ABSTRACT
Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is a contentious subject within healthcare, mostly surrounding disputes regarding the quality of evidence, versus the efficacy and fervently claimed beneficial effects by CAM practitioners. Healthcare in the past two decades has increasingly focused on well-being, with patients taking responsibility for their own lifestyle choices as opposed to the previous paternalistic doctrine. A primary concern in the UK is what appears to be almost total lack of regulation for both CAM practitioners and therapies. This chapter deals only with the ethics surrounding therapies considered to be 'complementary' as there is very little ethical support for denying conventional medicine and seeking 'alternative' therapies. Well-being, happiness and living a good life are expectations of modern society with a basic premise dating back to Aristotle. An open dialogue between patients and all the primary healthcare team (PHCT) is key to the future of the National Health Service (NHS).
