2023-06-27 08:33:48
Non-conventional care practices (PSNC) – the official name of “alternative medicine”: hypnosis, lithotherapy, kinesiology, etc. – are on the rise, driven in particular by the impossibility for some of them to make an appointment with a specialist. or even a GP. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 70% of French people have already had recourse to a NHP. While the Minister of Health François Braun launches a committee which aims to regulate these practices, the National Council of the Order of Physicians (CNOM) publishes Tuesday, June 27, a report which warns of the risk of therapeutic drifts.
At least 400 practices identified
How to identify a PSNC? “These techniques, which are to date neither scientifically validated nor legally framed, justify the CNOM warning about their risks”, says the report. No less than 400 practices have been identified by the WHO. In its report, the Order of Physicians details 23, including aromatherapy. This practice promotes the use of essential oils for so-called therapeutic purposes. But to provide treatments that fall under aromatherapy, “no training is recognized” et “these oils, even of natural origin, are not without risks”recalls the Council of the Order.
At the crossroads of osteopathy – recognized and scientifically supervised – and chiropractic, “the etiopathy” is also singled out by the report. There too, “the training of etiopaths and their activity are not framed by legal texts and are not governed by the public health code. No source was able to identify studies providing conclusive data as to the validity of the diagnosis, the therapeutic efficacy or the safety of the etiopathy”worries the Order, while specifying that serious accidents can occur in the event of mishandling of an etiopath.
A “proliferation” of these unrecognized treatments
Hypnosis, better known, is not spared. Pain management, fight against addictions, stress reduction… the promises of practitioners as to its benefits are numerous. And this is precisely what worries the CNOM, which recalls that “the spectrum of areas that can be addressed by the hypnotherapist is wide and covers certain fields that are usually treated by conventional medicine”.
In front of the “proliferation” of these unsupervised practices, the College of Physicians fears that the number of therapeutic abuses will increase. A CNSP becomes therapeutic drift “as soon as it endangers patients, because it is not scientifically validated or because it is proposed as a replacement for conventional medicine”, develops the report. The CNOM then issues several proposals to avoid a loss of opportunity or the endangerment of patients having recourse to these practices.
Necessary supervision, right from the training
Firstly, the control of training would make it possible to regulate these practices. “Communication to doctors and patients must also be considered concerning the health dangers of using some of these practices”continue the specialists.
The College of Physicians would also like the use of the term “doctor” be framed, to give more visibility to patients. The council then asks the practitioners concerned to indicate the specialty in which they obtained a doctorate whenever the term is used. According to the CNOM, this nearly 100-page report is not “just a stepping stone”within the framework of these so-called therapeutic processes.
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