Edzard Ernst is arguably the world’s foremost expert on the claims and the evidence (or thereof) for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM). Now he has teamed up with a medical ethicist, Kevin Smith, to coauthor a new book, More Harm Than Good? The Moral Maze of Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Much has been written on CAM, but this book takes a new approach. It asks if CAM is ethical and answers with a resounding “No.”
More Harm Than Good? The Moral Maze of Complementary and Alternative Medicine. By Edzard Ernst and Kevin Smith. New York: Springer Publishing, 2018. ISBN 978-3-319-699400. 223 pp. Softcover, $22.99.
In all areas of health care, patients are entitled to expect certain basic precepts to be satisfied: “Practitioners should be competent. Treatments should be based on valid knowledge. Educational and licensing programs should ensure that only qualified practitioners can practice. Autonomy: patients should be free to choose or reject treatments based on full informed consent. Honesty. Absence of exploitation.”