From: Steve Harris <sbharris@ix.netcom.com>
Newsgroups: misc.health.alternative,alt.health,sci.med.nutrition
Subject: Re: Natural M.D.s
Date: 1 Aug 2005 10:05:30 -0700
Message-ID: <1122915930.928234.255880@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>

ted rosenberg wrote:
> More bullshit from the scammers
>
> DO's are not physicians   Unlike Natutofrauds, they get a similar
> education from some schools, and can practice medicine in some states.


COMMENT:

In all states. And since they go through the same hospital internships
as M.D.'s, they make it though the same Spring Training, and if not
dropped, are on the Medical Team. I don't know any physicians who don't
consider D.O.'s bonafide physicians (myself included). Nor (for that
matter) any D.O.'s who don't consider themselves physicians.

SBH

From: Steve Harris <sbharris@ix.netcom.com>
Newsgroups: misc.health.alternative,alt.health,sci.med.nutrition
Subject: Re: Natural M.D.s
Date: 1 Aug 2005 22:45:50 -0700
Message-ID: <1122961550.861076.108430@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>

Mr-Natural-Health wrote:
> > COMMENT:
> >
> > In all states. And since they go through the same hospital internships
> > as M.D.'s, they make it though the same Spring Training, and if not
> > dropped, are on the Medical Team. I don't know any physicians who don't
> > consider D.O.'s bonafide physicians (myself included). Nor (for that
> > matter) any D.O.'s who don't consider themselves physicians.
>
> So?
>
> It still does not change the fact that DO's, or Osteopaths, are
> practicing alternative medicine by definition. :)
>
> Just thought that you might want to know.

COMMENT:

Just thought I'd like to know about your private definitions?  No,
sorry, I'm not interested.

Neither MD's nor DO's think that they, or each other, are practicing
"alterative medicine".  On the contrary, alternative medicine is
*defined* mainly by things MD's and DO's jointly think are not worth
recommending.

This is not to say either profession is pure. Both MDs' and DOs do some
things that aren't backed by first quality scientific evidence.  Some
DO's do massage adjustments (craniosacrotherapy) which look pretty much
like chiropractic therapy to me. People feel better after them, just as
with massage, but double blind placebo controlled experiments are hard
to do.

Double blind placebo controlled experiments are just as hard to do with
exercise, which both DOs and MDs recommended on the basis of
second-quality evidence. I think it's just possible that due to the
many confounders in exercise, that if we could do a placebo controlled
doubled blinded study, we might be as shocked by the results as we were
with HRT or vitamin E. Look at the hit that accupuncture just took.
You never know.

SBH