Complementary and Alternative Medicine : Ethics, the Patient, and the Physician

Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Ethics, the Patient, and the Physician is the first comprehensive, multidisciplinary book to focus on the ethical challenges of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), examining the ethical considerations and challenges that increasingly face patients, physicians and complementary and alternative medicine practitioners today. In one recent year, it was estimated that 42% of Americans spent $27 billion out of pocket on CAM therapies; in particular, CAM therapies are becoming more popular with baby boomers, who are taking an increasingly active interest in their health and health care as they age. Most people do not tell their physicians about their CAM use - what implications does this have for traditional patient-physician relationships? This volume examines what should be the center of the dialogue between conventional medicine and CAM. With big issues and big money at stake, how are patients, physicians, the health care system and policymakers handling the explosion in CAM interest and use? What are the physicians' ethical obligations in this area? These topics and more are examined in this timely book. Chapters 1 and 2 of Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Ethics, the Patient, and the Physician provide a context for thinking about CAM and introduce its history and definitions. Chapters 3, 4, 5, and 6 examine the ethical responsibilities of physicians, as well as communications issues, patient education, legal concerns, and risk management. Chapter 7 presents a framework for examining CAM using the scientific method. As we enter the 21st century, and CAM use becomes more frequent, often as a companion to conventional medicine, this volume is timely, thought-provoking and practical reading.