The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine will be getting a new name soon. The recently passed “Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015” replaces those last two words with Center’s current name with The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.
The bill directs the Director of the Center to, “as appropriate, study the integration of new and non-traditional approaches to health care treatment and consumption, including but not limited to non-traditional treatment, diagnostic and prevention systems, modalities, and disciplines.’’
The report that informs the bill says the name change should be made because interventions such as acupuncture, tai chi and meditation as therapies are now so widely used, they are no longer alternatives but instead are part of medical care.
See page 849 of the Bill here: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CPRT-113HPRT91668/pdf/CPRT-113HPRT91668.pdf