Letter to the President: Integrative Medicine Treatment for COVID-19

March 20, 2020
Mr. President Trump
The White House, Office of the President
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
 

Dear Mr. President:
As a practioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) who has first-hand experience treating COVID-19 patients in China, I write to strongly urge the US Government and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention to recommend integrative medicine combining Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) with Conventional Medicine for the treatment of COVID-19, in order to save lives and prevent a crisis like that of Italy’s. Integrative medicine treatment is the reason for China’s low mortality rate, and it has helped them win the battle against coronavirus. Herbal medicine was endorsed and encouraged by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention early on but was mandated later when success was proven.  
 
As we all know, the Coronavirus is spreading like wildfire within the US, and the number of confirmed cases is growing exponentially. Yet - as you would know better than anyone - there is no known cure for it. Hospitals are forced to turn patients away if they are not severe enough, and, per hospitals, the ones that are very severe can only be supported with high-flow oxygen therapy and mechanical ventilation. People are panicking, and they find no assurance in America's current medical practices.
 
However, integrative treatment combining Conventional medicine with Chinese herbs has proven to be effective in China to relieve patient symptoms and enable the body to successfully fight Coronavirus. According to a report, 92.58% of coronavirus patients were treated with Chinese herbal medicine by March 3, 2020 following a mandate by the Chinese CDC, which sees the effectiveness of this approach. While research data regarding the efficacy of Chinese herbal medicines for COVID-19 is very limited at this point, a clinical study was conducted comparing patients using integrative medicine against patients using only conventional drugs, and the results clearly demonstrated the effectiveness of integrative treatment over conventional ones.
54 COVID-19 patients were enrolled in the study, among which 34 were treated with integrative medicine and 18 were treated with conventional medicine.


Integrative medicine treatment led to a 91.4% recovery rate and 88.2% with CT image improvement compared to 61.1% and 68.8% respectively for conventional treatment. Only 5.9% of patients in the integrative medicine treatment group progressed from a moderate to severe condition, and there were zero deaths as compared to the a 5.6% death rate under conventional medicine, which also saw 35.3% of its patients progress from a moderate to severe condition. 

 
In addition, days of hospital stay, days taken to return to normal body temperature, and days needed to become symptom free from treatment were all shortened by about 2 days, a reduction of 20% to 40%.

 
Not only has China adopted an integrative medicine treatment, but also Japan and Korea, which have very successfully controlled their outbreaks despite their high population density.
 
Given the severity and rapid pace of this outbreak, and the proven success of integrative medicine in treating COVID-19 patients in China, I strongly urge the Government and CDC to encourage local agencies and hospitals to incorporate Chinese herbal remedies into the treatment protocol by working with TCM practitioners and experts, and to further provide integrative medicine treatment guidelines. Similar to China, we have a strong team of TCM experts in the US ready to serve in fighting the coronavirus and saving lives, and their expertise shouldn't be put to waste. As the leader in the world, America should be the most well equipped to win the war against COVID-19, and its arsenal will only be stronger with the introduction of integrative medicine treatment approaches. It is critical that Americans be reassured that we have solutions, and integrative medicine treatment can be their answer.
 
As COVID-19 continues to spread rapidly, threatening the general public, it is imperative that the Government and CDC takes unprecedented action in introducing integrative medicine treatment combining Chinese herbal remedies with conventional medicine treatment to speed up recovery and reduce mortality rate.
 
Thank you for your time and attention on this critical matter, and I look forward to hearing from you and discussing this topic further with you. You may reach me at 781-389-5194 or jie.yin@sumid.com.
 
Most Respectfully,
 
 
Jie Yin, L.Ac, DAOM