Should we refuse requests for complementary therapies?
Health care providers sometimes receive requests from patients or families for complementary therapies. When should they accede to such requests, and when should they refuse them? This is not a problem peculiar to complementary therapies. It arises whenever patients or families request conventional therapies which health care professionals judge problematic in the circumstances. What follows is a set of rationalized recommendations about when health care professionals should and should not honour requests for therapies, whether they be conventional or complementary.
Browne
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Division of Health Care Ethics, Office of the Coordinator of Health Sciences, #400-2194 Health Sciences Mall, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada BC V6T 1Z3. abrowne@unixg.ubc.ca
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D000529:Complementary Therapies / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000191:economics / Q000523:psychology*; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D006801:Humans; D018447:Medical Futility; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology*; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D016079:Refusal to Treat; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012449:Safety