May 14, 2012

Edzard Ernst raises concern over unreported effects of alternative medicine

Edzard Ernst, Professor of Complementary Medicine at University of Exeter Peninsula Medical School, raised the alarm about unreported adverse effects of alternative medicine, following an analysis of randomised controlled trials of alternative therapies.

Edzard Ernst, Professor of Complementary Medicine at University of Exeter Peninsula Medical School, said:

“Most people believe that alternative treatments are safe. But how sure are we that this is true? My team conducted several investigations which revealed that, in clinical trials of alternative medicine, adverse effects tend not to be mentioned. This is not because none occurred, as that would need to be mentioned too. The reason is that investigators do not think of reporting them.

“In our most recent analysis, we evaluated 60 RCTs of chiropractic and found that 29 of them failed to mention adverse effects. Previous research had demonstrated that 50% of patients experience adverse effects after chiropractic treatment and some can be severe, even fatal. Thus trialists publishing studies of chiropractic (and other alternative therapies like herbal medicine) simply omit reporting adverse events – an omission which has important consequences: not only does it violate basic rules of publication ethics, it also means that, due to under-reporting, our knowledge of adverse effects of alternative medicine is incomplete and not reliable. If investigators fail to report, we will not know.

“Alternative medicines might be safe but we simply cannot be sure that this assumption is correct. Most likely, we have a too optimistic impression about the risks involved.

“In the interest of consumers and patients, I would like to see investigators in this area starting to comply with the generally accepted standards of research ethics and report the side-effects of alternative treatments honestly and transparently.”