BMJ 2002;324:170 ( 19 January )

Letters

Safety of acupuncture

    Studies of safety must look at communication and organisational issues
    Incident reporting and feedback may reduce risks

Studies of safety must look at communication and organisational issues

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR---In his editorial Vincent pointed out that the two studies on the safety of acupuncture are reassuring.1-3 He also pointed out that considering safety alone is unhelpful and a risk : benefit ratio should be derived. However, harm does not come only from adverse events. Another area of concern with complementary practitioners is the lack of communication with conventional carers, and in particular primary care.

If one core element of primary care is coordination of care then poor communication between complementary practitioners and primary care can only serve the patient poorly. Indeed, harm may occur.4 Without full knowledge of the patient, his or her condition, and drugs taken, inadvisable treatments might be advocated. There therefore needs to be a clear link between complementary practitioners and the patient's primary care provider.

To create a linkage between primary care provider and complementary therapist requires a different approach. In the practice where . . . [Full text of this article]
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  • Yamashita, H., Tsukayama, H. (2008). Safety of Acupuncture Practice in Japan: Patient Reactions, Therapist Negligence and Error Reduction Strategies. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med 5: 391-398 [Abstract] [Full text]  
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