CAMLAW : Complementary And Alternative Medicine Law Blog

The terms "legally defensible, ethically appropriate, and clinically responsible" describe an aspiration for integrative medicine. All three legs of the triangle ideally must be present. The clinical practice has to responsible in terms of the evidence base; ethically appropriate in light of informed consent disclosure and right mix of ethical values such as patient autonomy and non-maleficence ("do no harm"); and legally defensible in terms of malpractice liability issues, risk of professional discipline, and other legal concerns. Some people may add "and reimbursable by third-party insurance" as a fourth requirement.

You can download the talk on Legal Aspects of Alternative Medicine online at the website for the University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Complementary/Integrative Medicine department, or try Integrative Medicine: Can It Be Legally Defensible, Ethically Appropriate and Clinically Responsible.

Here is the blurb:

Can integrative medicine be made legally defensible, ethically appropriate and clinically responsible? According to Michael Cohen, Esq.*, "It depends." In this video of a lecture on March 17, 2005, he presents a practice "legal audit" of integrative medicine, discussing key legal issues involving providers of complementary and alternative medicine, including licensure and credentialing, scope of practice, professional discipline and malpractice liability, citing numerous historical examples.

Integrative Medicine: Can It Be Legally Defensible, Ethically Appropriate and Clinically Responsible?

Michael H. Cohen, JD, MBA, MFA, assistant professor of medicine and director of legal programs at Harvard Medical School Osher Institute, designs policies and policies for a reproducible model of integrative health care in Harvard affiliated hospitals. He is the principal investigator on a NIH grant entitled Legal and Social Barriers to Alternative Therapy, as well as coinvestigator on several other NIH studies. In addtion, he is a member of the bar in four states and author of several books on regulation of complementary therapy and health care policy.

Please note that this is a very large file.
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The Law Offices of Michael H. Cohen offers corporate legal services, litigation consultation, and expertise in health law with a unique focus on holistic, alternative, complementary, and integrative medical therapies. The law firm represents medical doctors, allied health professionals (from psychologists to nurses and dentists) and other clinicians (from chiropractors to naturopathic physicians, massage therapists, and acupuncturists), entrepreneurs, hospitals, and educational organizations, health care institutions, and individuals and corporations.

Michael H. Cohen is Principal in Law Offices of Michael H. Cohen and also President of a nonprofit organization exploring legal, regulatory, ethical, and health policy issues in the judicious integration of complementary and alternative medical therapies (such as acupuncture and traditional oriental medicine, chiropractic, naturopathic medicine, homeopathy, massage therapy, energy healing, and herbal medicine) and conventional clinical care. Michael H. Cohen is author of books on health care law, regulation, ethics and policy dealing with complementary, alternative and integrative medicine, including Healing at the Borderland of Medicine and Religion, Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Legal Boundaries and Regulatory Perspectives (1998), Beyond Complementary Medicine: Legal and Ethical Perspectives on Health Care and Human Evolution (2000), and Future Medicine: Ethical Dilemmas, Regulatory Challenges, and Therapeutic Pathways to Health Care and Healing in Human Transformation (2003).

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Health care and corporate lawyer Michael H. Cohen has been admitted to the Bar of California, Massachusetts, New York, and Washington D.C. In addition to qualifying as a U.S. attorney, he has been admitted and to the Bar of England and Wales as a Solicitor (non-practicing). For more information regarding the law practice of attorney Michael H. Cohen, see the FAQs for the Law Offices of Michael H. Cohen. Thank you for visiting the Complementary and Alternative Medicine Law Blog.
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