American Spending on Alternative Medicine Continues to Skyrocket

By Drucilla Dyess

American consumers spent an estimated $34 billion on alternative medicine in 2007. In fact, alternative medicine accounts for over 11 percent of out-of-pocket spending on health care in the United States. This surprising information comes from the first national estimate of dollars spent on alternative medicine in over ten years. The last government estimate of spending on alternative medicine was reported based on a 1997 survey that found spending to be at about $27 billion.

Alternative medicine includes any healing practice not falling within the realm of conventional medicine. Many such practicies include herbalism, homeopathy, hypnosis, naturopathy, chiropractic, acupuncture, yoga, biofeedback, diet-based therapies, Unani and traditional Chinese medicine. These practices are very diverse and may be based upon traditional medicine, folk knowledge, spiritual beliefs, newly conceived approaches to healing or a combination thereof.

According to Dr. Josephine Briggs, director of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, “We are talking about a very wide range of health practices that range from promising and sensible to potentially harmful.” She further explained that there is a critical need for more research into which therapies are effective due to the substantial amount of money consumers are spending on them.

Briggs also noted that as the number of uninsured Americans increases, the use of these therapies may grow even more as some of them are relatively inexpensive. Because the data gathered for the estimate was collected prior to the current recession, it is not know if the economy played a role in jump in alternative medicine spending.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) surveyed more than 23,000 adults across the nation and found that over one-third of American adults use alternative medicine. A report of this information was released in December of 2008.

The newly released report on the survey revealed that pain was the primary reason people sought massages and chiropractic care as well as other alternative therapies. Approximately 35 cents of each dollar spent on alternative went for appointments with acupuncturists, chiropractors, massage therapists and other practitioners. With a total of almost $12 billion, this represents about one-fourth of what is spent on mainstream physicians.

The most popular supplements used were found to be glucosamine to battle against joint pain, and fish oil to reduce the risk of heart disease. A total of $15 billion, or 44 cents out of each alternative medicine dollar spent, went for such products as these and echinacea. This is about equivalent to one-third of what American consumers spend out-of-pocket for prescription drugs.

Regarding supplement use, Briggs said, “I personally am pretty conservative about supplement use.” She also said that the center’s research has played a role in consumer behavior regarding their use. For example, when studies revealed that echinacea was ineffective for colds, and that St. John's wort did not quell major depression, consumers use of these products dropped. On the other hand, the use of fish oil has increased following research indicating that it might help lower risk of heart problems. Although many consumers believe that all products that they purchase have been cleared by the Food and Drug Administration, the fact is that they do not need proof of safety or effectiveness to go on the market.

The survey also showed that a stunning $3 billion was spent on homeopathy. Homeopathy is a system of medical practice that treats disease through the administration of minuscule doses of a remedy that would produce symptoms in healthy persons when used in larger amounts.

Findings concluded that 38 million adults visited alternative medicine practitioners for which they paid less than $50 on average per visit, and the average annual spending per person was about $122. For services such as acupuncture, homeopathy and hypnosis, the average was a higher at $75 plus. The average spending for products was $177.