Michael H. Cohen | |
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| Education | Columbia University (BA) University of California, Berkeley School of Law (JD) Haas School of Business (MBA) Iowa Writers Workshop (MFA) |
| Occupation(s) | Attorney, speaker, and author |
Michael H. Cohen is an American attorney. He is the founder of the Cohen Healthcare Law Group, and a former professor at Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health. Cohen has authored books on health-care law and policy.
After law school, Cohen served as a law clerk to Chief Judge Thomas P. Griesa in the Southern District of New York. Cohen began his legal career as at Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York City. At the same time, Cohen began training as a seminarian, yogi, Ericksonian hypnotherapist, and energy healer. [1] [2] He left the legal practice to become a professor of law and medicine, and returned later to found the Michael H. Cohen Law Group. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
Cohen earned a Bachelor of Arts from Columbia University, a Juris Doctor from Boalt Hall School of Law, a Master of Business Administration from the Haas School of Business, both at the University of California, Berkeley, and a Master of Fine Arts from the Iowa Writers Workshop. While in law school, he was a member of the California Law Review , [8] where he served as the Book Review Editor for volume 74. [9] He also taught as a law professor following several years of law practice. [1] Cohen served as an Assistant Professor of Health Law and Policy at the Harvard School of Public Health, and as an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School starting in 2000. [10] [11] [12] He was the first attorney in history to become a full-time faculty member at the Harvard Medical School. [10] In 2002, 2003, and 2004 Cohen was the recipient of a National Institutes of Health award for Scholarly Works in Biomedicine and Health Publications. [13]
Cohen served as Director of Legal Programs at Harvard Medical School Division for Research and Education in Complementary and Integrative Medical Therapies, and was awarded a Fortieth Anniversary Senior Fellowship at the Center for the Study of World Religions within Harvard Divinity School. [1] Cohen has served as the committee Consultant for the National Academy of Sciences Committee on the Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine by the American Public, [14] and was the president of the Institute for Integrative and Energy Medicine in Newport Beach, California. [15]
He is also a yoga practitioner and author of articles for yoga instructors, as well as medical and legal professionals. [16]
Cohen's first book was Creative Writing for Lawyers, which was published in 1990. The book was intended to draw the natural fictional talents of lawyers, with the idea that legal and fictional writing are compatible genres. [17] He next authored the book Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Legal Boundaries and Regulatory Perspectives in 1998. [15] [18]
Cohen then authored the book Beyond Complementary Medicine: Legal and Ethical Perspectives on Health Care and Human Evolution in 2000. Dr. Wayne Jonas reviewed the book in the Journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges stating that, "Cohen ... points out the consequences of applying legal and ethical principles to concepts and assumptions not usually discussed in conventional circles, yet used and believed daily by the public." [19]
In 2002, Cohen authored the book Future Medicine: Ethical Dilemmas, Regulatory Challenges, and Therapeutic Pathways to Health Care and Healing in Human Transformation. Health Affairs reviewer Dr. Clyde B. Jensen stated that the book, "makes ... valuable contributions to the integration of conventional and complementary medicine". [20] In 2006, Cohen authored the book Legal Issues in Integrative Medicine: A Guide for Clinicians, Hospitals, and Patients. [21]
Cohen then authored the book Healing at the Borderland of Medicine and Religion in 2006. [22] That year, Cohen also authored a chapter in the book Religion And Psychology: New Research entitled "Some Implications of Integrated Health Care for Religion, Psychology, and the Humanities". [23] In addition, he co-authored the book The Practice of Integrative Medicine: A Legal and Operational Guide in 2006. [24]
In addition to his books, chapters, and law review articles, he has also written articles in medical journals, including Archives of Internal Medicine , [25] [26] the Annals of Internal Medicine , [27] [28] [29] and Pediatrics . [30] He is also the author of the ABA Journal'sComplementary & Alternative Medicine Law Blog. [31]
Alternative medicine is any practice that aims to achieve the healing effects of medicine despite lacking biological plausibility, testability, repeatability or evidence of effectiveness. Unlike modern medicine, which employs the scientific method to test plausible therapies by way of responsible and ethical clinical trials, producing repeatable evidence of either effect or of no effect, alternative therapies reside outside of mainstream medicine and do not originate from using the scientific method, but instead rely on testimonials, anecdotes, religion, tradition, superstition, belief in supernatural "energies", pseudoscience, errors in reasoning, propaganda, fraud, or other unscientific sources. Frequently used terms for relevant practices are New Age medicine, pseudo-medicine, unorthodox medicine, holistic medicine, fringe medicine, and unconventional medicine, with little distinction from quackery.
Naturopathy, or naturopathic medicine, is a form of alternative medicine. A wide array of practices branded as "natural", "non-invasive", or promoting "self-healing" are employed by its practitioners, who are known as naturopaths. Difficult to generalize, these treatments range from the pseudoscientific and thoroughly discredited, like homeopathy, to the widely accepted, like certain forms of psychotherapy. The ideology and methods of naturopathy are based on vitalism and folk medicine rather than evidence-based medicine, although practitioners may use techniques supported by evidence. The ethics of naturopathy have been called into question by medical professionals and its practice has been characterized as quackery.
Reiki is a pseudoscientific form of energy healing, a type of alternative medicine originating in Japan. Reiki practitioners use a technique called palm healing or hands-on healing through which, according to practitioners, a "universal energy" is transferred through the palms of the practitioner to the patient, to encourage emotional or physical healing.
Rolfing is a form of alternative medicine originally developed by Ida Rolf (1896–1979) as Structural Integration. Rolfing is marketed with unproven claims of various health benefits. It is based on Rolf's ideas about how the human body's "energy field" can benefit when aligned with the Earth's gravitational field.
Maharishi Vedic Approach to Health (MVAH) is a form of alternative medicine founded in the mid-1980s by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who developed the Transcendental Meditation technique (TM). Distinct from traditional ayurveda, it emphasizes the role of consciousness, and gives importance to positive emotions. Maharishi Ayur-Veda has been variously characterized as emerging from, and consistently reflecting, the Advaita Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy, representing the entirety of the ayurvedic tradition.
Allopathic medicine, or allopathy, is an archaic and derogatory label originally used by 19th-century homeopaths to describe heroic medicine, the precursor of modern evidence-based medicine. There are regional variations in usage of the term. In the United States, the term is sometimes used to contrast with osteopathic medicine, especially in the field of medical education. In India, the term is used to distinguish conventional modern medicine from Siddha medicine, Ayurveda, homeopathy, Unani and other alternative and traditional medicine traditions, especially when comparing treatments and drugs.
The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) is a United States government agency which explores complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). It was initially created in 1991 as the Office of Alternative Medicine (OAM), and renamed the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) before receiving its current name in 2014. NCCIH is one of the 27 institutes and centers that make up the National Institutes of Health (NIH) within the United States Department of Health and Human Services.
Herbal medicine is the study of pharmacognosy and the use of medicinal plants, which are a basis of traditional medicine. With worldwide research into pharmacology, some herbal medicines have been translated into modern remedies, such as the anti-malarial group of drugs called artemisinin isolated from Artemisia annua, a herb that was known in Chinese medicine to treat fever. There is limited scientific evidence for the safety and efficacy of many plants used in 21st-century herbalism, which generally does not provide standards for purity or dosage. The scope of herbal medicine sometimes include fungal and bee products, as well as minerals, shells and certain animal parts.
The history of alternative medicine covers the history of a group of diverse medical practices that were collectively promoted as "alternative medicine" beginning in the 1970s, to the collection of individual histories of members of that group, or to the history of western medical practices that were labeled "irregular practices" by the western medical establishment. It includes the histories of complementary medicine and of integrative medicine. "Alternative medicine" is a loosely defined and very diverse set of products, practices, and theories that are perceived by its users to have the healing effects of medicine, but do not originate from evidence gathered using the scientific method, are not part of biomedicine, or are contradicted by scientific evidence or established science. "Biomedicine" is that part of medical science that applies principles of anatomy, physics, chemistry, biology, physiology, and other natural sciences to clinical practice, using scientific methods to establish the effectiveness of that practice.
Mind–body interventions (MBI) or mind-body training (MBT) are health and fitness interventions that are intended to work on a physical and mental level such as yoga, tai chi, and Pilates.
Andrew Thomas Weil is an American medical doctor who advocates for integrative medicine including the 4-7-8 breathing technique.
Edzard Ernst is a retired British-German academic physician and researcher specializing in the study of complementary and alternative medicine. He was Professor of Complementary Medicine at the University of Exeter, the world's first such academic position in complementary and alternative medicine.
Energy medicine is a branch of alternative medicine based on a pseudo-scientific belief that healers can channel "healing energy" into a patient and effect positive results. The field is defined by shared beliefs and practices relating to mysticism and esotericism in the wider alternative medicine sphere rather than any sort of unified terminology, leading to terms such as energy healing or vibrational medicine being used as synonymous or alternative names. In most cases there is no empirically measurable energy involved: the term refers instead to so-called subtle energy. Practitioners may classify the practice as hands-on, hands-off, and distant where the patient and healer are in different locations. Many schools of energy healing exist using many names: for example, biofield energy healing, spiritual healing, contact healing, distant healing, therapeutic touch, Reiki or Qigong.
Linda L. Barnes is an American medical anthropologist, a professor of family medicine at Boston University School of Medicine, and in the Graduate Division of Religious Studies at Boston University. Her research specialties are the social and cultural history of Western responses to Chinese healing traditions, and the interdisciplinary study of cultural, religious, and therapeutic pluralism in the United States. She has been regularly cited as an authority in the use of religiously based therapeutic traditions.
Qigong, is a system of coordinated body-posture and movement, breathing, and meditation said to be useful for the purposes of health, spirituality, and martial arts training. With roots in Chinese medicine, philosophy, and martial arts, qigong is traditionally viewed by the Chinese and throughout Asia as a practice to cultivate and balance the mythical life-force qi.
Michael Dixon LVO, OBE, FRCGP, FRCP is an English general practitioner and current Head of the Royal Medical Household. He is Chair of The College of Medicine and Integrated Health and Visiting Professor at the University of Westminster.
Because of the uncertain nature of various alternative therapies and the wide variety of claims different practitioners make, alternative medicine has been a source of vigorous debate, even over the definition of "alternative medicine". Dietary supplements, their ingredients, safety, and claims, are a continual source of controversy. In some cases, political issues, mainstream medicine and alternative medicine all collide, such as in cases where synthetic drugs are legal but the herbal sources of the same active chemical are banned.
Iris Roberta Bell is an American psychiatrist, professor, author and alternative medicine researcher. She is known for studying multiple chemical sensitivity and homeopathy. Bell is a longstanding environmental illness advocate, and developed the Arizona Integrative Outcomes Scale, which aims to allow patients to measure their emotional well-being. Bell has published over 140 professional papers and book chapters and has served as an editorial board member for several journals. She lives in Tucson, Arizona.
Alternative medicine describes any practice which aims to achieve the healing effects of medicine, but which lacks biological plausibility and is untested or untestable. Complementary medicine (CM), complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), integrated medicine or integrative medicine (IM), and holistic medicine are among many rebrandings of the same phenomenon.
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