White House Talk

© Copyright 2002 by Bruce H. Shelton, M.D., M.D. (h), DiHOM, USA
(Explore Issue: Volume 11, Number 1)

Good Morning, Mr. Chairman and members of the commission. My name is Dr. Bruce Shelton. It is an honor to appear before you. I am a Board Certified M.D. Homeopathic Family Physician licensed in Arizona as both a Medical Physician and a Homeopathic Medical Physician. I am the President of the Arizona Board of Homeopathic Medical Examiners and bring you official greetings on behalf of the State of Arizona.

I have brought to you today a Proclamation from the Secretary of State of Arizona showing our states commitment to Integrative Medicine. We are one of only three states having a separate Board of Homeopathic Medical Examiners open to graduate M.D.'s and D.O.'s that qualify in the fields of Classical Homeopathy, Acupuncture, Orthomolecular Medicine, Chelation Therapy, Neuromuscular Integration, Nutrition and Pharmaceutical Medicine.

I am a graduate of New York Medical College, and the British Institute of Homeopathy. In January 2001 I will become the National Medical Director of Heel Inc. of Albuquerque, New Mexico and Baden Baden Germany. HEEL is one of the largest manufacturers of Combination Homeopathic Remedies and my comments made today are also made on their behalf.

I call to your attention that Homeopathic Medicines were and are legally part of the United States Pharmacopoeia and has been EVER SINCE IT WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1938. This is the same law that established the FDA.

Homeopathic medicine, of course, has been on the scene since 1797 when Dr. Samuel Hahneman, M.D, established this school of medicine. As a medical doctor, he developed both the words homeopathy AND allopathy to differentiate himself from his non-believing peers. Homeopathic refer to being a "similar pathos or suffering," and allopathic refer to being an "opposite pathos or suffering." "Similars" being a permanent cure and "opposites" only temporary for as long as the patient is taking the remedy.

To quote the Bible, "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach him how to fish and you feed him for the rest of his life." Even though homeopathy is legal in this country as the remedies themselves, it has been unfairly discriminated against by third party insurers, hospitals, governments and drug companies who realize that lesser priced homeopathics represent COMPETITION for higher cost pharmaceuticals. Not only does Homeopathy and Integrative Medicine work in a kinder, more gentler manner and more completely but it saves money in large amounts.

What should be done to bring this to the fore and move our work forward?

Seeing that it is legal already, mandate that discriminating against Integrative Medicine is improper. Allow third party payers to pay for its legal use. Create the several hundred missing procedure codes to add to the already existing tens of thousand of codes that will allow for its coverage. Allow HCFA and Medicare to tell properly licensed physicians to deliver services to patients that want and need them.

Seeing that it is legal in Arizona and several other states, allow hospitals to use Integrative Medicine after full disclosure and full consent between doctor and patient. Make sure that patients know of its legal existence and give them the freedom of choice that they deserve.

Seeing that everyone is literally crying for reduction in the high cost of healthcare, commission studies and data collection through large patient populations, and based upon outcome studies and the tenets of quantum physics to give our political and business leaders the data we all need to make informed decisions.

Allow states such as Arizona, who have a Board of Qualified Medical Examiners, to judge procedures such as Darkfield Blood Evaluation, Bio-Terrain Analysis and other valuable Complementary Lab tests thereby empowering CLIA with new regulations that will allow this type of work to proceed under proper regulations.

TAKE THE STIGMA OF VOODOO MEDICINE out of this important subject by allowing science to proceed unhampered. The scientific method itself demands that observations be proved or disproved methodically. The anecdotal observations involving literally tens if not hundreds of millions of patients have been around for hundreds of years. The current method of verification is anti-competitively structured to keep the truth from the light. Most of us in this room already know that it works. All that we are missing is the correct political and legal courage to bring it about, even if that means an addition to the Sherman Act.

We applaud the work of this commission and pledge the support of those we represent to move our important work forward as quickly and efficiently as possible. The health of our society depends upon our success. Thank you.

14231 North 7th Street
Phoenix Arizona 85022
602-993-1200 fax 602-942-3787
e-mail shelton@idsweb.com

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