Complementary and alternative therapies are a range of treatments and approaches that are currently viewed as being outside the purview of conventional or allopathic health care providers. Complementary therapies are those that are provided alongside conventional approaches while alternative therapies are provided instead of conventional therapies.
In dealing with complementary and alternative therapies in conventional health care organizations, discussions tend to focus on risk, likelihood of benefit, likelihood of harm, and evidence. There has been a history of bias against complementary and alternative therapies, which can make it challenging to be attentive to the ways in which the evidence supporting some conventional therapies and approaches is in some cases less robust than we would like.
The use of complementary and alternative therapies often signals a context where values diversity will be especially relevant to discussions of the ethical issues.