Alternative medicine is under increasing attack by the medical establishment, but consumers are getting mixed messages on the value and safety of many over-the-counter herbal remedies.
The Scientific Assembly of the American Academy of Family Physicians this week drafted a resolution to ask Congress and federal regulators to halt "implied medical claims" by alternative medicine manufacturers and require such firms to market their products as being "without scientific proof of safety and efficacy."
A spokesman for the Consumer Health Information Research Institute told the academy that many such products are "antagonistic to regular medicine" and often are little more than "quackery."
Meanwhile, a survey released to the academy by Pharmatron Natural Health Products says herbal supplements continue to enter mainstream medical practice, with many primary care doctors recommending them to patients.
The survey of 153 physicians nationwide also says more than one in four doctors -- 28 percent -- are personally using such supplements. The highest rate of use was among doctors over the age of 50. Use of alternative drugs was most popular among family physicians, the survey says.
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