple matter of balance… Because if I don't hold the medical establishment's feet to the
fire, who will? ***********************************************
SARS, the sequel… Bad news on the SARS front. Taiwan (the country right next door to China, who hid all those
SARS cases from the World Health Organization this past year)
predicts that within the next few months, the virus will make a
major return. According to sources within Taiwan's Center for
Disease Control, it's likely to be especially hard to diagnose
this time around. Why? Because the initial symptoms of SARS are nearly identical
to those of the common flu - and this year's influenza epidemic
in that Asian nation is likely to eclipse 3 million patients. As
if that's not bad enough, the peak seasons for both conditions
overlap almost exactly. Also, the rate of simultaneous infection
with both influenza and SARS is at this point unknowable. What's it all mean? It means that the deadly SARS virus could
come roaring back with a vengeance. Taiwanese health officials are bracing for this possibility as
best they can, but only time will tell what the extent on any
new outbreak might be. And in some related SARS news… British scientists have concluded that the SARS virus can be
carried by some common household pets - most notably cats and
ferrets. What's more, these virologists from Rotterdam, England
warn that such animals could easily transmit the virus to humans
through casual contact. In fact, the original source of the
virus itself was the semi-wild Civet cat, sold in animal markets
throughout Asia. These findings, recently reported in the journal Nature, suggest
that SARS could be gestating in multiple species, raising
concerns that another human outbreak is not only possible, but
inevitable. Currently, there is no screening test for the SARS
virus in animals. Or people, for that matter. Brace yourselves - and wash those
hands, please! Your not-so-silent sentinel, William Campbell Douglass II, MD | 
