Ethical implications of the increasing use of complementary and alternative medicine.

Background: The increasing demand for complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) raises ethical questions about specific aspects of both CAM and conventional medicine (COM).

Methods: The present article provides a critical survey of the most important ethical aspects in the current debate about CAM.

Results: The relevant ethical issues arise mainly in 4 main areas: 1) patient information, 2) research ethics, 3) cost, and 4) education. Most of the contributions used for our purpose are based upon the implicit assumption that, in principle, the ethics of CAM and COM have to be identical because of the same underlying doctor-patient relationship. This premise is shared by the author.

Conclusions: Substantial efforts on various levels will have to be made in order to create the conditions necessary for CAM to be ethically justified. But the ethical implications for COM also have to be considered.