¶ … Credibility and Reliability of Sources of CAM Information: The identification of the most suitable Complementary and Alternative Medicine therapy to help in treatment of the patient's symptoms is a process that is based on extensive research. The increased use of CAM therapy in the American health care system provides clinicians with a new responsibility of becoming informed regarding the suitability, safety, and effectiveness of various healing procedures that are largely unfamiliar. The research process used to develop the most suitable CAM therapy involves obtaining information based on opinions rather than facts. Actually, there is plenty of research on CAM therapies that are not usually published in the established American medical journals or presented based on the traditions of standard medical research. Therefore, since the health care system requires factual information instead of opinions, clinicians face the need to ensure the credibility and reliability of the sources of Complementary and Alternative Medicine information.

Methodology for Assessment:

The increased use of CAM therapies in the modern health care system requires the development of an assessment methodology that would ensure the credibility, reliability, and relevance of the therapies in treatment of a patient's symptoms. In order to determine the appropriate CAM therapy for the symptoms in question, clinicians should ensure that the information is based on facts rather than opinions or assumptions. The most appropriate criteria or methodology for assessing the credibility and reliability of sources of CAM information incorporates various steps.

According to the British Columbia Office of Health Technology Study Appraisal Form, the first step in the process is to examine the relevance of the therapy to the patient's symptoms ("Evaluating Information Sources," 2004). The relevance of the CAM therapy to the symptoms of the patient is the basis for evaluating its quality, credibility, and reliability....

Secondly, the clinicians should examine whether the source provides the author's name, his/her title and position, date of publication, and the author's organizational affiliation. This is followed by assessing the quality of research presented in the article through a systematic approach. The evaluation of the source's quality involves examining various things including whether it contains facts, arguments, statistics, opinions, descriptions, and narratives.
The other aspects to consider include whether it contains a clear purpose statement, whether it focuses on effectiveness of efficacy, research design, validity of interventions and measures, and suitability of outcomes ("Evaluating Information Sources," 2004). In addition to these steps, clinicians should evaluate whether the source of CAM information contains cited information from other sources and their reliability. The method for publication of the source and reliability of the means of publication should also be evaluated.

Review of CAM Therapeutic Modality:

The CAM therapeutic modality under review is Bee Venom Therapy, whose overview is published in NaturoDoc website. The website is renowned for presenting experiences and preferred natural health products to Internet users for more than a dozen years. Furthermore, it provides ideas in Complementary and Alternative Medicine that can be helpful in maintaining and achieving optimal health. The information provided on the website is published by Dr. Thomas Stearns Lee, a licensed Naturopathic Medical Doctor to prescribe traditional pharmaceuticals if they require management or are indicated. As a Naturopathic doctor, Lee is uniquely trained in natural medicines that usually contain exceptional scientific grounds and are regarded safer than the most common pharmaceutical synthetics. Dr. Lee's information is based on his long-term experience that has grown over the years and his long-standing practice in the profession.

The reliability and validity of the…