Health Is Your Right ... And Your Responsibility

This is what we say at the beginning of every episode:We are not doctors. We are herbalists and holistic health educators. The ideas discussed in this podcast do not constitute medical advice.No state or federal authority licenses herbalists in the US; these discussions are for educational purposes only. Everyone’s body is different, so the things we’re talking about may or may not apply directly to you – but they will give you some information to think about and research further.We wish to remind you that good health is your own personal responsibility: the final decision in considering any course of therapy – whether discussed on the internet or prescribed by your physician – is always yours.Each of the many issues raised in this statement is very important to us, including but not limited to: the legal definition of the practice of medicine, scope of practice for holistic health professionals, individual biological and situational variation, rights as necessarily intercausal with responsiblities, and others. In today’s podcast, we’re going to break it down and explain exactly why we repeat this so frequently, and why we feel it matters so much. We hope you’ll listen in!Mentioned in this podcast:On the Merits of Plain Speech, Katja’s article on intentional language choices as a health professionalHerbalism And The Law: The Practice of Medicine in Massachusetts, Ryn’s article on legal issues relevant to clinical herbalismThe Holistic Herbalism Podcast, episode 065: How To Not Be A Guru, for related thoughts on humility and transparencySupport the showYou can find all of our online herbalism courses at online.commonwealthherbs.com!