- Fifty-six percent of Americans surveyed believe
their health plans should cover alternative
therapies. - The alternative medicine marketplace is cur-
rently valued at more than $24 billion, with a
growth rate of close to 15 percent per year
(Rauber, Modern Healthcare, September 1998). - Acupuncturists are licensed in 34 states.
- Fifty percent of physicians surveyed expect to
begin or increase usage of homeopathic and
holistic recommendations over the next year;
because patient acceptance is greater for these
therapies, better compliance results (Health
Products Research, Inc., Aug. 11, 2000 survey
of 3200 physicians). - Seventy percent of family physicians want train-
ing in alternative therapies. - Eight states have passed health freedom (prac-
tice protection) bills for M.D.s and D.O.s. - Naturopaths are licensed in 11 states.
- There are 17 student chapters of the American
Holistic Veterinary Medical Association among
the 27 U.S. veterinary schools.
In addition, in December 1995, the American
Medical Association passed the following resolu-
tion: “Unconventional Medical Care in the U.S.”
The AMA encourages the Office of Alternative
Medicine of the National Institutes of Health to
determine by objective scientific evaluation the
efficacy and safety of practices and procedures of
unconventional medicine; and encourages its
members to become better informed regarding the
practices and techniques of alternative or uncon-
ventional medicine (Policies of House of Dele-
gates—1-95; H-480.973; BOT Rep. 15-A-94,
Reaffirmed and Modified by Sub. Res. 514, 1-95).
In Timeless Healing: The Power and Biology of Belief,
by Dr. Herbert Benson (Scribner, New York, 1996),
alternative medicine is given serious due in light of
the traditional practice of Western medicine:
“Writer Luigi Barzini suggests that Americans are
compelled to act because we believe ‘the main
purpose of a man’s life is to solve problems.’
Despite the fact that the body is the grandest prob-
lem-solver there is, quietly and perpetually sus-
taining life, overcoming billions of obstacles
without our conscious imperatives for it to do so,
we don’t trust it. Instead we turn to our medicine
cabinets. Our doctors’ first impulse is to prescribe
something for us, and we fully expect to emerge
from these visits with a prescription in hand. But
at the same time, record numbers of Americans
are spending record numbers of their health care
dollars on unconventional healers—chiropractors,
acupuncturists, herbalists, and so on—who they
trust will care more about them as individuals
than as sums of parts. While some studies show
that patients are generally happy with their own
doctors, managed care, with its provider lists and
required numbers of patients a doctor must see
each day, makes this relationship between doctor
and patient harder to preserve.”
C. Norman Shealy, M.D., Ph.D., author of The
Illustrated Encyclopedia of Natural Remedies, pointed
out that the physician’s role is to be a “triage offi-
cer,” one who quickly assesses the status of
patients and what immediate treatment they
need. Triage is usually associated with victims of
accidents, war, or natural disaster and is geared to
saving as many people as possible. “A triage offi-
cer would stand at the door when a patient was
significantly ill and advise when medicine or
surgery was truly needed to save life or function,”
stated Eugene A. Stead, Jr., Shealy’s professor of
medicine. “Dr. Stead advised that when life and
function are not at risk, as in the vast majority of
symptomatic illnesses, the patient should ‘go into
the department stores and choose that which
most appeals.’“ The “department store,” of course,
is his analogy for all the alternative methods of
healing that are now available to us.
Bolstering that “department store” is the
National Center for Complementary and Alterna-
tive Medicine (NCCAM) at the National Institutes
of Health (NIH), formerly known as the Office of
Alternative Medicine (OAM), dating to 1992. The
NCCAM was established by Congress in 1998 to
stimulate, develop, and support research on com-
plementary and alternative medicines for the
benefit of the public. According to NCCAM’s web-
site, the organization’s objectives include
research (collaborating with other NIH and fed-
eral agencies to advance the scientific study of
alternative medicine, identifying and investigat-
ing promising understudied areas, and establish-xx The Encyclopedia of Complementary and Alternative Medicine