Demands for greater supervision of alternative medicine practitioners

The prosecution of two doctors and a faith healer has been ordered by the Dutch appeal court, due to their treatment of a patient who died seven years ago.

The woman, well-known actor/comedian Sylvia Millecam, died of untreated breast cancer, having chosen alternative medicine as a therapy, perhaps persuaded that her illness was due to bacterial infection.  However, although the public prosecution service had previously dismissed the case against three of the people involved in her treatment, a Dutch Healthcare Inspectorate investigation found that ‘various individual carers’ had offered such irresponsible care, based on ‘unfounded methods of treatment’, that disciplinary action or prosecution were likely. 
The inspectorate now wants the law changed to ensure greater supervision of alternative practitioners and that all such practitioners have to be registered. It also wants it made illegal for anyone other than a trained doctor to be allowed to make a medical diagnosis. The Royal Dutch Medical Association supports the proposals.
(Full report: BMJ  2008;336:853
(19 April), doi:10.1136/bmj.39549.
636586.DB )

* In many European countries, ‘alternative’ medicine has increased in popularity. When asked, for consumer surveys, about 60% of the public in the Netherlands and Belgium stated they would pay extra health insurance premiums for complementary treatments, and 74% of the British public thought they should be available from the country’s National Health Service. The Dutch population seeking treatments from alternative medicine practitioners was reported to be 6.4% in 1981, but this had increased to 15.7% in 1990 and, in France, 16% of the population visited practitioners in 1982, but the figure rose to 36% in 1992.

30.04.2008

Related articles

Photo

News • Breast healthcare

FDA advances landmark policy changes to modernize mammography services

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced important new steps to modernize breast cancer screening and help empower patients with more information when they are considering important…

Photo

Article •

Breast screening in the UK

Expert warns that breast screening across the country needs to undergo a dramatic transformation over the next 15 years, Mark Nicholls reports.

Photo

Article •

New campaign for fair drugs testing aims to combat exploitation worldwide

The Netherlands - People in developing countries run health risks from pharmaceutical companies testing drugs on them for the Western market.

Related products

Subscribe to Newsletter