Complementary medicine consists of a variety of clinical practices, the efficacy of which has been hotly debated. Some members of the orthodox medical profession castigate complementary medicine as useless and dangerous, while others accept that it has a value. Despite this, during the past decade, the practice of alternative medicine has grown rapidly and many patients, dissatisfied with orthodox medicine, are turning to it. This study examines the effect of its rise in popularity and the questions it raises for the orthodox medical profession. It explores complementary medicine in its social and political context and explores the attitudes of medical practitioners and patients to it. By relating research to central issues in medical sociology and anthropology, the text addresses those questions of principle and policy which the growth of the complementary therapies has raised.