Two into One Won’t Go: Conceptual, Clinical, Ethical and Legal Impedimenta to the Convergence of CAM and Orthodox Medicine |
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Authors: | Malcolm Parker |
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Institution: | (1) Mayne Medical School, University of Queensland, Herston Rd., Herston, QLD, 4006, Australia |
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Abstract: | The convergence of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and evidence-based medicine (EBM) is a prominent feature of
healthcare in western countries, but it is currently undertheorised, and its implications have been insufficiently considered.
Two models of convergence are described – the totally integrated evidence-based model (TI) and the multicultural-pluralistic
model (MP). Both models are being incorporated into general medical practice. Against the background of the reasons for the
increasing utilisation of CAM by the public and by general practitioners, TI-convergence is supported and MP-convergence is
rejected. MP-convergence is epistemologically and clinically incoherent, and it cannot be regulated. It is also inconsistent
with developments in the legal determination of the standard of care for both diagnosis/treatment and disclosure. These claims
concerning MP-convergence are justified by the fact that science is not a member of the group of perspectives or world-views
which postmodernism treats as equally valid, and this is especially important for healthcare. |
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Keywords: | Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) Evidence-based medicine (EBM) Integrative medicine Science Postmodernism Regulation Standard of care General practice |
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