do you tell the patient?( a bit long)

[gretta orazen]

I have so appreciated all the responses and the
conversation that has evolved around my original “do
you tell the patient?” question. I just thought I’d
add in a little context now to my post. I am a
homeopathy student and a patient. I have been so for
about 15 months, during which time the h’path was also
treating my one son as well as myself. This issue of
not telling me the remedy has been a sticking point
almost since the beginning, but I honestly felt I had
no other options (no other homeopaths that seemed as
qualified as this one) and no other medical options to
explore. So I took it without knowing and without
knowing my son’s remedies either. This h’path also
uses biochemics concurrently, so I have seen him every
two weeks or every month for the past year and a half.
At one point I was fed up with his refusal to tell me
and almost stopped going, but that was after a year
and I was loathe to “give up” on this huge investment
of time, money (almost $3000 at this point!) and
effort (record keeping, etc) that I have made---I
thought perhaps this was just MY ego in the way, etc.
(Funny how some of us blame ourselves so easily and
let others off the hook.) Well, recently I went in
prepared for THIS to be the day that I got the
information. (The h’path had told me that he would
eventually tell me and when I asked when, he said
“when you insist”). Well, this day I insisted. And
guess what? He still won’t tell me. I had made in my
notebook a list of the dates that my son and I
received the homeopathic remedies (as opposed to the
biochemics) and even I was SHOCKED to realize that I
had not had a remedy for over ONE YEAR! Perhaps it’s
a sign of my healing that I am no longer willing to
tolerate this situation. I will not see this homeopath
again---but that doesn’t alter the fact that I still
don’t know. I am not really free to seek treatment
with someone else when I don’t even know what’s been
going on with our cases for the past 15 months. (and
my son and I are not what I would called cured yet)
Angry? You betcha! Did I tell the h’path off? No, I
didn’t…..and Irene, I have to tell you that your post
ran as close to mine as any…..I didn’t really voice my
objection right then and there for fear of “the
mushroom cloud”---I was so angry I could’ve grabbed
him by the neck.
And for some of those who are assuming that someone
like me (who took it without knowing what it was) have
some sort of yielding, pulsatilla-esque
personality….that’s not at all true. It’s so
uncharacteristic of me to agree to this situation.
I’m the one who reads about the Rx on line and the
whole pamphlet, etc. But, again, it speaks to the
amount of trust that patients put in their h’paths.
Your posts on my question have been a great source of
reflection and I have come to some great
realizations---one is that being in this situation has
really dampened my feelings about my studies and
caused a lot of inner turmoil. I only tell you this
now to add to everyone’s collective experience and
perhaps give some of you who don’t tell a little more
insight about how it feels to be a patient who really
wants/needs (for whatever reason!) to know and is not
told. I just wanted to know for my own homeopathic
learning, and because I take responsibility for my own
well-being. The irony is that I would NEVER in a
million years allow an MD doctor to pull the same
routine on me.
Once again, I just wanted to thank you all for the
great conversation and exchange. It’s such a great
opportunity to be able to “eavesdrop” on conversations
about homeopathy and hear about the joys,
difficulties, and challenges of practice. Thank again!

Gretta
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[Simon King LCPH MARH]

Gretta I think the question you raised is VERY IMPORTANT and should be included in all homepath's training

Should you be inclined to put the responses on this list into a single document to illustrate the issue to educate your fellow students/lecturers or raise it at the college etc you attend ( or even send to your homeopath;-)), you are certainly very welcome to use what I have said for that purpose

Simon
"The obscure we see eventually. The completely obvious, it seems, takes longer."
Edward R Murrow

[Richard Shannon]

Hello Gretta,
Thank you for posting your query. It was a good
one. The discourse has benefited me personally. And
for a number of reasons starting on Mon morning I will
be disclosing the rx. to any and all who would like to
know. After much reflection esp. concerning a
customers/patients "right" to know, I will go back to
telling them what the current rx. is.

Peace and prosperity, Rik
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[Shannon Nelson]

Gretta,
Thanks for sharing all of this!
Whenever you do begin treatment with another homeopath, presumably that
one will get in touch with this one, and will be able to get a summary
of your records, including information about what remedies you were
given. (No guarantee, but that's what I would assume.)
Best wishes for a happier experience next time!!!
Shannon

[Dale Moss]

I'm not sure which I find more offensive: that your homeopath wouldn't tell you the remedy despite your insistence after so many months of going along with not knowing, or that he/she had you coming back every two weeks or every month.
The latter sounds like the guaranteed income plan that my former dentist tried to get me to sign on to, and the latter is unconscionable. There are circumstances in which a homeopath may not wish to divulge the name of a remedy (fear it won't be taken being one), but when a patient comes back for follow up I do tell them about the remedy they took and why it was given.
Peace,
Dale

[Manjitpal Kahlon]

Well .. if one cannot trust his/her Homeopath, better to go where the trust is. I like to stick to the rigid principal. .. i better concentrate give the first preference to the person, the patient and then the disease .. and so my patients .. better stick to the principle of getting the results .. rather than names of the medicines..
If you call it a Income plan .. i have a number of patients .. now i don't face this problem ... but in the earlier days .. and i allowed them to walk out .. and most of them .. when they came back .. till this day .. they are concerned about the treatment and results.. and you know ... patients who stick to the treatment.. have little to pay .. but those who go and come back are sure to pay my full fee. and they happily pay .. because they know why ? So these are two different issues.. I feel pity for those who do not understand the meaning of being Homeopath .. and compare them with dentist .. Homeopath deals with human beings as a whole .. and that means a lot.. he treats diseased conditions .. not diseases .. these conditions change time and again in chronic cases.. and if you can .. let them walk out those who think it is the Homeopathic Medicines treating and not the Remedies selected by the patients .. in certain potency's and so on.. Well .. sure i feel it necessary to explain why and how the remedy is selected.. but not the remedy .. yes .. if they come out with names.. with their own knowledge .. i just tell them certain things in those remedies which do not resemble /seen in the c ase..

[Shannon Nelson]

Every 2-4 weeks for a year and a half, $3,000-- that doesn't seem
excessive to you?
And then (separate issue, I realize) *refusing* to tell her the remedy,
even tho he'd said he would, when she "insisted"?

[Manjitpal Kahlon]

Well I don't think i have a right to judge the charges, without knowing the case and medicines being used, the working needed, the previous treatment and amount of time doctor has to give for certain case, my point is do not compare homeopathic treatment with specialised pathology treatments..
I don't personalise the doctor.. i was talking about the personalized patient and treatment. Well i remember Dr. Burnett having mentioned.. that if you have to climb a very high building .. you have several steps to climb, one by one, and do not try to find out which step was more useful .. and i understand the message between the lines. More over .. I have not so far calculated for the time i spend on each case.. so charges is something i feel.. i better keep out.
But still .. I hope if she changes her doctor, this doctor may inform the other doctor taking over the case, about the line of treatment already having been followed , which i feel is ethical. But here too, i don't wish to get in any controversies.. each one of us have our own ways.. but not all can be same..
Finally again, it is a bond of trust between the patient and doctor.. if it is not there.. i think continuing treatment is choice of the patient .. and not the doctor.. and if patients have better options.. they are free to make their choice.

[uk.homeopath]

Different countries have different laws about freedom of information.
Here in Britain, the patient has the right to know, not just what the
remedy is, but also to have reasonable access to any information you
keep about the patient.
I have never known a problem with this as I only use the patients words
in my notes and make an agreement with the patient if necessary about
when I tell them the remedy I have given them.
Most patients are happy for me to know only. I always tell them when a
remedy has had a profound effect on them as I feel it would be a crime
for them to move away from me and the next therapist not to find the
remedy they need. It is so often the same one that did so much in the
first place.

What is this homeopath hiding I wonder? You would never, these days,
accept medicine from a doctor without knowing what you are taking. Why
should a homeopathic prescription be that different?