The American Medical Association has backed away from a controversial plan to publish a book on alternative medicine after strong concerns were voiced by its top scientific committee.
“Steps have been taken to ensure that we will do nothing that does not meet the highest scientific standards,” Dr. Reed Tuckson, the AMA’s group vice president for professional standards, said in an interview Wednesday.
The AMA’s action comes as the Chicago-based medical organization undertakes a comprehensive review of proposed commercial ventures, including book projects, following its disastrous marketing deal with Sunbeam Corp. Three top AMA executives were forced to resign last Friday for their roles in the Sunbeam deal.
The AMA book on alternative medicine would have been a first for the medical group, which has long been known for its ardent defense of traditional medicine and its opposition to non-mainstream medical practices–everything from chiropractic to the use of herbal or relaxation remedies.
Although there already is an enormous and growing literature on alternative medicine, “anything the AMA would chose to publish would have potentially a powerful impact, and tremendous symbolic significance,” said John Weeks, a consultant specializing in alternative medicine.
Almost inevitably, the AMA alternative medicine book would have offended conservative physicians, who are deeply suspicious of therapies they believe have little or no scientific value. Few scientific studies have proved the efficacy of alternative medicine to date, although several studies are under way.
The AMA can hardly afford to alienate any physician members, much less its conservative, highly vocal branch, given its embarrassment over the Sunbeam debacle, which has embroiled the organization in a $20 million federal civil lawsuit with the Florida company.
Work on the AMA alternative medicine book has been postponed until the organization’s Council on Scientific Affairs can thoroughly review all materials, Tuckson said.
He acknowledged the possibility that the book, originally proposed by Random House Inc., may never be published.
The AMA science council expressed serious reservations about the alternative medicine book a year ago, when it first learned of the project, which was cleared by two of the AMA executives who resigned under pressure last week, Larry Jellen and James Rappel.
In April, science council chairman Dr. Mitchell Karlan wrote to the AMA’s executive vice president, Dr. P. John Seward, expressing alarm that the council’s endorsement for the project was being sought, without giving council members any editorial control over the book, according to documents obtained by the Tribune.
The subject continued to be a sore point at the AMA Council on Scientific Affairs and erupted again at a meeting earlier this month, after the council was asked to write a foreword for the project, which it had not been given the chance to review in detail, according to Dr. Nancy Nielsen, a council member.
“There is clearly enormous public interest in this subject, but the concern is that this book was branching out a bit further than normally our publications would go,” the New York physician said.
After evaluating the council’s concerns, top AMA officials decided to put a hold on the book, which discussed various alternative therapies and approaches to treating disease, according to people familiar with the project. A team of free-lance writers and editors had nearly finished the manuscript, and more than 25 physicians had reviewed chapters, these sources and the AMA said.
“Particularly for a topic of this sensitivity, we have to make sure the advice the AMA is associating itself with is consistent with the best standards for scientific integrity,” AMA official Tuckson said.
A book on alternative medicine may have been welcomed by consumers, who have displayed enormous demand for it, and their physicians, many of whom are interested in counseling patients about the potential risks and benefits.
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