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Commission for Scientific Medicine and Mental Health "Scientific Review of
Alternative Medicine."
"The Commission for Scientific Medicine and Mental
Health (CSMMH) is devoted to the scientific examination of unproven alternative
medicine and mental health therapies, which have become increasingly popular in
the United States and the world.
The application of modern science to mental and
physical health has allowed human beings to overcome age-old maladies and
increase longevity. Despite the clear progress in human mental and physical well
being, many patients and practitioners have embraced unfounded, and sometimes
dangerous, practices, both ancient and new. In recent years, a wide range of
unconventional therapies has appeared on the public scene. The fields of
medicine and mental health have witnessed a widening gap between research and
practice.
Aberrant remedies and techniques are often offered
uncritically as alternative or complementary to mainstream medicine. They
include everything from untested herbal medicines, homeopathy, and aromatherapy
to the use of acupuncture, therapeutic touch, prayer at a distance, faith
healing, chelation therapy, and purportedly miraculous cancer cures. A wide
variety of unsubstantiated or untested treatments and therapies (such as
facilitated communication and hypnotic age regression) and assessment methods
(such as human figure drawing tests) have flourished in popularity in recent
years in the field of mental health. Still other techniques (such as
anatomically correct dolls and the Rorschach Inkblot Test) are widely used even
though they are questionable on scientific grounds. Although some of these
techniques may ultimately prove to be effective, it is disturbing that their use
greatly outstrips their evidentiary base.
The Commission believes that the need for objective,
scientific evaluations of alternative or non-conventional medicine, psychiatry,
and psychotherapy has never been greater. The Commission proposes that the best
tools of science should be applied to evaluate the validity of hypotheses and
the effectiveness of treatments. It will dismiss no claim a priori, but consider
it on its merits or because it fits, or fails to fit, some paradigm. It will,
using scientific methods and reasonable criteria, seek justified answers to the
question "Does this treatment work?" It will call for double-blind and
randomized trials of alternative therapies.
Much dubious research has been widely promoted in the
Internet, newspapers, television and radio that has later been found to be
flawed. Unfortunately, news coverage demonstrates that many in the media are
often misinformed about the quality of the research and the need to qualify the
importance or to suspend judgment until a full review by the scientific
community has a chance to expose shortcomings.
The Commission will actively communicate the need for
balanced media coverage of provocative research in alternative medicine and
mental health practice. Citizens rely on the expertise of health practitioners
and the commitment to objective journalism to make informed decisions about
their medical and mental health. The Commission therefore calls upon physicians,
psychologists, researchers, health practitioners, journalists and citizens
everywhere to join us in supporting this important venture to advance scientific
medicine and informed choice."
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