An unprecedented meeting bringing together supporters and opponents of these so-called “alternative” medicines is organized on Wednesday at the Ministry of Health.
Aromatherapy, naturopathy, sophrology… Since the health crisis, “unconventional” medicines are booming. Also called “alternative medicine”, they have not been the subject of scientific or clinical studies demonstrating their efficacy and safety.
In order to better regulate the sector, the general direction of health organizes, Wednesday, June 28, a installation meeting of the “support committee for the supervision of non-conventional care practices”, in the presence of supporters and opponents of these practices. Objective: to give, in the coming months, keys to understanding patients, so that they can navigate and avoid the dangers and abuses of some of these disciplines.
Practices not regulated by law
Doctors are the first to worry about the rise of these alternative therapies. “They are not scientifically recognized by conventional medicine and do not belong to the initial training of doctors”, recalled Tuesday the National Council of the Order of the profession. The organization also fears that the lack of supervision leads to serious pitfalls, such as “the illegal practice of medicine, [ou des] therapeutic, even sectarian excesses”which can lead to “a major public health problem”.
From a medical point of view, “some of these unconventional care practices certainly have an effect on certain symptoms, but this is insufficiently or not demonstrated”, insists the Council of the Order. Moreover, even when they “do not represent a health risk”they can “causing a loss of opportunity for people who would be suffering from serious illnesses by delaying the management of the patient in conventional medicine”alerts the instance.
These therapies also raise another concern: their practice is neither regulated by law nor by a specific order or organization, as is the case for doctors. Thus, the Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Prevention (DGCCRF) claims to pay particular attention to these practices, to which “nearly 40% of French people have recourse”, according to a survey published in 2022.
“However, these audiences are sometimes in a situation of great vulnerability, consulting in a period of ill-being or confronted with a problem that conventional medicine does not seem to them to be able to solve.”
The Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Prevention
Also in the sights of the repression of fraud: the absence of a legal framework for the training of therapists. “The majority of practices do not require a course, skills or diploma”, recalled in May the DGCCRF. What’s more, “the training centers are focused on learning disciplines, and do not provide information on the obligations arising in particular from consumer law or the public health code”pointed to the organism.
“When we talk about alternative medicine, we have the impression that it does no harm”abounds on franceinfo Pierre de Brémond d’Ars, general practitioner and president of No Fakemed, a collective which warns of “false medicines”. “Now, the Miviludes [Mission interministérielle de vigilance et de lutte contre les dérives sectaires]the Ministry of Health and now the National Council of the Order of Physicians are aware of this: there is a risk in the unbridled, unlimited use of these practices”he explains.
The lack of practitioners involved
Health crisis, lack of doctors, physiotherapists, midwives… The difficulties of the health system have favored the development of unconventional medicines in recent years, believe the opponents of so-called “alternative” therapies. And this, while the “patients [sont] always more numerous, always more complex”emphasizes Pierre de Brémond d’Ars. “We spend less time with our patients”, he laments, pointing out that “well-being, moreover, is an extremely buoyant market, with significant growth representing several billion euros each year.”
Doctors are not the only ones to worry about the rise of these “parallel medicines”. Miviludes denounced, in its annual report published in November 2022, a new record for the number of referrals, reaching the number of 4,020 in 2021. Among them, more than a quarter (1,011) were entrusted to the health center of the organization, because they target therapeutic drifts, unconventional care practices, such as naturopathy, new Germanic medicine, cupping therapy, mindful meditation, or even fasting and raw food. So many therapeutic alternatives whose effectiveness has never been scientifically proven.