More Woo Certificates

EoR has previously written about the widening of people eligible to complete medical certificates in Australia to include such health "professionals" as acupuncturists and chinese herbal medicine specialists.

The doctors are unhappy [link goes to pdf file].

Media reports from Tasmania indicate that workers can now easily shop around for medical certificates for sick leave from just about anyone from chiropracters, optometrists to pharmacists. [...] The only concession the Government has made to fix its monumental legislative blunder is to not allow veterinarians to issue sick leave certificates for humans.

And why not? wonders EoR. At least humans are animals, and veterinarians are dealing with real things, not imaginary meridians, or unbalanced humours.

AMA president Dr Mukesh Haikerwal makes a statement sure to upset the host of alternative practitioners out there:

"Managing a patient's health requires a holistic approach that is best provided by a general practitioner."

The AMA is now mounting a test case.

The AMA has submitted a complaint to the Victorian Chinese Medicine Registration Board concerning a 'medical certificate' issued by a Chinese Medicine practitioner earlier this year, which was sent to the AMA by a concerned small business owner.

The AMA is concerned, among other things, that the certificate was purportedly issed by a 'doctor' though the practitioner concerned is not registered as such. The employer was unable to tell from the 'certificate' what the extent and nature of the employee's illness was.

EoR suspects the AMA will lose the case, even though the 'doctor' forgot to mention that his client was suffering from "stagnant qi flow" and would be unfit until "his bank account runs out".