American Association for Health Freedom
As you may know, AAHF was instrumental in creating the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy several years ago, in an effort to direct the Federal Government's attention to the advancement and integration of CAM in the U.S. health care system. Language establishing the Commission was included in the legislation we spearheaded which created the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) at NIH.

Institute for Health Freedom
Was the new commission established to pacify feisty citizens--such as Thomas Navarro's parents--who are demanding immediate access to alternative medicine? Is it a stalling tactic to postpone doing anything about patients' demands for access to treatments not approved by the FDA? Amusingly enough this report was written 2 years before the resease of the WHCCAMP document.

CAM Panel's Chair Responds in the Washington Post
Washington Post March 26, 2002 - The article “Alternative Health Panel Under Attack” [March 19] suggests I was “dismayed” by “critics” of the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy, which I had the honor to chair. The quoted “critics,” including Stephen Barrett, were repeatedly and cordially invited to present their views to the commission -- and almost all, including Barrett, declined to participate in a collegial scientific inquiry.

Alternative Health Panel Under Attack
Washington Post March 19, 2002 - Stephen Barrett, a retired psychiatrist known for posting blistering refutations about alternative therapies on his “Quackwatch” Web site, said he wants the Bush administration to reject the commission's recommendations because they “would promote unscientific practices and waste countless millions of taxpayer dollars.”

US Alternative Medicine Report Spurs Controversy
Reuters Health - Controversial from the start, the Commission took several hits during its two-year existence, including, as the final report was drafted, a public airing of dissatisfaction from two panelists. Joseph Fins, director of medical ethics at New York Presbyterian Hospital-Cornell and Tierona Low Dog, a New Mexico-based acupuncturist, wrote a separate statement, included in the report's appendix.

Government Panel Makes Alternative Medicine Recommendations
CNN News - A controversial panel is recommending the Bush administration consider more Medicare coverage of alternative remedies. They'd also like to see a national office backing research of them despite some panelists' warning that much of what their own report touts is unproven at best.

Commission Urges Boost in Funding of Alternative Medicine Research
The White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy, know by its acronym CAM and established by former President Clinton, said most alternative treatments have not yet been scientifically studied and found to be safe and effective. Therefore, substantially more funding for research is needed to determine the possible benefits and limitations of various treatments, the report said.