Alternative Medicine and Ethics / Edition 1

by James M. Humber, Robert F. Almeder

Overview

Leading bioethicists and philosophers examine and debate the question of how the health care system should deal with using complimentary and alternative medicines. The distinguished authorities writing here both defend and criticize alternative medicine, with some arguing that the medical system should change substantially in order to accommodate alternative medicine, and others claiming that virtually all alternative treatments are worthless. In the heat of the debate many fundamental issues are raised concerning our health care system, among them the questions of therapeutic effectiveness, media truthfulness, the patient's freedom to choose among treatment options, health insurance coverage, the ability of the current healthcare delivery system to meet patients' needs, and government approval of alternative medicines.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780896034402
Publisher:	Springer-Verlag New York, LLC
Publication date:	02/02/1998
Series:	Biomedical Ethics Reviews , #1997
Edition description:	1998
Pages:	220
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.02(d)

Table of Contents

“Alternative” Medicine: More Hype than Hope.- Understanding the Integration of Alternative Modalities into an Emerging Healthcare Model in the United States.- Healthcare Plans as Gatekeepers: Alternative Medicine.- Insurance Coverage for Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Access, Challenges, and Policy.- Legal and Ethical Dilemmas Surrounding Prayer as a Method of Alternative Healing for Children.- Alternative Medicine: Ethical Challenges for the Profession of Pharmacy.

Editorial Reviews

"This is a fascinating book which deserves a wide readership. As well as its obvious interest to complementary and alternative therapists, it raises important general issues of health care ethics and law. It should certainly be read by the general practitioner and health authority purchasers who may be interested in purchasing CAM therapies, and will, it is to be hoped, be taken up by the growing number of medical schools offering special study modules in this subject."-Journal of Medical Ethics

"This book consist of six different essays by authors with widely varying perspectives. All the articles discuss some aspect of health policy related to alternative medicine, including insurance coverage, scientific validity, integration with conventional medicine, and access to treatment. The views range from S. Barrett's complete rejection of nearly all forms of nonconventional treatment to V. Patel's advocacy for greater integration of many of the principles and techniques of alternative approaches. The article by S.M. Weitzman on insurance coverage for complementary and alternative medicine is arguably the best article in the book."-Religious Studies Review

From the Publisher

For patients, the bottom line in regard to any medical therapy or practitioner is, of course, caveat emptor. Yet, what is the state's responsibility in protecting the millions of citizens seeking alternative therapies from receiving potentially useless or dangerous treatments? What is the medical profession's responsibility when employing, promoting, or disregarding complementary and alternative therapies, or advising their patients to do so? This book does not contain all the answers to these questions and addresses but a few of the ethical dilemmas that the explosion in the use of alternative medicine presents to our society. It does, however, provide sufficient balanced information for readers to begin to formulate their own answers-and to formulate their own ethical questions.

Journal of the American Medical Association

Six essays offer opposing views of how the health care industry should deal with complimentary and alternative medicine, some defending and some criticizing, some arguing that the established system should change substantially to accommodate alternatives and others contending that most are worthless. They also debate whether insurance should pay for alternative treatments, whether pharmacists serve the public interest with self-care and alternative medicines, and the fairness of double-blind testing. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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