How do I ask my doctor about a plant-based therapy referral?

If your doctor isn’t  comfortable with developing a plant-based treatment plan for you, you can request a referral to CDA Clinics to develop a treatment plan with you.

Firstly, provide your doctor with a copy of our CDA Clinics Letter to Referring Doctors. This document is in the Information Pack that patients receive when they first enquire on our website. It is attached to the email as a PDF that you can print out and take to your doctor appointment. It explains the duty of care your doctor must provide you through referrals to any health professionals or services that you would like to try for your condition/s. Please ensure that you do this as a first step.

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Important points you can tell your doctor

• CDA Clinics doctors are highly experienced in plant-based therapy and, much like visiting any specialist (oncologist, cardiologist, endocrinologist, etc.), a referral is required
• Your referring doctor is not endorsing plant-based therapy, but simply validating your symptoms

Your doctor’s potential reservations

They may lose you as a patient

• Reassure them that you’ll still be a patient of theirs and CDA doctors will share your results with them. Some doctors, such as bulk billing doctors, can only make a living with a high number of consultations.

Maybe you just want to get high

• Assure them that you want CBD, which is a non-psychoactive treatment. If they’re unaware that CBD is non-psychoactive and non-toxic, direct them to the CanView Confident Prescriber Course – a free educational resource to help them understand that treatment is about getting healthy, not high.

They’re concerned about your current prescription medicines

• CDA doctors are highly experienced and always work with a patient’s current treatments and symptoms. They consult only upon receiving a valid health summary.
• That’s why it’s important for your doctor to provide a relevant health summary, which should include any past and current medications and other treatments that you are trying for your symptoms/condition.

They believe accessing alternative medicine is difficult and prohibitively expensive

• We can assure you that it’s not difficult for eligible patients to access a plant-based therapy consultation and medications through the approved government pathways. So long as you have a chronic condition lasting three months or more (you can prove this with your health summary) and you’re over the age of 18.
• CDA Clinics are transparent about the cost of consultations and average product cost. Whether you can afford this or not is your prerogative and has nothing to do with your doctor.

What do I do if my doctor won’t give me a plant-based therapy referral?

If your doctor refuses to provide you with a plant-based therapy referral, you can request your full medical history (preferably emailed as it can be a large document) and take that to a different doctor for referral.

Another option is to tell your doctor that you just want to try CBD oil, which is non-psychoactive and completely legal to drive on. GPs collaborate on treatment plans and should be informed of any new supplements or medications commenced. A clinician has insight on possible medication interactions and, in conjunction with a patient’s GP, can help monitor for safety and efficacy of the medicine.

You can also go back to your doctor and present them with some plant-based therapy research, or even give our details to them so that they can contact us directly. We have an abundance of information for doctors.

If all else fails, provide us with the contact details of your doctor and we may be able to contact them. Please include your doctor’s name, as well as the practice name, email and telephone number.

 

Disclaimer: This is not intended to be used as medical advice or a substitute for your own practitioner’s advice, nor is it intended to be used for diagnosis or treatment for any illness/disease. CDA Clinics and associated parties are not liable for any injury, loss or damage incurred by use of/reliance on the information provided