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[Quackery, alternative medicine and the forensic expert]
1Pécsi Orvostudományi Egyetem Igazságügyi Orvostani Intézet.
Morphologiai Es Igazsagugyi Orvosi Szemle
|January 1, 1990
Summary
Charlatanism involves unqualified individuals practicing healing or accepting payment, while malpractice refers to professional misconduct by physicians. Both can endanger patients through harmful treatments or delayed diagnoses.
Area of Science:
- Medical Ethics
- Public Health Law
Context:
- Defines charlatanism as healing by unqualified individuals or exceeding professional scope.
- Distinguishes charlatanism from medical malpractice, which involves licensed physicians' unprofessional conduct.
- Highlights direct and indirect patient dangers from charlatanism, including harmful interventions and diagnostic delays.
Purpose:
- To clarify the legal and ethical definitions of charlatanism and malpractice.
- To analyze the risks associated with unqualified medical practices and professional misconduct.
- To evaluate the role and potential of complementary and alternative medicine within regulatory frameworks.
Summary:
- Charlatanism is committed by those unqualified to practice medicine or by health workers acting outside their expertise.
- While direct harm from charlatanism is possible, indirect harm via delayed diagnosis and treatment is more significant.
- Alternative and folk medicines can offer benefits, including measurable and subjective improvements, and should be scientifically evaluated without prejudice.
Impact:
- Emphasizes the critical importance of regulatory oversight in drug registration and patient safety.
- Underscores the need for "official" medicine to acknowledge and scientifically investigate the psycho-therapeutic effects observed in patients.
- Advocates for evidence-based evaluation of new medical possibilities rather than premature dismissal.