Patients turn to healers for good reason

Re “Topanga Healer Facing Legal Ills,” Aug. 1

Sadly, formal medical training rarely incorporates the concept of “healing” in its curriculum. In clinical practice, we are forced to “label” patient conditions, i.e., report a diagnosis, in order to bill insurance. As a result, most physicians act as diagnosticians rather than “healers,” and patients seek out alternative and complementary practitioners to treat symptoms.

Were most physicians better listeners, patients might have less of a need to seek out nonlicensed, potentially harmful practitioners. Additionally, were licensed medical professionals more accepting of complementary therapy, they could more safely guide patients in their healing pursuits. Finally, were physicians able to identify themselves as healers, we would all be better off.

JENNIFER SUDARSKY, MD

Santa Monica

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Heaven forbid that anyone beside the American Medical Assn., Food and Drug Administration and drug pushers, er, pharmaceutical companies, monopolize and defraud the public. And actually healing someone? It’s unconscionable!

TOM PULA

Sunland