• CAM-summaries
• CAM systematic reviews
• CAM and the law
  • Introduction
  • Legal overview
    • Who may treat sick people?
    • Who may provide CAM therapies?
    • Where is CAM legally regulated?
    • How are health personnel legally regulated?
    • How responsible professional conduct is defined and supervised?
    • How can CAM providers be "safe" without regulating them?
    • How patients are safeguarded when there is no regulation or registration?
    • Herbal products, legal regulation
    • Reimbursement, legal regulation
  • Regulation of medical practise
  • Regulation of herbal products
  • Legal regulation
• Prevalence of CAM use

Who may provide CAM therapies?

Patients in countries with an "all-regulated system" may be offered CAM treatment by regulated personnel (often physicians), but may also in some of these countries be offered CAM by non-regulated CAM providers calling themselves "health consultants". This activity is legal as long as the CAM providers define themselves as counsellors of "healthy life style", and do not present themselves as health personnel (e.g. Estonia, France, Greece, Slovenia and Spain). In these countries, health service is specifically defined, and non-regulated providers may, in some of the countries, be prosecuted if providing services that may be considered as health services (e.g. Luxembourg). In other countries, non-regulated providers (often labelled as "intruders") may perform treatment-related activity without being prosecuted although it is officially illegal (e.g. Italy, Latvia, Switzerland).

Inhabitants in countries with a "semi-regulated system" may be offered CAM treatment provided by either regulated personnel or by non-regulated or registered CAM providers. Non-regulated or registered providers offer most of the given CAM treatments in these countries (ref 1). In these countries non-regulated providers can be prosecuted only if they perform medical procedures that are legally restricted to regulated personnel.

References

1. Johannessen H. Alternativ behandling i Europa. Århus: Viden- og forskningscenter for alternativ medisin. Mars 1995, revised Mai 2001.