The Legal Aspects of Complementary Therapy Practice. A Guide For Health Care Professionals

As complementary medicine comes of age, the legal implications of its more and more widespread usage become more important. There are few texts covering these aspects and this book is aimed at filling the void. It is written not for lawyers but for complementary practitioners who may become confronted with legal problems.

In its first section the book covers topics such as negligence, informed consent, handling complaints, record-keeping and laws regulating professional premises. One should point out that the vast majority of all this is applicable only to the situation as it exists in the UK. In a second section the author goes through the major complementary therapies and depicts examples where therapists might come into conflict with the law. Substantial sections of this seem superfluous for the reader: a homoeopath, for instance, who wants to inform herself about the legal aspects related to her work, does not really need to be told what homoeopathy is and how it developed historically.

On balance, however, this is a good book – informative and easy to understand for anyone. It covers subjects which will become more and more important for therapists and users of complementary therapy alike. I can recommend it for this readership (almost) without reservation.