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Medicine's chasm: The wide gulf between conventional and alternative approaches

A recent White House commission report on unconventional medical therapies may have deepened the battle lines between advocates and skeptics.

By Stephanie Stapleton, amednews staff. June 3, 2002.

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Long before the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy issued its final report, the dust-ups began.

There were letters to the surgeon general asking that the panel be disbanded and other criticisms -- public and private.

Then, in March, as the document was being transmitted to Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson, a news peg created momentum. Two commission members drafted a statement outlining the key elements they said were missing from the panel's findings. Their opinions were leaked to the press, and CAM skeptics sprang into action.

"We shaped the debate," said Stephen Barrett, MD, a retired Pennsylvania psychiatrist and founder of Quackwatch Inc. "It's the first time our network has been able to do that."

This level of drama may seem unusual in response to nonbinding recommendations made by a White House commission. But controversy is no stranger to the notion of complementary and alternative therapies.

In fact, this recent episode provides an interesting look at how ideologically charged the debate has become regarding the integration of these approaches into mainstream medicine.

Many experts say that the strongest beliefs and harshest words come from a minority of players at each end of the spectrum and that substantive discussions about medicine's and CAM's future are ongoing. Ultimately, they say, science will provide the answers. But for now, practicing physicians -- who confront patient questions and patient care issues on a daily basis -- sometimes are left struggling to navigate a divided landscape. [...]