Director of Center for Mind-Body Medicine to Chair
White House Commission on Complementary and
Alternative Medicine Policy

This section is compiled by Frank M. Painter, D.C.
Send all comments or additions to:    Frankp@chiro.org

Director of Center for Mind-Body Medicine to Chair White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy; Alternative Medical Techniques Will Reshape Healthcare in the 21st Century

---

WASHINGTON, July 13, 2000 /PRNewswire/ -- President Clinton today announced the appointment of Dr. James Gordon, Director of the Center for Mind-Body Medicine, as Chairman of the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) Policy. The Commission will be providing a report to the President on legislative and administrative initiatives, in order to maximize CAM healthcare to all Americans. Dr. Gordon will be the Chair of the Commission, which is composed of 19 others from the conventional medical and CAM communities.

“Almost half of all Americans implement some form of Complementary and Alternative medicine as a part of their healthcare,” said Dr Gordon. In one recent study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, he noted 69% of all cancer patients are using these therapies and 74% of all cancer patients are interested in learning more about them. Dr. Gordon, who recently co- authored Comprehensive Cancer Care: Integrating Complementary and Alternative Therapies, observed “to people with cancer, knowing information about which therapies work and which don't, feels like, and may well be, a matter of life and death.”

Dr James Gordon, who was also the first chair of the Advisory Council to NIH's office of Alternative Medicine, was, for ten years, a research psychiatrist at the National Institute of Mental Health. He has spent more than 30 years developing a holistic approach to medicine, and exploring and practicing a variety of CAM therapies including acupuncture, nutrition, herbal therapies, musculoskeletal manipulation and a wide variety of mind-body approaches.

“Within five to ten years complementary therapies will be a part of the care in every major hospital and clinic across the country, and our definition of medicine will be far larger than it is today” said Dr. Gordon. “The questions are not 'if', or even 'when', this will happen. The questions that must be answered, and the ones the Commission will address, are how we can find out which of these therapies are truly effective; how clinicians can be trained in using them and the public educated about them; and how those therapies that do prove effective will be safely integrated into a truly comprehensive and humane care for all Americans.”

The Center for Mind-Body Medicine, which Dr. Gordon founded and directs, is a non-profit educational organization dedicated to reviving the spirit and transforming the practice of medicine. Its programs combine the best of modern science and ancient wisdom and emphasize the capacity of all people to help themselves and one another. The Center's programs include a professional training program in mind-body-spirit medicine; a mind-body skills group program for people with chronic illness; “Healing the Wounds of War,” an international program currently working to relieve stress and trauma in Kosovo; an annual conference, Comprehensive Cancer Care; a program of nutrition education for professionals; and a program to train Integrative Care Counselors for people with cancer. The Center is located at 5225 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., #414, Washington, D.C. 20015. More information is available at http://www.cmbm.org.

SOURCE: Center for Mind-Body Medicine
Web Site: http://www.cmbm.org

Return to ALT-MED/CAM ABSTRACTS