Megan had her initial appointment with this clinic, and she felt pretty positive about it. The doctor uses conventional medicine as much as possible, but also tries cutting edge treatments that haven't yet been clinically researched. He doesn't buy into acupuncture, reflexology, homeopathy, chiropractic, etc. I'm still on the fence because, if something is not clinically proven, how does he know how safe or effective it will be? Megan said she's willing to be a guinea pig since the doctors she has seen so far haven't helped.
The great news is that she put me and her dad on her consent form and asked the doctor to conference call with us. They have e-mailed me and set up an appointment for this afternoon. I get to ask my questions personally! *hold my beer*
So, I went ahead and sent my question via e-mail because I want the doctor's best answer. Here's my e-mail:
Dr. Donahue,
When a treatment undergoes a clinical trial, researchers use double-blinding, control groups, and peer review as a decent way to determine if the treatment is safe, effective beyond placebo, and what dosages should be employed. Megan has told me a lot about your practice, and that you use treatments that have been researched in this way as much as possible (conventional medicine).
However, I see on your web site the following excerpt:
Functional Integrative Medicine
At Personal Health MD we foresee the cutting edge of 21st Century medicine being a marriage between the best of modern Western Medicine and the best of emerging Functional Integrative Medicine as a way to promote health and longevity. While Conventional medicine, with its ongoing scientific breakthroughs can be life saving for life threatening diseases, Functional Integrative Medicine better fine tunes your health by treating the origin of a symptom, the upstream biochemical imbalance that will result in a disease.
The term “Functional Integrative Medicine” has a reputation for including pseudo-scientific treatments like acupuncture, homeopathy, iridology, reflexology, some chiropractic, fad diets, and the like. Megan says that you do NOT use this kind of woo in your practice, and that when you say “the best of emerging Functional Integrative Medicine”, you are talking about science-based approaches that have not yet been fully researched in clinical trials but that attempt to treat the source of problems rather than just the symptoms.
As a supporter of science-based medicine, where scientific plausibility and clinical trial results determine whether a treatment should be used, I am on the fence about your practice. On one hand, you respect science-based medicine FAR more than other practices with the “Functional Integrative Medicine” label. On the other hand, you are employing cutting-edge treatments that haven’t been clinically proven. I don’t believe that doctor intuition and anecdotes are a reliable gauge of the effectivity of a treatment because human beings (including doctors and patients) cannot help but apply their various biases to the evaluation.
So, my questions that I’d love to discuss during our conference call today or via e-mail are all about your treatments that go beyond clinically proven treatments:
1. What treatments do you offer that are not yet clinically proven (that may apply to Megan)?
2. What evidence shows you that these treatments are safe?
3. What evidence shows you that these treatments could be effective?
Remember, every naturopath, acupuncturist, and chiropractor out there will answer, “Because I consistently see my patients get better with some treatments and not others.” How can I tell the difference between your treatments and those treatments?
Megan’s description of her initial interview give me hope that you understand where I’m coming from with these questions and share my concerns. I very much look forward to what you have to say.
Thanks!
I've already sent it, so I'm not asking for input on the e-mail. But, I still have 6 hours before the phone call if you have anything else I should ask.