TY - JOUR T1 - ‘If it helps my patient…’: Perspectives on complementary medicine JF - Clinical Medicine JO - Clin Med SP - 242 LP - 243 DO - 10.7861/clinmedicine.4-3-242 VL - 4 IS - 3 AU - E Ernst Y1 - 2004/05/01 UR - http://www.rcpjournals.org/content/4/3/242.abstract N2 - The argument ‘if it helps my patient, I don't need science to prove that it works’ is rife in complementary medicine. This article is an attempt to examine it from the perspective of the provider of complementary medicine, the clinical scientist and the politician. It is concluded that the dichotomy between experience and science is a regrettable misunderstanding. The revised argument should be ‘if it helps my patient, I want research undertaken to find out whether more people could benefit from it’. ER -