J Med Ethics. 1992 Mar; 18(1): 23-5.

Alternative medicine: methinks the doctor protests too much and incidentally befuddles the debate.

Pietroni PC.

St Mary's Hospital Medical School, London.

Dr Kottow in his paper Classical medicine v alternative medical practices (1) places the alternative/orthodox medicine debate within an historical context of anti-quackery literature. My paper explores the nature of science as it is applied to clinical practice and challenges the narrow view of the diagnostic process as outlined by Dr Kottow. Research methodologies more appropriate to 'whole person' medicine are suggested as having more ethical value than those based on the clinical trial.