Medical board backs down on new rules for doctors offering alternative medicine

The draft guidelines, published in 2019, would have effectively banned treatments that had no reasonable expectation of clinical benefit

The Medical Board of Australia has abandoned its plan for specific guidelines on complementary and alternative medicine, which would have effectively banned treatment without a “reasonable expectation” of clinical benefit.

In 2019, the board said specific rules were needed for disputed practices such as prescribing long-term antibiotics for Lyme-like illness, various alleged stem cell treatments and anti-ageing therapies.