Plain Doctoring: Selected Writings, 1983–2013 by Richard Moskowitz, MD

“My evolution as a healer has been a long and tortuous one, but as soon as I discovered homoeopathy, I knew that it was the prize I had been looking for”. –Richard Moskowitz

2013; ISBN 1482338017 paperback, 408 pages. English. Book dimension: 6”x9”; Price: 25 USD.

About 10 or so years ago, noted American homeopath, Richard ‘Dick’ Moskowitz, put pen to paper to come up with this book, the first of two to discuss not just his clinical work but other aspects which had long occupied his mind. Anyway...you ask, what does the good doctor mean by ‘plain doctoring.’ [1]

Well, without teasing or withholding any punches the good doctor explains what he means on page 311 in the essay entitled ‘Plain Doctoring’: ‘means simply reaffirming the ordinary language and thought of our patients as the truest standard for evaluating our sophisticated diagnostic and therapeutic interventions, the basic human wisdom that alone can guide or restrain us in their use’. He goes on to add that ‘plain’ also means ‘generic’ or universal as opposed to specialized which is the rule now in medicine and science and, pray tell, in society? Lastly he comments that it is ‘blissfully neutral’ to mind/body conflicts and assigns a ‘seamless biological integrity’ to each human individuality. If one is attentive, these ideas are found on every page of this important work.

At the end of this article (originally published as ‘Plain Doctoring’ in Resonance: journal of the International Foundation for Homeopathy, 19:30, March/April 1997; this journal is now defunct) Moskowitz concludes, in four aphorisms, what the art of medicine has come to mean for him. He extracted the first three from Paracelsus interpreting them in his own words as ‘healing implies wholeness’, ‘all healing is self-healing’ and ‘healing pertains solely to individuals’. To these he adds his own, a final one: ‘Health, illness, birth and death are inalienable life experiences belonging wholly to the people undergoing them, which nobody else has the right to manipulate or control without their explicit request, or that of somebody duly authorized by them to act on their behalf’ (p. 313)

Well then, this book is an assemblage of journal articles and excerpts from his two previous books, Homeopathic Medicines for Pregnancy and Childbirth (1993) and Resonance: The Homeopathic Point of View (2001). Richard has made small changes here and there but essentially it contains much from both. This work is divided into five sections: 1) Memoir -why I became a homeopath, 2) Writings on Midwifery, 3) Writings on Vaccination, 4) Writings on Homeopathic Philosophy and 5) Method and Writings on the Philosophy of Medicine. Each article contains the many notes and references which are the necessities of any scholarly piece. These assist the person who wishes to go deeper as well as assisting the homeopathic critic who needs not just convincing but guidance in understanding our complicated art.

Simply put, Richard is a good writer and communicator, though often long-winded. His writing shines brightly especially in Section III-Writings on Vaccination. If one does not come away from reading these three articles richer in understanding and convinced that vaccines are problematic, then the problem does not lie with the good doctor. It is far too difficult to adequately digest this material, so let me offer the opening paragraph to this hundred-page section:

‘For the past ten years [this article was written in 1983] or so, I have felt a deep and growing compunction against giving routine vaccinations to children. It began with the fundamental belief that people have the right to make that choice for themselves. But now I can no longer bring myself to give the shots, even when the parents wish me to. I have always believed that the attempt to eradicate entire microbial species from the biosphere must inevitably upset the balance of Nature in fundamental ways that we can as yet scarcely imagine. Such concerns loom ever larger as new vaccines continue to be developed, seemingly for no better reason than that we have the technical capacity to make them, and thereby to demonstrate our right and power as a civilization to manipulate the evolutionary process itself’ (p. 70)

Another beauty of this book is its variety. Throughout, the philosophical is blended in a compelling way with the practical and the reader is rarely left wanting. This is evidenced by his writings on pregnancy and childbirth, immunizations, childhood ear infections, the legacy of Hahnemann, the fundamentalist controversy and thoughts on malpractice, diagnosis and the medical system. He includes Chapter 1 from his Resonance book which you might be tempted to skip as it is titled ‘Principles’. Skim it but don't miss it though, as we all need to be reminded once in a while, of homeopathic principles: this essay is an appreciated, clear summation.

In Europe, there is a tradition in the medical profession of honouring physicians who have reached their 50th year of practice. It is called the ‘Jubilee Anniversary’ and is celebrated with a lengthy, robust banquet of good food, drink, many toasts, speeches and song. Perhaps it is mere coincidence that this work was published in the plain doctor's Jubilee year, perhaps not. Nonetheless, it is synchronous and Moskowitz and his book should be feted, as he has written another fine book, doctored well and lived a full, heart-felt life.

Homeopathy owes much to this individual. Acquire this book and enjoy it for what it is; erudite yet down-to-earth, heart-intelligence offering-up pearls of wisdom throughout from an under-appreciated elder.

Note

1) A part II of his writings was published, a year after the first, in 2014, More Doctoring: Selected Writings, Vol. 2, 1977–2014 (2014). As you can imagine, it, too, is worthwhile. He also wrote, in 2020, Vaccines: A Reappraisal.

Moskowitz, now in his late eighties, graduated from New York University School of Medicine in 1963. Before that, in 1959, he received his BA degree from Harvard University where he majored in biochemical studies. He received a U.S. Steel Graduate Fellowship in Philosophy to study for his doctorate, which he never completed, at the University of Colorado from 1963 to 1965. He received medical licenses to practice in Colorado (1967), New York (1969), New Mexico (1975) and Massachusetts (1983).

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Artikel online veröffentlicht:
27. September 2024