The Harm

Is alternative medicine just a load of hocus pocus?

The recent death of a student using Chinese herbal medicine has reignited controversy over alternative therapies. With little regulation and scant evidence of effectiveness, are users risking their health?

Ling Wang, a 25-year-old PhD student, died after taking Chinese herbal medicine to treat a stomach upset and skin rash.

An inquest last month heard that Ling, from Newcastle, fell into a coma and died shortly after taking the medicine in tea or pill form last August.

One in five Britons uses some kind of complementary therapy, according to an ICM poll, but the industry is largely unregulated and there’s little or no evidence that many of the therapies work.

In fact, only osteopathy and chiropractic therapy are covered by regulations insisting that practitioners be qualified with a relevant body.

A woman dies cause of the unregulated alternative and complementary (CAM or quackery or bull shit).