Why do not doctors practice alternative healing arts if they work?
First the question assumes that all doctors reject the alternatives. This is not true. Some doctors do use them.
One example is Dr. Deepak Chopra who does not dismiss the alternative. Even though he is an endocrinologist specialist, he combines alternatives in his practice.
I knew one m.d. who generally considered alternatives first and then he used standard medicine. He used an alternative for a certain heart problem. His doctor friends were very negative about it. Then, one of the doctors got the problem.
The sick doctor did not go for the standard approved medical treatment. He went to the doctor with the alternative treatment. He knew it worked, and it worked for him. Sadly the formerly sick doctor went back to his practice and just offered the approved treatment.
In Europe doctors appear to be a little more open to alternatives. For example the standard medical community commonly uses autogenics as an add on to standard treatment. (See now the page on hypnosis and autogenics for more info. I am an experienced autogenics coach.)
So it may be a hasty generalization to say doctors do not use alternatives. And what follows is not to be viewed as a broad brush answers. There are few things that can be said about ALL doctors.
Possible reason 1 –
The FDA is at least viewed as more than willing to attack alternative approaches and the facilitators of such. True or not, some doctors do not want the burden of the full force of the government to come down on them.
One doctor was tried criminally about 6 times for using an unapproved treatment. This was in spite of the fact that he had a documented 90% cure rate with patients that were already pronounced as terminal. Who wants to put himself and his family through that?
Possible reason 2 –
Doctors are trained and blueprinted to think of things in one way and everything else to them is wrong. I asked a cancer doctor, a good man, one time about an alternative cancer treatment that I had read about.
He said that it would not work. As we talked further, it became clear that he did not know what the treatment was. He soon admitted that he had not heard of it, and he did not know what it was. However, he still insisted that it would not work. I changed the subject.
He had been trained to think one way. Any approach outside that was (without any consideration) quackery.
Possible reason 3 –
I read an article in an old readers digest. A doctor had noted that several of his patients had used a particular herbal alternative for a particular sickness. They were showing good results.
He wrote to the AMA asking that they support a movement to research this possible effective alternative.
He received a letter from the legal department of the AMA. The responder was both a doctor and a lawyer. He said they could not support that research because there was too much money in the current approved treatment.
Follow the money.
There are I am sure other reasons but this will give you some idea of possibilities for lack of medical community support of alternatives.
Jesus said the one that continues to be sick is in need of a physician. I do not completely reject medical doctors. They have their place.
See now the page on augmented reconnective style healing.
(I as a preacher give spiritual/religious services. I do not recommend that you do not follow a licensed medical practitioner’s advice.)