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BACKGROUND: The current lack of scientific validation of non-conventional treatments in medicine, whose epistemological foundations lie in scientific evidence and experimentation, raises a significant questions regarding the costs and benefits of alternative-treatment forms. Nonetheless, in the last few decades non-conventional treatments have been increasingly recognised by the Italian medical profession, with one regional healthcare administration adopting some non-conventional practices as part of its conventional healthcare services. AIMS: The Authors aim to analyse non-conventional treatments in medicine from an epistemological, cultural, ethical, political and economic point of view, in order to highlight criticalities and incongruities, especially when these treatments are approved by a public healthcare system, which should be grounded on the "evidence-based medicine" principle. CONCLUSIONS: Non-conventional treatments in medicine are constituted by meta-theories, i.e. philosophical, religious and ideological concepts that conflict with contemporary rational, empirical medicine. In the interest of patients and society, the paper stresses the incongruity of a healthcare system which, despite being grounded on the "evidence-based medicine" principle, allows the development of non conventional treatments. Having said that, medical science should address not only the biological domain of illness but also its existential implications. Awareness and respect for the individual experience can undoubtedly lead to a new medical model that allows for a more effective therapeutic intervention. (www.actabiomedica.it)

Background and aim: Medical deontology is increasingly important, owing to the interests and rights which the medical profession involves. This paper focuses on the relationships of the Italian Code of Medical Deontology (CMD) with both the ethical and legal dimensions, in order to clarify the role of medical ethics within the medical profession, society and the overall system of the sources of law. Methods: The authors analyze the CMD from an ethical perspective and through the new doctrinal guidelines and current trends in the Italian law courts. Results: From an ethical point of view, moral philosophical analysis scarcely seems to address professional medical ethics. Nonetheless, the CMD needs to undergo careful ethical analysis. From a legal perspective, the Italian CMD contains provisions which do not have an official legal nature. However, they are directly binding for medical practitioners, and therefore could be understood as a supplement to the general rules of the legal system. Conclusions: At an ethical level, rigorous debate on the CMD is indispensable, in order to update its specific principles and to make it a real moral normative document. At a legislative level, there is a possible contradiction between a legal system that does not take into account the CMD, but which then attributes significant importance to the violation of its rules. (www.actabiomedica.it)