Future Medicine
Future Medicine Ethical Dilemmas, Regulatory Challenges, and Therapeutic Pathways to Health Care and Healing in Human Transformation Michael H. Cohen Ann Arbor The University of Michigan Press
Copyright by the University of Michigan 2003 All rights reserved Published in the United States of America by The University of Michigan Press Manufactured in the United States of America c Printed on acid-free paper 2006 2005 2004 2003 4 3 2 1 No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher. A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Cohen, Michael H. Future medicine : ethical dilemmas, regulatory challenges, and therapeutic pathways to health care and healing in human transformation / Michael H. Cohen. p. ; cm. Includes index. ISBN 0-472-11281-3 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN 0-472-08889-0 (paper : alk. paper) 1. Alternative medicine. 2. Alternative medicine Moral and ethical aspects. 3. Health planning. 4. Medical care Law and legislation. [DNLM: 1. Delivery of Health Care trends Case Report. 2. Complementary Therapies Case Report. 3. Ethics, Medical Case Report. W 84.1 C678f 2002] I. Title: Ethical dilemmas, regulatory challenges, and therapeutic pathways to health care and healing in human transformation. II. Title. R733. C646 2002 610 dc21 2002003606
To Ilana, And to all the radiant children With love Thoughts of Love heal. Take a thought of the patient to God in thought. Taking will free the sick Taking will heal the sick A good idea to give love. Marshall Stewart Ball The Ocean of Awareness It is one thing to look at the ocean; quite another to dive in. The wellspring of ethics arises from the ocean of your own awareness. Therefore, first experience your own inner alchemy; and then decide. Real gold does not fear even the hottest fire. You are that gold. Now dive into the crucible of possibility. Michael H. Cohen I thank Marshall, who wrote the first poem to introduce the book.
Contents Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 Part 1. Implications for Clinical Care 1. A New View of Nonmaleficence 27 2. Referral Strategy and the Ethics of Integration 59 3. Ascending the Hierarchy of Regulatory Needs 81 Part 2. Implications for Mental and Spiritual Health Care 4. Energy Healing and the Biofield 127 5. Touch, Privacy, and Intuitive Information 167 6. Fraud, Ego, and Abuse of Spiritual Power 213 Part 3. Implications for Frontier Issues in Biomedical Ethics 7. Beyond Living and Dying 251 8. Reproductive Technologies and Spiritual Technologies 277 Conclusion 305 Notes 319 Index 351
Acknowledgments I thank Karen Adams, M.D., Joseph Finns, M.D., Bridget Guerrera, James Lake, M.D., Deborah Grandinetti, Deborah Holland, Ted Kaptchuk, O.M.D., Kathi Kemper, M.D., Lisa Sjostrom, and Malcolm Riley for reading early drafts of the manuscript and providing insightful and encouraging comments; Maureen Foye, R.N., and Peter Faust, L.Ac., for supportive friendship; David M. Eisenberg, M.D., for being a mentor, colleague, and friend; Christine Carr and Kenneth Mukamal, M.D., for facilitating a process of internal peer review at the Division of General Medicine and Primary Care at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston; Roger Davis, M.D., Kelly Ford, M.D., Mary Beth Hamel, M.D., Russ Phillips, M.D., Christina Wee, M.D., Wendy Weiger, M.D., and other colleagues for providing peer review; my family for an environment that fostered creativity; Barbara Brennan for her gifts as a teacher; Lahila Oppenheimer for life coaching; Elaine Frances Kerry for her special presence in my life; and all my friends, teachers, and companions on the journey. The views in the book are solely my own and not those of any other individual or institution. To all those beings, visible and invisible, whose unwavering support has helped bring this work to fruition, from my heart and with love, I offer acknowledgment and gratitude. All royalties from sales of this book will go to a not-for-profit foundation dedicated to healing and the exploration of human consciousness.