Are There Alternative Medicine Malpractice Laws?

Are there alternative medicine malpractice laws? The answer is yes. Medical malpractice laws extend not only to conventional physicians and practitioners, but also to individuals who practice alternative medicine, such as holistic healing, and herbal medicine. Some laws may even extend to other forms of medical treatment such as acupuncture that are not traditionally recognized as true medical practice by Western standards. 

While it is comparatively rare for alternative medicine practitioners to be sued under medical malpractice lawsuits, it can and does happen. One reason it may be so uncommon for there to be alternative medical malpractice laws is because there are far less individuals practicing alternative medicine than there are practicing conventional medicine. However, many alternative medicine caregivers, especially chiropractors (who are considered by some to be among the more mainstream alternative medicine providers) do carry malpractice insurance.

Determining Malpractice

There are four parts to determining whether a medical malpractice claim will apply either to a traditional medical practitioner or an alternative medicine practitioner.  The factors are:

• That a duty was owed to the plaintiff;
• The duty that was owed by the individual practitioner was breached;
• As a result of that breach, a preventable injury or death occurred; and
• The injury or death that was preventable involved damages, such as physical, financial, or property damages. 

If any of these four factors have been met, a malpractice suit against either a  conventional physician or an alternative medicine practitioner, can move forward in court and the injured victim will have a chance of collecting damages based on the claims made.