Analysis of the Reports of the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy (WHCCAMP)

In March 2000, President Clinton announced the creation of a White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy (WHCCAMP) to provide a report to the President on “legislative and administrative recommendations for assuring that public policy maximizes the benefits to Americans of complementary and alternative medicine.” Nearly all of the Commissioners are philosophically aligned and economically involved with the so-called “CAM” movement. Few knowledgeable critics were appointed.

The Commission worked for two years and submitted its final report to HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson in March 2002. The report, which represents the views of 17 of the 19 Commissioners, recommends across-the-board “integration” of “CAM” into government health agencies and the nation’s medical, medical education, research, and insurance systems — a situation that would promote unscientific practices and waste countless millions of taxpayer dollars. The other two Commissioners warned Secretary Thompson that the report was biased and that the process of preparing it was corrupt.

The 1910 Flexner Report set the standards for medical education. The WHCCAMP report does the exact opposite by outlining the agenda for establishing quackery. This page links to information about the final report, an earlier draft, and the backgrounds of Commissioners who produced them.

Key Points

Most sections of the report begin with a false premise. As you study this information, please keep these points in mind:

• WHCCAMP simply assumed that “CAM” is a well-defined medical discipline rather than a marketing term used to promote unproven and disproved methods.
• WHCCAMP falsely assumed that CAM research is cost-effective, that if enough research were done, many “CAM” methods would be substantiated.
• WHCCAMP falsely assumed that CAM methods have been sufficiently developed to integrate into every aspect of our educational and health-care delivery systems.
• WHCCAMP failed to acknowledge that science-based medicine is already a highly “integrative” process and that all it requires of any therapy is objective scientific evidence that it works. If such evidence does not exist for a given therapy, scientific medicine does not embrace it.
• There are no genuine “alternatives” to objective evidence of effectiveness and safety.

Analysis of the Final Report

• Transmittal Letters
• Executive Summary
• Chairman’s Vision
• Minority Report FEATURE
• Chapter  1: Introduction
• Chapter  2: Overview of CAM in the United States: Recent History, Current Status, and Prospects for the Future
• Chapter  3: Coordination of Research
• Chapter  4: Education and Training of Health Care Practitioners
• Chapter  5: CAM Information Development and Dissemination
• Chapter  6: Access and Delivery
• Chapter  7: Coverage and Reimbursement
• Chapter  8: CAM in Wellness and Health Promotion
• Chapter  9: Coordinating Federal CAM Efforts
• Chapter 10: Recommendations and Actions
• Acronyms
• Appendix A:
  • Executive Order (to be posted)
  • Commission Order (to be posted)
• Appendix B:
  • Institute of Medicine: 10 Rules for Health Care Reform
  • PEW Taskforce Commission Recommendations for Regulation of the Health Care Workforce
• Appendix C: Meeting Schedules
• Appendix D: General and Meeting Participants (to be posted)
• Appendix E: Organizations Providing Information on Education and Training (to be posted)
• Acknowledgements

Responses of the National Council Against Health Fraud

• NCAHF Position Paper
• News Releases
  • Anti-Science Commission Wastes Taxpayer Dollars, Recommends More Waste, Threatens Public Health (3/5/02)
  • White House Commission Fails, Lacking Objectivity; Leadership Hijacks Report; Members Speak Out against Recommendations (3/13/02)
  • Insiders Blast Report (3/25/02)
  • Consumer Group Labels White House Panel’s Proposals “Irrational” and “Contrived” (3/28/02)

Information about WHCCAMP Chair James S. Gordon, MD

• Background Report on Gordon’s Activities
• Gordon’s Misleading Letter to Washington Post, March 26, 2002
  • Letter plus Response by Stephen Barrett, MD
  • Response by E. Patrick Curry
  • Response by Timothy N. Gorski, MD, FACOG
  • Response by Janice A. Lyons, RN, MAEd
  • Response by Wallace I. Sampson, MD, FACP
• Review of Gordon’s Book, The Golden Guru

Background Reports

• Why the Commission Should Have Been Disbanded
• Analysis of the November 2001 WHCCAMP Draft Report FEATURE
• Commission Member Biographies #1 (link to another site)
• Commission Member Biographies #2 (link to another site)
• Comprehensive Criticism on the “No-WHCCAMP” Web site
• Testimony to WHCCAMP by William M. London, EdD, MPH (5/15/01)
• Testimony to WHCCAMP by Simeon Margolis, MD, PhD (5/15/01)
• WHCCAMP Response by Dónal P. O’Mathúna, PhD (link to another site)
• Be Wary of “Alternative” Health Methods

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This page was revisd on June 14, 2002.