Health Care Sciences Legal & Ethical Issue

Course Description

Legal and ethical issues related to the provision of complementary and alternative care are complex and evolving. Examination of biomedicine, regulation of medicine, scope of practice, and credentialing processes. Exploration of malpractice, liability, informed consent, and making referrals. Review of the disciplinary process, legal authority in medicine, and issues related to healing. Discussion of access to treatment, third-party reimbursement, and dietary supplement regulation.

Learning Outcomes

• Describe the major historical events by which biomedicine gained political and economic control of health care in the United States.
• Explain the seven (7) elements used by states to define the practice of medicine.
• Examine the role of credentialing and licensure in the practice of biomedical and complementary and alternative medicine practitioners
• Examine the concepts of malpractice and compare and contrast the types of liability relative to the provider and the health care institution.
• Identify the elements of informed consent and describe how they impact biomedical and complementary and alternative medicine practitioners.
• Describe the issues related to the referral of patients complementary and alternative medicine providers.
• Explain the process of medical practice discipline and the issues faced by those who provide complementary and alternative medicine therapies.
• Describe how complementary and alternative medicine practices fit into the ongoing evolution of legal authority in medicine.
• Describe the legal and ethical issues raised by energy and spiritual healers.
• Explain the impact of key food and drug laws and clinical drug trials relative to complementary and alternative therapies.
• Describe the factors affecting third-party reimbursement for complementary and alternative therapies.
• Explain the key concerns surrounding the regulation of dietary supplements.