A student stands over a patient, needle poised. They have a “perfect” prescription: a textbook combination of points harvested from a lecture slide on chronic lower back pain. But as the needle meets the skin, the student hesitates - the symptom of a quiet habit that has taken hold of our profession. We routinely say we “prescribe” points. It sounds efficient. It echoes the authority of biomedical culture and fits neatly into the insurance field. But vocabulary is never neutral; repeated long enough, it dictates behavior.
Katherina Audley
Katherina Audley is a freelance writer. She has written about the need for new treatments in women's health for many years. Audley is also Bionovo's webmaster and has worked on their corporate communications materials. Contact Katherina Audley at 9815 N. Syra-cuse St. Portland OR 97203 or k@kpetunia.com, 415-847-7295.