Med Clin North Am. 2002 Jan; 86(1): 185-96.

Legal issues in complementary and integrative medicine. A guide for the clinician.

Cohen MH.

Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Center for Alternative Medicine Research and Education, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Physicians integrating CAM therapies into clinical practice face many legal challenges, including the fact that legal rules governing CAM providers and practices are new and evolving in many cases. Laws vary by state, and their application depends on the specific clinical scenario in question. As more evidence accumulates regarding safety and efficacy or lack thereof of specific therapies for given conditions, physicians will find clinical knowledge more abundantly mapped and that the parameters of liability are increasingly clear. Meanwhile, good clinical practice and a working knowledge of major legal rules can help provide physicians with a good measure of legal protection in situations involving integration of CAM providers and therapies in conventional medical practice.