Look, "mainstream" medicine scares me to death. I watched "ER" last night and burst into tears. I never do that; I see most of the characters on the show as enemies. But when Lukah decided to triage the waiting room to prevent deaths, I burst into tears. A patient, it seems, left after waiting, unexamined, for eleven hours. She died. Lukah spent time in Africa, in a civil war. He returns to find this inefficient, smug, beurocratic system that's killing people in the most affluent country on earth.
I walked out of an ER after four hours unattended. I was having SERIOUS abdominal pain, in the approxemate location of my right ovarie.
How do I know this? Because I had suffered an ectopic pregnancy on the left side which required removal of the fallopian tube. This pain was a mirror of the other.
I still don't know what was wrong. I still get pain there at times.
But I had to leave, as my ride could only come at a certain time. He had to go to work. I couldn't possibly have negotiated the bus.
It took me four more days to recover enough to walk without pain.
So, alternative medicine scares me to death. There are so many fakes out there, exploiting the suffering of the desperate.
"The Alternative Fix"
Thursday, November 6, 2003
9 - 10:00 pm
Through interviews with staunch supporters, skeptical scientists and observers on both sides of the debate, this documentary examines how complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) treatments are facing increased scrutiny as the first real studies of their effectiveness are published, and questions whether hospitals that offer alternative therapies are conferring a sense of legitimacy on these largely untested and scientifically unproven treatments. (CC, Stereo)
At the companion site, access a compendium of fact sheets and resources to learn more about alternative therapies, get tips and safety precautions for those considering alternative treatments, watch the program online, trace the history of alternative medicine's conflicts with conventional medicine and much more.
here
(Available Thursday, November 6)
