FAKES VERSES GENUINE COMPLEMENTARY MEDICAL PRACTITIONERS

Dear Friends,
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On and off we get news in the Press about fake doctors. .\
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The latest news appears to concern a woman with liver cancer, whose case has been reported in “The Star” yesterday.
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It appears a woman with stage 4 liver cancer took ‘treatment’ from a ‘doctor’ in Shah Alam, Selangor, who performed ‘some kind of surgery’ by pressing the abdomen, upon which some bleeding (without any body injury) occurred. .\
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Subsequently, the ‘doctor’ seemed to have shown the patient two ‘tumours’ smeared with blood that he had removed from her body.
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After several days, CT scans performed on her in a hospital is said to have shown not only the presence of the same cancer, but also that it had spread further.
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The woman appears to have begun taking action against the fake doctor through several channels.
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This above news might have come as a surprise to many in Malaysia, and would have shocked them as well.
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However, senior citizens may recollect having read similar stories in the Press some 15 years ago.
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If you have Internet facility, just click in the Google search engine by typing “Psychic Healing Surgery”, and you will end up seeing a whole range of interesting stories on this subject.
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Do you know how the surgery is performed?
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Similar to the story described above, the Psychic Surgeon, using his bare hands, manually removes the tumours, stones, etc. without causing any pain to the patient. Subsequently, there will not be any scars or wounds, and no dressing or drugs will be required. The patient is supposed to have been cured of his or her illnesses.
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According to “ArticleSphere.com”, “there are more Psychic Surgeons in the Philippines than anywhere else in the world. Their concentration in the Philippines is observed in Manila, Pangasinan, Baguio and Cebu.
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It is said that “No other form of Alternative Therapy has caused more controversy than Psychic Surgery. It has been tested and analysed by scientists on numerous occasions. Proved genuine, then proved quackery.. and the controversy still rages.”
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It is common knowledge that there will be one or two fakes, frauds and cheats here and there in every walk of life.
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There could be one corrupted officer, one ‘qualified’ doctor with shortcomings, and one driver who cannot drive a public transport properly. We should not generalise such rare occurrences to defame the entire group of people.
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The above sensational story tends to tarnish in the minds of people the good names of many best and genuine complementary medical practitioners in the country.
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Malaysia is one of the few countries which strongly supports the practice of a wide variety of complementary medical practices.
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In fact, the Health Ministry here has even appointed Complementary Medical Practitioners in some Government-run hospitals to help people overcome illnesses.
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While this being the case, I would want to request the public not to generalise the mishap or to be alarmed about the presence and practice of one or two mal-practitioners in the area of complementary medicine.
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To the best of my knowledge, Health Ministry in Malaysia has been in constant touch with practically all known complementary medical practitioners in the country.
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The Ministry has been taking pain to register them, streamline them, with a view to helping the public as well as the practitioners.
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I am of the opinion that we should have a Directory of Registered Complementary Medical Practitioners in Malaysia, and this should serve the public well.
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Given the authority and financial backing, I do not mind spending some energy in bringing out one such Directory embracing the whole lot of complementary medical practitioners in the country. I have plenty of experience in doing such jobs.
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Well, friends, we shall wait for the directory to come.
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With best wishes,
Dr. Palani
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