OCCULT MEDICINE CAN SAVE YOUR LIFE: A Modern Doctor Looks At Unconventional Healing

Dr. Shealy makes sure he covers himself quite well--before launching into to the marvels of the occult he tells you in capital letters and italics: YOU MUST UTILIZE CONVENTIONAL MEDICAL HELP--FOLLOW YOUR DOCTOR'S ADVICE AND CONTINUE HIS OR HER TREATMENTS EVEN WHILE YOU TRY FAITH HEALING. And by the ""occult"" he does mean faith healing which adds ""an extra something"" to basic medical care--prayer and the laying on of hands, for instance. Disingenuously he'll tell you that ""the placebo is one of our most powerful drugs."" By training a neurosurgeon, Dr. Shealy began his departures from orthodox medicine with the invention of the ""dorsal column stimulator"" (DCS) which consists of electrodes placed over the spinal column to ""short-circuit otherwise uncontrollable pain."" He also (mis)classifies biofeedback and acupuncture with the occult. He will tell you in unpleasant detail about the abuses of conventional surgery and narcotics to alleviate pain, and then on to the wonderful ""healing"" (he's careful to distinguish this from a ""cure"") achieved by Olga Worrell, Reverend F., Dr. LeShan and Katherine Kuhlman -- to say nothing of the Royal Touch, Anton Mesmer, American Indian potions, Mary Baker Eddy and Lourdes. Not exactly the promised ""Space Age medicine and science"" but certainly as effective as the ""magic a mother works when she kisses her hurt child."" And who would scorn a mother's kisses?