Double standards exist in judging traditional and alternative medicine

The double standards that exist in judging orthodox and alternative medicine should be challenged, and reliable tools that can validate both approaches need to be found. The call came last week in London at a conference on integrated medicine which was organised by the Prince of Wales. Dr Iain Chalmers, the director of the UK Cochrane Centre and a vociferous proponent of systematic reviews, told delegates: “Critics of complementary medicine …