Dive Brief:
- An article published in Trends in Molecular Medicine on August 20 addressed the popularity of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), decrying the idea that constrained budgets are being used to test these treatments.
- Gorsky and Novella suggested a science-based approach to medicine, rather than an evidence-based approach.
- The authors postulate that patients may choose to embrace CAM in response to overscheduled physicians who rush through their patients’ visits. By embracing CAM, many patients are looking for a more personalized approach to medicine, according to the authors.
Dive Insight:
Gordon and Novella espouse science-based medicine over evidence-based medicine. They suggest that only “biologically plausible treatments should advance to randomized clinical trials only when there is sufficient preclinical evidence to justify the effort, time and expense, as well as the use of human subjects.