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Evidence for 16 “natural therapies”

Posted 16 April 2025

In 2024, the Australian Department of Health and Aged Care embarked on a review of the evidence for 16 “natural therapies”, including an update on the 2015 review of the evidence for homeopathy, which had been questioned. The Commonwealth Ombud response to that complaint, reported in 2023, is below.

The Natural Therapies Review 2024 was published on 27 March 2025 and can be accessed at https://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/2025-03/natural-therapies-review-2024-report-and-recommendations.pdf.

Individual reports are at:
* Alexander Technique – https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/natural-therapies-review-2024-alexander-technique-evidence-evaluation?language=en

* Aromatherapy – https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/natural-therapies-review-2024-aromatherapy-evidence-evaluation?language=en

* Bowen Therapy – https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/natural-therapies-review-2024-bowen-therapy-evidence-evaluation?language=en

* Buteyko – https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/natural-therapies-review-2024-buteyko-evidence-evaluation?language=en

* Feldenkrais – https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/natural-therapies-review-2024-feldenkrais-evidence-evaluation?language=en

* Homeopathy – https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/natural-therapies-review-2024-homeopathy-evidence-evaluation?language=en

* Iridology – https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/natural-therapies-review-2024-iridology-evidence-evaluation?language=en

* Kinesiology – https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/natural-therapies-review-2024-kinesiology-evidence-evaluation?language=en

* Naturopathy – https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/natural-therapies-review-2024-naturopathy-supplements-evidence-evaluation?language=en and https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/natural-therapies-review-2024-naturopathy-supplements-evidence-evaluation?language=en

* Pilates – https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/natural-therapies-review-2024-pilates-evidence-evaluation?language=en

* Reflexology – https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/natural-therapies-review-2024-reflexology-evidence-evaluation?language=en

* Rolfing – https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/natural-therapies-review-2024-rolfing-evidence-evaluation?language=en

* Shiatsu – https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/natural-therapies-review-2024-shiatsu-evidence-evaluation?language=en

* Tai chi – https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/natural-therapies-review-2024-tai-chi-evidence-evaluation?language=en

* Western herbal medicine – https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/natural-therapies-review-2024-western-herbal-medicine-evidence-evaluation?language=en

* Yoga – https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/natural-therapies-review-2024-yoga-evidence-evaluation?language=en

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The journey of a “doctor” who joined the cult of alternative medicine and then broke out of it

Posted 01 October 2017

One Friday afternoon in May 2014, Britt Hermes was scheduled to treat one of her cancer patients with an injection of Ukrain. This wasn’t especially unusual; people often came to Hermes, a naturopath in Arizona, for the treatment. That day, though, an expected shipment of the drug hadn’t arrived, and Hermes’s patients weren’t happy. They had been promised that Ukrain given on a strict schedule would help them when nothing else was working. So she asked her boss what was going on.

“In response, he made an off-hand remark: ‘Oh don’t worry. Most likely the FDA [Food and Drug Administration] confiscated it. It’ll just arrive late,’” Hermes recalls today. When she asked him what he meant, he fumbled. “He realized that he may have said something he shouldn’t have.”

This article, published in Quartz, is about a naturopath who discovered that there was little to Read the rest