Dear Editor
Re: Ethical problems arising in evidencebased complementary and alternative medicine
Edzard Ernst, Michael H. Cohen, Julie Stone
Mr McIntyre [1] rightly states that, in the UK, initiatives are underway
to regulate acupuncturists and herbalists. At the time of writing this
letter, a draft document is circulating. At the time of writing the actual
article (about one year ago), these initiatives had barely started and
certainly had not produced anything tangible. Regulation of UK
acupuncturists and herbalists may be in place in about 2 – 3 years (my
estimation). For the many other CAM providers (from aromatherapists to
yoga teachers), no such initiatives exist. My main point is that, except
for chiropractors and osteopaths, there is no statutory regulation at
present. This also means that today anyone in the UK, irrespective of
training or education, can call themselves an acupuncturist or herbalist.
Thus I truly don’t see the “glaring omission”. In terms of integrating
“orthodox and CAM for the benefit of millions”, McIntyre seems to forget
that evidence has to come before integration. In the case of the
therapeutic approach of UK traditional herbalism, I know of not a single
study that would constitute acceptable proof of efficacy. I’m also not
sure whether “the UK leads the world in the development of CAM” – it would
be nice but I do detect a bit of wishful thinking in McIntyre’s words.
References
(1) McIntyre MJ. Positive developments in CAM in the UK [electronic response to JME Advanced Publication: Ernst et al. Ethical problems arising in evidencebased complementary and alternative medicine] jmedethics.com 2004http://jme.bmjjournals.com/cgi/eletters/28/2/DC1#122
Dear Editor
Re: Ethical problems arising in evidencebased complementary and alternative medicine Edzard Ernst, Michael H. Cohen, Julie Stone
Mr McIntyre [1] rightly states that, in the UK, initiatives are underway to regulate acupuncturists and herbalists. At the time of writing this letter, a draft document is circulating. At the time of writing the actual article (about one year ago), these initiatives had barely started and certainly had not produced anything tangible. Regulation of UK acupuncturists and herbalists may be in place in about 2 – 3 years (my estimation). For the many other CAM providers (from aromatherapists to yoga teachers), no such initiatives exist. My main point is that, except for chiropractors and osteopaths, there is no statutory regulation at present. This also means that today anyone in the UK, irrespective of training or education, can call themselves an acupuncturist or herbalist. Thus I truly don’t see the “glaring omission”. In terms of integrating “orthodox and CAM for the benefit of millions”, McIntyre seems to forget that evidence has to come before integration. In the case of the therapeutic approach of UK traditional herbalism, I know of not a single study that would constitute acceptable proof of efficacy. I’m also not sure whether “the UK leads the world in the development of CAM” – it would be nice but I do detect a bit of wishful thinking in McIntyre’s words.
References
(1) McIntyre MJ. Positive developments in CAM in the UK [electronic response to JME Advanced Publication: Ernst et al. Ethical problems arising in evidencebased complementary and alternative medicine] jmedethics.com 2004http://jme.bmjjournals.com/cgi/eletters/28/2/DC1#122