Kmietowicz is rightly concerned by the tragic backlash of weird or unconventional practices.(1) However, her semantics is misleading.
First, “Complementary and alternative medicine” have nothing to do with medicine, which must be evidence based. Adding medicine after complementary or alternative is an oxymoron.
Second, while complementary practices are being used along with medical treatments, alternative practices are used instead of them.
Kmietowicz’s case report is about alternative practices not “complementary medicine.”
1 Kmietowicz Z Doctors warn of dangers of complementary medicine for children. BMJ 2016;355:i5439 .
Rapid Response:
Weird practices and semantics
Kmietowicz is rightly concerned by the tragic backlash of weird or unconventional practices.(1) However, her semantics is misleading.
First, “Complementary and alternative medicine” have nothing to do with medicine, which must be evidence based. Adding medicine after complementary or alternative is an oxymoron.
Second, while complementary practices are being used along with medical treatments, alternative practices are used instead of them.
Kmietowicz’s case report is about alternative practices not “complementary medicine.”
1 Kmietowicz Z Doctors warn of dangers of complementary medicine for children. BMJ 2016;355:i5439 .
Competing interests: No competing interests