An AMA position statement prompts GPs to question where alternative medicine belongs in mainstream primary care.
So-called ‘alternative medicines’ are on the AMA’s priority list, with a new position statement urging patients to consult their GP before trying out unproven therapies.
The AMA highlighted that alternative treatments should only be used specifically in conjunction with primary care, to ensure evidence-based oversight.
It also issued words of caution to patients considering alternative treatments.
“Complementary medicines can play a role in patient care if it’s under the guidance of a doctor,” AMA vice president Associate Professor Julian Rait told The Medical Republic.
“There’s generally limited evidence on the effectiveness of many of these complementary medicines and obviously some have the potential to cause adverse reactions or interact with conventional medication.
“We obviously are cautious about people expanding the indications, particularly for things like medicinal cannabis, without really careful consideration of what the potential downsides might be.”
The position statement provides an extensive outline on how complementary and alternative treatments should be utilised in primary care.
“Consumers should have access to accurate information and education for complementary alternative medicines to make well informed choices,” Sydney-based GP Dr Brad McKay told TMR.
“I suppose the question is: who’s going to be providing that information?
“If you just slap on the bottle that ‘you should be talking to your doctor about this’, it doesn’t really cut the mustard.”
More evidence-based research and randomised controlled trials were identified as a key requirement to validate the usage and evaluation of potential benefits and adverse effects of the treatments.
“It’s a really nuanced topic of discussion,” Dr McKay told TMR.
“On one hand, as medical professionals, we want all of the products that we’re prescribing to have a vast evidence base and know that they’re safe and effective for our patients.
“On the other side of that, is stigma and prohibition, which has stopped us from actually researching a lot of these products as well.
“We kind of need to meet in the middle for some of these products.”
With emerging evidence bases for the usage of substances like cannabis and psilocybin, some GPs have expressed interest in furthering research into alternative treatments to be brought under mainstream regulations.
“If we add some more sort of like government funded research for it, that would help to alleviate some of these problems,” Dr McKay, who quite literally wrote the book on medical scams and fads, told TMR.
“I think if you’re relying on the market to lead the research, that they are going to spend more money in advertising, and we’re not really going to get anywhere.
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“We’re just going to be flogging more and more products to more and more patients, but on a very flimsy evidence base.
“It’s about how doctors need to be involved in this area. If we just rely on other people to be doing this, then we’re going to get a little bit lost.
“We do need increasing evidence, and we do need harmonisation strategies put in place, and we need doctors to be to be more knowledgeable about what they’re doing.”
