Case raises questions about regulation of alternative healing popular Today by Amy Karon  Posted: 2:00 AM August 04, 2011

WEST ALLIS, Wis. — Paintings in Barbara May’s two-story home depict a cabin in a sunny meadow, an abstract flower in shades of orange and green.

May, 49, created those scenes. Three years ago she played guitar, painted and cleaned homes. Now she uses a walker for balance, fighting spasms in her legs when she stands. sometimes she struggles just to breathe.

“I don’t go anywhere. I don’t work anymore,” May said. “It feels like I’m wearing a corset. my hands constantly sting. It’s hard just to write a couple of checks.”

May has severe, chronic spinal disease in her neck, her medical records show. She can walk because two years ago she had urgent surgery to remove discs that were compressing her cervical spinal cord, making it swell with fluid. She also has spinal osteoporosis — weak, brittle vertebrae. Spinal manipulation — commonly known as chiropractic adjustment — can be dangerous for patients with spinal nerve damage or osteoporosis, states the Mayo Clinic website, which offers comprehensive information on hundreds of diseases.

But before May knew she had spinal disease, she spent almost a year in the care of a Milwaukee man named Sik Kin Wu. And May says she paid Wu, a self-described “intuitive healer,” to adjust her neck — not once or twice, but 11 times during a year.

Wu, a Shorewood, Wis., restaurant owner with a history of federal tax fraud, says he can tell what’s wrong with people by looking at them. he acknowledged he isn’t licensed to provide health care in the United States, instead providing a certificate stating he completed a four-month acupuncture and Chinese massage program in Shanghai.

But a Journal Sentinel investigation found Wu has used spinal manipulation — considered the work of a chiropractor or, in some cases, a physical therapist or credentialed massage therapist — on May and many others for years. by his own account, Wu also charges $350 to put his hand in people’s vaginas and rectums to “heal” conditions such as ovarian cysts and erectile dysfunction.

The Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services wouldn’t say whether Wu’s activities are legal, but Wisconsin statutes prohibit the unlicensed practice of medicine, surgery or chiropractic care.

May’s story raises questions about who, if anyone, ensures alternative treatments are safe for the nearly 1 in 4 American adults who use them.

“No matter how you look at it, (intuitive healing is) false,” said Wallace Sampson, clinical professor emeritus of medicine at Stanford University and former editor-in-chief of the journal Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine. “Even though they believe what they’re doing is right, it’s intellectually and scientifically fraudulent.”

Indeed, there is little proof many alternative therapies work — even though more than 88 million adults use them, based on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2007 National Health Interview survey.

In an interview, Wu admitted he has no health care license — and initially maintained he doesn’t need one.

“My daughter has a license, and I’m almost retired,” he said. In the same interview, he said he sees so many clients he doesn’t need to advertise.

Wu also said he doesn’t manipulate people the way a chiropractor does. but eight of 11 current and former clients interviewed (five referred by May, six by Wu) said Wu adjusted their spines.

Wisconsin law prohibits the unlicensed practice of medicine and surgery, which it defines to include penetrating “the tissues of a human being” to treat disease.

Not all alternative care is quackery.

For example, peer-reviewed studies suggest mindfulness meditation can prevent recurrent depression and that the Alexander Technique — a mind-body practice to improve posture — reduces back pain.

But alternative therapies often lack scientific evidence, said Sampson, the Stanford professor.

“It’s unfortunate that people, before they would go to someone like (Wu), would not ask him to prove it,” he said. “Prove you can do what you say you do.”

Several factors can drive consumers to seek alternatives to conventional medicine. when a person’s symptoms cause worry, Sampson said, he or she might avoid a medical diagnosis and embrace false hope in a cure, thereby delaying effective treatment.

And while physicians’ ability to understand diseases has improved markedly in the past century, the U.S. health care system doesn’t adequately emphasize wellness or patients’ needs, said Timothy Bartholow, physician and senior vice president of the Wisconsin Medical Society.

“Part of the (alternative care) industry may well be thriving on that alone,” he said.

The Centers for Disease Control survey also found that when people can’t afford conventional care, they’re more likely to seek alternative treatments, as May did.

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