Bioethical challenges of alternative medicine

International Conference and Exhibition on Traditional & Alternative Medicine

December 09-11, 2013 Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel, Hyderabad, India

John D. Loike

Accepted Abstracts: Altern Integ Med

Abstract :

Globalization has increased the pace of cultural confrontation with respect to alternative medicine. Medical intervention to illness dates back to the origins of mankind. Human documentation of medical treatments dates back at least 5000 years to Chinese traditional medicine and Indian (Ayurvedic) medicine. In these cultures, as well as in current times, several forms of alternative medicines, such as homeopathy, center on selecting remedies that aim to harmonize the energy of the body, mind, and spirit. Despite the continuing use of alternative medicines by hundreds of millions of people around the globe, many health professionals and bioethicists cite its lack of scientifically proven mechanisms and evidenced-based clinical trials as ethically questionable. One critical problem in alternative medicine, such as homeopathy, is the difficulty in designing well- controlled clinical studies that demonstrate measurable efficacy. Because homeopathic remedies are often individualized to the symptoms of each patient, and not to a particular disease state, it is difficult to recruit individuals for large-scale clinical studies. In this presentation, a risk-benefit framework which implements case-based reasoning will be described to help resolve the ethical challenges intrinsic to alternative medicine. These challenges include finding ethical guidelines for physicians in terms of recommending, tolerating, and/or prescribing alternative medicines and determining an appropriate level of government-funded research and regulation of alternative medicine.

Biography :

John D. Loike completed his Ph.D. at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and postdoctoral studies from The Rockefeller University. He is the director of special programs at the Center for Bioethics at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and has published more than 100 papers in both scientific and bioethical journals.