The Institute for Science in Medicine is a newly formed international policy institute that seeks to promote science as the best and only way to ensure not only safe, quality health care but cost effectiveness, as well. Its list of 42 founding members and 15 fellows reads like a Who’s Who of prominent physicians, researchers, scholars and other professionals who are already noted for speaking out in support of science and reason in health care and against a multitude of non-science-based therapies collectively known as “Complementary and Alternative Medicine.” Their names include many long-time friends of the JREF. See http://www.scienceinmedicine.org/?page_id=7
The ISM has just issued its first press release http://www.scienceinmedicine.org/?page_id=17 expressing its concern about provisions in the health care reform bills that would require reimbursement of ineffective and potentially unsafe care by alternative medicine practitioners. “Congress will be giving a green light to practitioners who are unrestrained by professional ethics, the requirements of scientific evidence, or a defined scope or practice, thus paving the way for further waste, fraud and abuse.”
There is still time to change the specific provisions that are listed at the bottom of the page. If you have any press contacts or know of anyone that should receive this information, please help us get the word out.
This article was originally published in Swift, the online newsletter of the James Randi Educational Foundation.
