Profession
Arizona board tackles alternative medicine practices
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Oct. 22, 2007
The Arizona Medical Board last month adopted guidelines for doctors who use complementary or alternative medicine in their practices. They are intended to help physicians use the methods in a way consistent with the board's expectations for safe medical practice.
The board, which licenses and regulates more than 19,100 allopathic physicians, said it does not prohibit complementary or alternative medicine but wants to ensure that physicians use it safely. The new rules make it clear that the standard of care for physicians using alternative medicine is the same as for conventional medicine, board officials said.
Meanwhile, board officials voiced some concerns about physicians practicing outside the scope of their training and created a committee to develop guidelines on physician scope of practice.
The board also instructed its staff to draft a position statement on wrong-site surgery and prepare a policy statement on the duty of physicians and hospitals to report doctors who may be incompetent or have committed unprofessional conduct.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2007/10/22/prbf1022.htm.
