THERAPEUTIC TOUCH NONSENSE

On 14 October, 1998, the local 24-hour news station in Rochester, NY (Cable Channel 9) held a phone-in show about `alternative' medicine, to complement its series of reports on the subject during the news slot. Several practitioners rotated into the hot seat during the show to field questions from the viewers, who were entirely pro, except for me. After an acupuncturist informed one caller that in fact a combination of herbs and acupunture would "see [the common cold] right out of there", implying that they have an anti-viral effect that would probably earn her the Nobel prize for medicine if it were true, I felt I had to call to inject some sanity into the proceedings. At that point in the show the studio was populated by the anchor woman, who believed everything the guests said, the aforementioned acupuncturist, and the director of the Alternative Medicine program at Highland Hospital in Rochester, NY. Her name was Susan. Here is what happened.

Anchor: And now we have Tom in Rochester. Go ahead with your question.

Tom: Hello. I have a question for Susan. I was wondering if therapeutic touch is part of the alternative medical program at Highland [Hospital].

Susan: Hi Tom. Yes, therapeutic touch, which is the foundation... the historical foundation of heal... er, healing touch, is being offered by a nurse practitioner in our center and she is a level 4 certified healing touch practitioner and has been studying for about six years, doing that.

Tom: Well, I presume that you are aware of the study published in JAMA [Journal of the American Medical Association] by nine-year-old Emily Rosa showing that therapeutic touch practitioners are unable to detect the presence of humans, let alone the presence of energies that they claim to detect... so I was wondering what your thoughts were on that.

Anchor: Yeah, I.. I saw a piece on television about that.

Susan: Erm, I think that that study er... actually I welcome all research about... er, complementary medicine. I think that it's very needed... erm and I think that that study was done. I would like to see it replicated... erm, if that was the case, to see how that would turn out... erm I'm still swayed I have to say personally by the evidence that I've read... er that I think it does work and er... er... as the program manager, I have felt a need to experience each one of these therapies on a personal basis and... my experience was good... er, so I think that... that one, while... we're gonna be offering it because it's very non-invasive, our patients are really enjoying it, erm they... they feel that it is helping. I think that it will be very interesting to follow research in the future and hopefully within Highland [Hospital] we will be able to start participating in some of that research as well.

Unfortunately at this point they had to go to an ad break, and that was the end of the conversation.

Evidently the standard of evidence required by the prestigious, peer-reviewed journal JAMA does not satisfy the director of complementary medicine at Highland Hospital; only her personal experience and the fact that her patients "feel it's helping" are enough proof. Let's hope that Highland Hospital doesn't agree to help out with the research into therapeutic touch.

The School of Nursing at the University of Rochester offers a course in therapeutic touch, as does the same department at the University of Texas at Austin. This scandal has been well documented by Roahn Wynar at UT.

Anchor:	And now we have Tom in Rochester. Go ahead with your question.
Tom:	Hello. I have a question for Susan. I was wondering if therapeutic touch is part of the alternative medical program at Highland [Hospital].
Susan:	Hi Tom. Yes, therapeutic touch, which is the foundation... the historical foundation of heal... er, healing touch, is being offered by a nurse practitioner in our center and she is a level 4 certified healing touch practitioner and has been studying for about six years, doing that.
Tom:	Well, I presume that you are aware of the study published in JAMA [Journal of the American Medical Association] by nine-year-old Emily Rosa showing that therapeutic touch practitioners are unable to detect the presence of humans, let alone the presence of energies that they claim to detect... so I was wondering what your thoughts were on that.
Anchor:	Yeah, I.. I saw a piece on television about that.
Susan:	Erm, I think that that study er... actually I welcome all research about... er, complementary medicine. I think that it's very needed... erm and I think that that study was done. I would like to see it replicated... erm, if that was the case, to see how that would turn out... erm I'm still swayed I have to say personally by the evidence that I've read... er that I think it does work and er... er... as the program manager, I have felt a need to experience each one of these therapies on a personal basis and... my experience was good... er, so I think that... that one, while... we're gonna be offering it because it's very non-invasive, our patients are really enjoying it, erm they... they feel that it is helping. I think that it will be very interesting to follow research in the future and hopefully within Highland [Hospital] we will be able to start participating in some of that research as well.