Lack of standards in informed consent in complementary and alternative medicine.
OBJECTIVE
To examine whether U.S.-based professional complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) organizations have explicit informed consent policies.


METHODS
Phone survey conducted in July-August 2003.


RESULTS
Data were obtained from 37 out of a total of 39 eligible and accessible organizations representing 19 commonly used provider-administered CAM techniques (95% response rate.) Only 21 organizations (57%) had any informed consent policy and standards, whilst only six (16%) mandate their clinician members to routinely obtain an informed consent.


CONCLUSIONS
We found no consistent standards with respect to the practice of informed consent across a broad range of CAM practices. CAM information that is not communicated appropriately or is otherwise unavailable to patients during the decision-making process may increase the potential for healthcare oversights and adversity.
Caspi
Opher
O
The Recanati Center for Medicine and Research, Rabin Medical Center, The Tel-Aviv University, Petah Tikva 49100, Israel. ocaspi@clalit.org.il
Holexa
Joshua
J
D000529:Complementary Therapies / Q000145:classification*; D003625:Data Collection; D003657:Decision Making; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent / Q000592:standards*; D014481:United States