Ethical Challenges for Humans Using Traditional and Complementary Medicines

Abstract

Critics of traditional and complementary medicine assert that people are putting their trust in the hands of incompetent and poorly regulated practitioners who are deliberately misleading patients about benefits leading to risks to health, and even lives. Injury or infection from acupuncture needles, severe injuries from osteopathy or chiropractic manipulation, or rejection of effective conventional medicine, are just some of the threats described for humans who use traditional and complementary medicine. The two most commonly cited safety concerns are examined: adverse drug reactions from herbal medicine and the potential for harm from delayed access to conventional care when using homeopathy. Through examination of real world scenarios and data, discrepancy between the rhetoric and the reality of these contentious issues is revealed.