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Ethical and legal issues at the interface of complementary and conventional medicine

Vicki Kotsirilos and John R McPhee
Med J Aust 2004; 181 (10): . || doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2004.tb06466.x
Published online: 15 November 2004

To the Editor: The complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) series raised awareness and provided balanced and thoughtful debate. The article by Kerridge and McPhee in that series1 is no exception, but we would like to question their conclusion that “not only is it unclear whether a true integration of conventional and unconventional medicines is possible, but, more importantly, whether it is even desirable”. For a variety of reasons we believe that it is both possible and desirable.




Correspondence: 

  • 1. Kerridge IH, McPhee JR. Ethical and legal issues at the interface of complementary and conventional medicine. Med J Aust 2004; 181: 164-166. <MJA full text>
  • 2. Schellenberg R. Treatment for the premenstrual syndrome with agnus castus fruit extract: prospective, randomised, placebo controlled study. BMJ 2001; 322: 134-137.
  • 3. Carraro J, Raynaud J, Koch G. Comparison of phytotherapy (permixon) with finasteride in the treatment of BPH: a randomized international study of 1,098 patients. Prostate 1996; 29: 231-240.
  • 4. Grainger R, Cicuttini FM. Medical management of osteoarthritis of the knee and hip joints. Med J Aust 2004; 180: 232-236. <MJA full text>
  • 5. Teasdale JD, Segal ZV, Williams JM, et al. Prevention of relapse/recurrence in major depression by mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. J Consult Clin Psychol 2000; 68: 615-623.
  • 6. Pirotta M, Farish SJ, Kotsirilos V, Cohen MM. Characteristics of Victorian general practitioners who practise complementary therapies. Aust Fam Physician 2002; 31: 1133-1138.

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