More Dietary Supplements Recalled
The Hong Kong Health Department has issued a statement calling for the recall of eight dietary supplements that claim to be able to remove toxins from the body. The supplements have been removed from the market for making "unfounded" claims of curative effects or containing controlled substances.
The supplements in question are: Organic World Natural Brazilian Pau D'Arco Inner Bark; Beauty & Health; Yang Yan & Healthy; Koneil 30-Day Beauty Skin Rejuvenator; SQ2 Inner Pure; Sherbo Milk Thistle Extract; Nature's Secret Ultimate Cleanse; and Herbal Celluless.
According to the Health Department, four products used labels in breach of the country's undesirable medical advertisements ordinance for claiming to cure kidney diseases, diabetes and hypertension. The other four were found to violate Hong Kong's pharmacy and poisons ordinance for containing medicinal ingredients.
Tests conducted by health inspectors found that four supplements (Yang Yan & Healthy, SQ2 Inner Pure, Koneil Beauty Skin Rejuvenator and Nature's Secret Ultimate Cleanse) contained "detectable" levels of arsenic and lead. However, none of the supplements exceeded the department's safety limits.
Health Net Oregon Integrates Acupuncture into Basic Health Plans
Health Net Health Plan of Oregon, Inc. (HNO) has announced it will integrate complementary health care into its basic health plan. HNO Members will receive complementary health care benefits including acupuncture, chiropractic, naturopathy and massage therapy.
HNO provides group and individual HMO, PPO and point-of-service coverage to 100,000 members throughout Oregon and southwest Washington. HNO will use the provider networks of Complementary Healthcare Plans (CHP), including AcuMedNet; ChiroNet; NaturNet; and CHP Massage Therapy. "
We're proud to be the first insurer in Oregon to offer four alternative care services as a core benefit to all of our members," said Judy Irving, president and CEO of HNO.
"Health Net Oregon is the first health care organization in Oregon to do what others have wanted to do: begin integrating complementary health care into traditional benefit designs," added Richard Brinkley, CEO of CHP.
New Program Lets Residents Experience "The Other Half of Medicine"
Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, Illinois has begun offering its residents a one-month elective rotation in complementary medicine. The rotation is designed to introduce medical students to alternative forms of care such as acupuncture, homeopathy and herbal remedies.
Dr. Don Novey, director of the hospital's Center for Complementary Medicine, explained the reasons behind the program. "When physicians experience the complementary medicine rotation as part of their training, they are exposed to the other half of medicine. Once doctors have contact with one of the complementary treatments through this training, their comfort level increases, because their knowledge base goes up."
Did any of you ever get the feeling in school that it simply was not OK to speak about wanting to be successful? To get into the nitty gritty details of how to make money in practice? Maybe you were even someone like me who was directly told by someone in a position of power that I needed to take what I could get because in private practice, I wouldn’t make money.
This summer, a somewhat new clinical presentation was commonplace in my clinic and I received many questions from patients concerning this “new” disorder: summer SAD. Summer seasonal affective disorder was in the daily news this past summer, as numerous areas of the country experienced oppressive heatwaves.
Oral contraceptive pills (OCP) are the first-line therapy for Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) patients. However, these medications can cause adverse effects such as nausea, headaches, and hypertension. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has demonstrated efficacy in managing these side effects and improving the quality of life of affected patients.
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