Summary
Date: 30 June 2019
The Medical Board Australia sought public consultation on clearer regulation of medical practitioners who provide complementary and unconventional medicine and emerging treatments. The RACGP strongly supports this undertaking to clarify the scope of complementary and unconventional treatments.
The RACGP made 4 key recommendations:
- Use of the term 'integrative medicine' which includes evidence-based complementary medicines and therapies
- Delineating the scope of integrative medicine from alternative, unconventional and experimental medicine and therapies
- Encouraging patients to discuss their use of complementary therapies with their GP
- The provision to patients of full disclosure on the evidence base and any associated risks.