The most frequent criticism of  alternative medical therapies is
that such treatments are "unproven" because randomized,
double-blind, placebo controlled, crossover studies have not
been done to prove effectiveness. Such criticisms ignore the fact
that most medical procedures routinely performed in the practice
of medicine are also unproven using those same criteria.

The Office of Technology Assessment, a branch of the United
States Congress, with the help of an advisory board of eminent
university faculty, has published a report with the conclusion
that, " . . . only 10 to 20 percent of all procedures currently
used in medical practice have been shown to be efficacious by
controlled trial."(1) Therefore, 80% to 90% of medical
procedures routinely performed are unproven.

- - James P. Carter, MD, DrPH, Professor and Head, Nutrition
Section, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical
Medicine, New Orleans, LA
(See: http://drcranton.com/chelation/carter.htm for the full article)

1. Assessing the Efficacy and Safety of Medical Technologies.
Washington, DC, Congress of the United States, Office of
Technology Assessment, Publication No. 052003-00593-0.
Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 20402, 1978.

It seems objective and very scientific to accept only
evidence based on double blind placebo controlled studies,
but we must remember that there is nothing but anecdotal
evidence to support most surgery, and many other medical
practices.

Larry Dossey, MD:  Yale surgeon and author Sherwin B.
Nuland states,  “Unlike other areas in which fads come and
go, medical styles of practice are meant to be supported by
irrefutable evidence.  That assumption is so far off the mark
that the term ‘medical science’ is practically an oxymoron.”
     
Richard Smith, editor of the British Medical Journal,
agrees stating, “Only about 15% of medical interventions
are supported by solid scientific evidence….This is partly
because only 1% of the articles in medical journals are
scientifically sound and partly because many treatments
have not been assessed at all.”

Return to Homepage of Pain Research Institute