Looking Back, Looking Forward: The Ethical Framing of Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Oncology Over the Last 20 Years

Brittany C Kimball; Gail Geller; Rahma Warsame; Ashok Kumbamu; Aminah Jatoi; Barbara Koenig; Jon C Tilburt

doi:10.1634/theoncologist.2017-0518

Looking Back, Looking Forward: The Ethical Framing of Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Oncology Over the Last 20 Years

Oncologist. 2018 Jun;23(6):639-641. doi: 10.1634/theoncologist.2017-0518. Epub 2018 Mar 9.

Authors

Brittany C Kimball^{1

2}, Gail Geller^{3

4}, Rahma Warsame⁵, Ashok Kumbamu⁶, Aminah Jatoi⁷, Barbara Koenig⁸, Jon C Tilburt^{2

6

9}

Affiliations

¹ Mayo Clinic School of Medicine, Rochester, Minnesota, USA kimball.brittany@mayo.edu.
² Biomedical Ethics Research Program, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA.
³ Division of General Internal Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
⁴ Berman Institute for Bioethics, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
⁵ Division of Hematology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA.
⁶ Division of Health Care Policy and Research, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA.
⁷ Division of Medical Oncology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA.
⁸ Institute for Health & Aging, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.
⁹ Division of General Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA.

Abstract

This commentary takes a look back at views on complementary and alternative medicine and reflects on how those views have evolved, advocating for a conversation around complementary and alternative medicine in cancer care that is more nuanced, patient‐centered, and respectful to best meet the needs of patients in the coming decades.

Keywords: Complementary medicine; Ethical issues.

Publication types

Address
Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

Complementary Therapies / methods*
Humans
Medical Oncology / ethics*

Grants and funding

R01 AT006515/AT/NCCIH NIH HHS/United States