A week ago, InteMedica held a seminar in Miami for health professionals. InteMedica, which markets a healing system that includes herbs, homeopathy and supplements, provides a free computer with the purchase of $1500 of its products. The computer, which can be used by office staff, interprets data from the patient’s hand to generate a list of InteMedica products that might be helpful for the patient.
InteMedica states that one of its goals is to provide a level of healing many patients cannot find with conventional medicine. Company representatives report that their system:
· helps prevent stress from manifesting as disease and
· helps treat disease, including medical problems that are frustratingly difficult to treat.
A system that resolves frustrating medical problems would be a blessing. Too many human and pet patients (InteMedica has not stated that it will market to pets.) do not respond to conventional medications, although some benefit from using flower remedies, homeopathy, herbs, and nutritional supplements.
Doctors and veterinarians are frustrated by medical conditions that are difficult to treat, and equally frustrated by errors we make interpreting medical data. In three previous blog discussions, we’ve explored how difficult it is to interpret medical data and how easy it is to make mistakes. Does the InteMedica computer remove the possibility of human error in data interpretation? Unfortunately, no. If a computer interprets data, the accuracy of the interpretation is based on the accuracy of the human programmer. With privately developed computer software, the path taken to generate recommendations is within a “black box.” Just how the computer gathers data and generates its recommendations is classified company information and is not open to public scrutiny.
Computer-generated medical information that we normally use—blood tests, X-rays, CAT scans, etc—is extensively scrutinized. There is no “black box.” Instead, data from hundreds, even thousands, of pets and patients are evaluated so that the system is able to work properly for the highest number of patients. Has the InteMedica system of computer-generated, “black box” advice been rigorously tested? Are results of the tests published in medical journals? Or, are patients being asked to accept the InteMedica system on faith?
Faith is what is being called for if the system is backed by the experience of InteMedica staff rather than by the scrutiny and refinement that comes from publishing in science journals. True, faith can heal, and, the idea of a system backed by faith rather than by published research is acceptable to many patients and to many pet owners throughout the world. They consult natural healers, including doctors and veterinarians, that use faith or prayer to heal physical and emotional problems. Dr. John Diamond, the founder of InteMedica, and his associates may belong to this group of natural healers. If so, can their energy pass through a computer and into the products the computer recommends? Jesus was able to bless bread and fish, feed and heal the multitudes. Is that what we have here? Or, should the InteMedica system be held to strict scientific scrutiny before computers and products are marketed to the public?
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