Minutus

Dear Group,

I was recently summoned to court to testify on behalf of a patient whom
I have been treating homeopathically for injuries suffered in a car
accident. The attorney for the patient commented to me that my records
were "atrocious." He wants allopathic-style medical
records--problem-oriented and focusing on objective physical findings
versus my records, which heavily reflect the patient's mental-emotional
state, physical generals, and modalities of her symptoms. This is the
first time I will be in the position of having to explain my homeopathic
case-taking in court, and I am dreading the experience. Have other
practitioners encountered this situation? If so, any advice?

Thanks,
Arlene

There do seem to be an increasing number of litigious people hoping to use
homoeopaths for evidence after car crashes etc. I recently refused to write a
letter for a patient. The case in question was a minor accident over a year
ago, where the patient is now absolutely fine. All he has needed is his
constitutional remedy (Calc). He only mentioned the crash in passing at the
time. He did not even need to see an osteopath and yet he expected a letter
from me sent to his solicitor giving dates and prescriptions. We need to be
very wary of such situations.
If you are on a register, you should get advice. Obviously there are
countless different possible situations that a homoeopath could get drawn
into.
Stewart McOwan

Stewart McOwan MARH
Minerva Homoeopathic Centre
173 Fulham Palace Road
Hammersmith
London W6 8QT
Tel 020 7385 3512
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi Arlene,

Generally, there IS an accepted protocol for presenting your cases--and presenting documentation from your files regarding your patient--to the court.
In Canada, this information has to be prepared by the physician and submitted as documentation...and the physician should charge the lawyer making the request a suitable amount of money to prepare the files for this purpose (I believe a charge is made per page...particularly when an insurance company requires this documentation. All physicians charge for this because it is labour intensive work! A chiropractor I know charges about $100 per page, for example).
You do not have to prepare your files "allopathic style", and the attorney must understand the reasons for this. You may have to separate your verbatim notes in case-taking from your notes analyzing the case and selecting the prescription. As for how this is done, its possible NASH may have some guidelines on the best way to do this, as I remember discussing this in class when we were learning about standards in practice.

Hope this helps,
Nancy

Dear Arlene Kellman

Let me introduce myself before I go further: I studied in India in a
Homoeopathic Medical College in Delhi and lectured for 10 years in Delhi in
the medical college under Delhi University and worked in the hospital.

We have been taught Medical Juris Prudence for one year at the medical
college during our study of the homoeopathy - which have laws relating to
medicine and forensic medicine (have training of post-mortem etc) and
poisoning etc.

I have encountered medicolegal cases and was also witness to some
medicolegal cases as a part of my job.

Please be advised that the case you have taken is missing the physical
examination, laboratory tests, diagnosis and prognosis to support you which
in fact is a problem with the classical homoeopaths. But never mind, you
can still present this case the way it should be presented for the law
purposes and if I can be of any help then please let me know. You need some
body that can make the appropriate language for you as I know there must be
enough information with your sort of case taking also to present in the
court. The magistrate is not going to learn homoeopathy to understand you
and your mental, physical and emotional modalities. He needs plain
evidences in the court language or may be simple language but giving some
evidence to come to a judgement.
This is good opportunity to show your ability as a homoeopath or if you have
enough time then read some medical juris prudence book. We were paid by the
court for such medicolegal evidences and it used to be very interesting.

I don't know where are you? In which country are you?

However, now I am practicing in New Zealand.
My Private email is: dr.n.s.saini@xtra.co.nz

Regards

Dr.N.S.Saini
New Zealand

Dear Stewart, Nancy, Wendy, Charlotte, and Dr. Saini,

Thank you for your suggestions regarding my legal dilemma--having to
testify in court on behalf of a patient, using homeopathic
constitutional casetaking as the medical record. Actually, I do perform
physical exams on all my patients, obtain lab tests when indicated, and
even write out diagnoses that insurance companies recognize, but the
bulk of my notes are based on the patient's spontaneous comments and
answers to homeopathically-guided questions, which apparently creates
confusion.

I am taking your suggestions to heart. Maybe this truly is a good
opportunity to educate rather than retreat.

Best regards,
Arlene

P.S. For those who asked, I practice in Tucson, Arizona.