Tighter regulations of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) providers are necessary to stop the spread of misinformation about vaccines, according to a new paper. Researchers have examined 330 websites of CAM providers in Alberta and BC, to evaluate how these practitioners may be contributing to the anti-vaccination sentiment among their patients. Their findings showed that 40 CAM practitioner websites included vaccine hesitancy discourse, and 26 of them offered alternatives to vaccines or flu shots. Authors of the study share some recommendations on curbing the spread of anti-vaccination sentiments by improving enforcement of current Canadian law standards.
Authors:
Timothy Caulfield, Alessandro R Marcon, Blake Murdoch
Corresponding author:
Timothy Caulfield, Health Law Institute, Faculty of Law, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Email: caulfield@ualberta.ca
Original paper published in Journal of Law and Biosciences on June 20, 2017.
