Hi all,

One of the key reasons I have started visiting this board is in the hope that I can treat patients online. Many might ask - why the anonimity with the name? One reason- many have experienced slanderous emails, spams, etc... if the identity is revealed.

The point however is that I sense that many of my colleagues often resist from providing help or diagonizing the case online; often citing that the people who post remedies or query are not "true" homeopaths and a personal consultation is mandatory. And that may be the case. This should, however, not discourage you from voicing your opinion or send a private message to the patient with recommendations or BOTH. Yes a face to face consultation is preferred but I feel that an open email/chat/BB exchange along with comments from others helps be better diagonize the patients' constitution...the first step in identifying a rememdy.

I will stop writing hoping that other will fill in the gaps and holes with my logic

I used to "treat" people via distance when I first started learning about homeopathy, because I believed, "how hard could it be?" It's easy to palliate, that's true--and it's very easy to suppress...but it is not easy to cure someone without using your 5 + senses in the process.

I've actually seen a situation which was greatly helped by the work of Dr. Manish Bhatia on this board, where he repertorized a case of a little girl who was diagnosed "failure to thrive" since birth, and at that point, she was facing a lifetime of liquid food via tube-feeding as a prospect for the rest of her life. Dr. Bhatia took as much information as he could from the thread that was created for her, then carefully selected the remedy China as her first drug.

Before the mother gave the remedy, however, I gave her a call, as she lives in the same country as me. I agreed to follow up over the phone, and I've since even seen the patient in person. The china did quite a bit of good to get her out of the "danger" zone...but it was only on observing the patient with my own eyes that her similimum became obvious. Now she takes Pulsatilla whatever her complaint, and it works immediately.
Who knows how much time it would have taken...and how much trial and error might have taken place before that remedy was finally found, without full observation of the patient?

Incidentally, that was over 3 years ago, and the children's hospital staff who have worked with this child since her birth, including the children's hospital specialists department which focuses its work on eating disorder patients, have all been mystified by the turnaround. Their advice: keep doing whatever it is you're doing, because it is obviously working. They stopped following up on her as a patient just after that first dose of pulsatilla, because they found none of the original difficulties continued.

I've also seen very experienced prescribers take a case via email and completely err in terms of potency...in one case, this basically ended one patient's life. That patient was a close friend of mine who sought out the help of a well known homeopath who specialises in the treatment of cancer...and the remedy was a good one, but once the doctor saw the patient with his own eyes, his drastically reduced the potency of his prescription because he was able to see clearly that his assumptions about her led to a potency which was terribly unsuitable for her situation.

Once you've seen the kind of risks which befall a patient following on-line treatment, you become a little wary.

On top of that, I take so much information from my patients just by watching them and observing their reactions to the world around them, in person. For me, the visual/aural/olfactory information I get from them is often far more important than what they tell me about themselves verbally. I just wouldn't want to prescribe without it.

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Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.<br />C.G.Jung

Hi Best Remedy,

Yes there have been a lot of discussions on this issue in the past.
I think if some (practitioners) have the ability to work and percieve cases online, it should be an option for some patients to have - for various reasons.
Of course the type of cases would be limited - but there are a fair share that could be helped!

best regards,
doctorleela

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http://www.homeopathy2health.com

I agree totally with Cha Cha Heels

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RSHom - Registered Homeopath

Only homeopathy is that system of medicine that does not believe in pathological reports and disease diagnosis. This is a great cradit to homeopathy. Homeopaths entirly depends upon symtpoms and sensation which a patient is feeling for this face to face consulation is important but absoulty not necessary. When we don't have to diagnose and mostly we base the prescription on those info a patient is telling whether right or wrong? then what is the need of face to face consultation?

I have almost 30 years of clinical experience. I mostly depends upon the disease diagnose then I treat symptomatically that is why I need face to face consulation and lab reports.

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Dr. Inam Ullah Mirza, DHMS, MD, Ph.D
Member National Council for Homoeopathy *NCH*
& Chairman Research Committee
Ministry of Heatlh, Govt of Pakistan

I think the matter is really personal choice--however I do agree with Dr. Leela that the internet has definitely made distance treatment a reality, for better or worse.

I have to say there used to be a "practitioner" on this BB who used to throw remedies at people with the least amount of analysis and case taking.
I will be very happy indeed if I knew that no one were allowed to treat patients in that way on the internet, but unfortunately, a bad practitioner is a bad practitioner in person as well as via the phone or internet.

It is always the patient's responsibility, then, to learn what a good practitioner does, and what a poor practitioner does--after all, the patient has to take responsibility for restoring their health properly. The only people with the true power of eliminating the bad practitioners are patients--if they educate themselves and know what treatment should involve as opposed to what others tell them is involved, they will never patronize those who call themselves homeopaths, but know little about how to practice or treat patients properly.

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Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.<br />C.G.Jung

Best Remedy,
You are welcome to add your name to the List of On-line homeopaths at: On-line Homeopaths If you have a problem with unwanted e-mail, you can have your e-mail concealed when you register.
I will also ask for on-line Homeopaths to give a brief account of successful cases they have taken on the internet. I think this will be interesting to see.
Carole

[ 13. January 2004, 21:52: Message edited by: cib ]

ChaCha said:

"It is always the patient's responsibility, then, to learn what a good practitioner does, and what a poor practitioner does--after all, the patient has to take responsibility for restoring their health properly. The only people with the true power of eliminating the bad practitioners are patients--if they educate themselves and know what treatment should involve as opposed to what others tell them is involved, they will never patronize those who call themselves homeopaths, but know little about how to practice or treat patients properly"

ChaCha you said it so well that I just had to quote you. (I always take path of the least resistance - and it is always the right one!)

[ 14. January 2004, 16:54: Message edited by: Astra2012 ]

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Astra<br /><br />"Difficult cases take some time to be cured,<br />impossible - a little longer."