More Harm than Good? The Moral Maze of Complementary and Alternative
This book reveals the numerous ways in which moral, ethical and legal principles are being violated by those who provide, recommend or sell ‘complementary and alternative medicine’ (CAM). The book analyses both academic literature and inter
- PDF / 2,533,492 Bytes
- 240 Pages / 439.37 x 666.142 pts Page_size
- 79 Downloads / 177 Views
Edzard Ernst Kevin Smith
More Harm than Good?
Edzard Ernst Kevin Smith •
More Harm than Good? The Moral Maze of Complementary and Alternative Medicine
123
Edzard Ernst University of Exeter Exeter UK
Kevin Smith School of Science, Engineering and Technology Abertay University Dundee UK
ISBN 978-3-319-69940-0 ISBN 978-3-319-69941-7 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69941-7
(eBook)
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017957706 © Springer International Publishing AG 2018 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Printed on acid-free paper Copernicus Books is a brand of Springer The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
To Danielle Edzard Ernst To Louise, Primrose and Abigail Kevin Smith
Preface
There are hundreds of books on complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). They cover all imaginable aspects of the subject, yet hardly any of them discuss the often-serious ethical problems created by the current popularity of CAM. Why is that? Most consumers seem to think that ethical issues are academic, bone dry, uninteresting and not relevant to them. We believe that this view is very wrong, so much so that we have written this book which is entirely focused on the ethical problems that arise in CAM. Ethical issues in medicine affect all of us, and the more actively that individuals engage with ethical discourse and decision-making the better. However, if medical ethics were merely an academic subject, impenetrable to nonspecialists, it would have little practical value. Accordingly, in this book, we will refer to formal academic ethical theory only where necessary; wherever possible, our discussions will be based on straightforward argumentation and will refer only occasionally to theory. But, where appropriate, we will utilise theoretical approaches
Data Loading...
