Focus on Alternative and Complementary Therapies
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Focus Alternat Complement Ther©2005 Pharmaceutical Press
Focus Altern Complement Ther 1998; 3: 184
(i) To raise ethical questions about the homeopathic and conventional treatment of otitis media, one of the commonest of childhood conditions. (ii) To suggest, on the basis of a given case history, that formal instruction in the ethics of complementary and alternative medicine should be given to all students of the field, including medical and nursing students.
The case centres on a two-year old child taken first to a homeopathic practitioner, who provides treatment. The mother believes that there is no improvement after twenty-four hours and visits her regular G.P. The ethical analysis, covering decisions of both physicians, focuses on what is needed for both patient information and for fully informed consent. It also provides a critical review of the recent clinical literature (homeopathic and conventional) on otitis media.
Aside from responding to the objectives of the presentation and arguing that formal ethical education is needed in complementary care, consideration will be given to the relevance of the ethical analysis to therapeutic relationships.
