April 2023 How can there be so much change, so quickly and without our knowledge or consent? I quote: British Columbia’s New Powers to Silence Dissenting Physicians Recently passed legislation puts involuntary treatment and mandatory compliance into effect. Commentary by Mary Lowther “OMNS (April 13, 2023) Last November the British Columbia Provincial Government introduced the Health Professions and Occupations Act, also referred to as Bill 36, passed and enacted with a minimum of debate, consultation or media promulgation. It empowers the government to assume more control over how health [...]

February 2023 Following what has been a long and rather dark winter for me personally, I finally found the courage to reach out to a colleague for help in recovering. I guess we must always remember the old saw about “he who has himself for a physician, has a fool for a physician” and look outside of our own knowledge and expertise when healing seems difficult or ineffective. In spite of my long weeks of RSV, Covid, bronchitis, depression and unexpectedly deep grief for the recent loss of my [...]

An Introductory Commentary Dear Colleagues and Readers, Barely three years have passed since we first heard of a new virus (with the name SARS-CoV-2) and from its consequences somewhere in China people were seriously ill and in some instances died. At that time, hardly anyone here in Germany and Europe thought too much about it. Above all no one at that time would have believed what happened worldwide a few months later: The entire public life ground to a halt. As unprepared as our health care system was, the [...]

January 2023 Dear Colleagues and Friends, As I move into this New Year of 2023 as well as this new chapter in my life, I feel counterbalanced with optimism for the future but weighed down by the frustrating worldwide controversies, upheavals and often corruption. While many prayed for hope, peace, joy, love and prosperity throughout the holiday and year-end festivities, we are still surrounded by reports of the disastrous events of 2022 that have changed the face of politics, economics and healthcare for far into the future. As I [...]

28 November 2022 Dear Colleagues and Friends, By now you’ve seen the “new” email format. I have been chastised and so all my extra and extended words will now fill up digital space on this website, rather than the somewhat irregular monthly emails of the past. Partly this has arisen as my IT Guru Chad told me about his impressions of the email “newsletters”. Additionally, he is also helping me prepare and download nearly five decades of data as we build the new OIRF website. So many changes in [...]

Passages, Links and Points of Interest October 2022 Catharine Isabell Winsor April 8, 1921* - Sept. 28, 2022† Since closing OIRF in June 2018, my employment status and work has been described as “supposed-to-be-retired” and I have happily continued regular – if shortened – working hours in my tiny home office as Praxis2Practice. Those of you who had met and knew my Mom Catharine can appreciate the deep bond that we shared on many levels (roommates for the last 18 years, mentor, proof [...]

Some Quotes and Links Summer 2022 Since closing OIRF in June 2018, my employment status and work has been described as “supposed-to-be-retired” and I have happily continued regular – if shortened – working hours in my tiny home office. For now, I offer my sincere apologies for the delay in responding to your recent emails and phone calls. My 101 year old mother is approaching the end of her life and although she is now in a care home I remain her primary care giver. [...]

May 2022 These have been dramatic times. The pandemic seems to be easing until the next scare-tactic takes over the media narrative, the war in the Ukraine, the terrible loss of life to senseless shootings in Buffalo, NY and Uvalde, TX along with out of control politics and economics leaves each of us wondering how we can regain control of the craziness. Every day I remember that comment overheard at one of my online conferences that the only difference between a conspiracy theory and a conspiracy is usually only [...]

Birthdays, Philosophy & Exit Strategies With the culmination of the 101st Birthday celebrations and activities for my beloved Mom Catharine, I’ve once again found myself wandering through the newsletters and ever changing information about the virus, the vaccines and the possible resolutions for the health of our families and patients. I’ve stated it before that without a doubt, this is a unique time in history – for conventional medicine, so-called alternative medicine, politics, economics and society as a whole. I am not so prideful and [...]

March 2022 There was a night recently where thoughts whirled and sleep escaped me. Rather than stew in frustration, I did a “Carolyn” and just sat at my computer in the early hours of a new day and wrote – just notes and thoughts and an attempt to make sense of recent events. It is certainly a turbulent and highly charged time in history. As I’ve mentioned before, I believe this is the time of millennial transition that many expected in those first few years of this 21st century. [...]