Bush medicine should be regulated

Jul 20, 2022 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

Kaieteur News – A few decades ago, a woman used to appear on a private television station. She purported that medicine along with spirituality could heal any disease.

One of her recommendations for curing prostate cancer was to stand in a body of water with an egg on top of your head, eyes closed and praying. She claimed to be able to help people who were sick.

People fell for it. Many persons, who were ill and frustrated with not being cured, rushed to her clinic for the treatment she offered. Large sums of money were reportedly paid to the woman. Until one day something went terribly wrong. A patient was given a potion to drink and started to vomit soon after and then collapsed and died. The post-mortem showed the patient died from an infectious illness.

The healer disappeared from sight. The last thing that was heard was that she was plying her wares in Trinidad and Tobago.

She never said that she was a doctor. She described herself as a healer but the then Minister of Health said that he had heard she was giving people injections and treating them for medical conditions. It was said that she was operating what ostensibly was a clinic but without a licence for a medical facility.

But she was not the only snake oil specialist of the time. A man was also a regular on another private television station. From the things he spoke, he was extremely learned about medicine and human anatomy. He could easily have passed for a medical doctor given his wealth of knowledge. He diagnosed and prescribed herbal treatment for his patients.

The then Minister of Health had told this newspaper that although herbalists are not permitted to diagnose or treat medical ailments, there was a legitimate place for such practitioners. However, he noted that the operations of herbalists must be conducted in a manner approved by the Food and Drug Department and they should not make a diagnosis or issue prescription.

Some doctors were concerned that while this herbalist never represented himself as a medical doctor, he was doing the things which doctors did – diagnosed and treating patients. Herbalists are not medical doctors.

The matter reached officialdom and there was talk that the man should be charged for making himself out to be a doctor. The fact is that the man never represented himself as a medical doctor and as such could not have been charged.

The Medical Practitioners Act of Guyana creates an offence of improper use of a medical title. The law provides that anyone who uses the name, title, addition or description which is intended to represent or imply that that person is qualified to practice medicine or surgery shall be guilty of an offence and subject on conviction to a fine of $225,000 and imprisonment for 18 months.

The same law also makes it an offence for a person who is not a medical practitioner to use anything to suggest that he/she is related to the practice of medicine. That person therefore cannot put “Dr.” in front of or “M.D.” behind his or her name. The same penalty applies.

The law also makes it an offence for a person who is not a medical practitioner to hold himself or herself out to be of such. The penalty for this offence is the same $225,000 and 18 months imprisonment.

This law protects the public against persons who seek to impersonate doctors or hold themselves out to be qualified to practice medicine. But it does not protect the public against the quacks and herbalists who do not say but imply that they are practicing medicine.

The snake oil specialists can get away with diagnosing and treating people for large sums of money. They can do so because they do not claim they are doctors but herbalists and spiritualists.

There was an attempt by the PPP/C government to regulate herbalists and those offering natural remedies. The Allied Professionals Bill of 2009 had its genesis in an attempt to regulate these practices. But by the time it reached the floor of the National Assembly, the manner and the extent to which these practices were regulated could not be agreed upon.

Charging persons falsely holding themselves out to be medical doctors is only one side of the coin. The laws need to be strengthened to regulate herbalists and spiritualists who set out to diagnose and treat persons for illnesses. Unless this happens, there will be a great many snake oil salesmen and saleswomen, whose activities present a threat to life and limb.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

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Bush medicine should be regulated

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