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SCIENCE AND GOVERNMENT:
Enhanced: Review for NCCAM Is Overdue
Donald M. Marcus1* and Arthur P. Grollman2
The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) were created by Congress to conduct research on the causes and treatment of common diseases. In contrast, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) was created by pressure from a few advocates in Congress (1-3). The NCCAM budget for 2005 was $123.1 million. At a time when NIH support of biomedical research is decreasing (4) and many excellent grant proposals are not being funded, NCCAM';s expenditure of funds deserves scrutiny.
History of OAM and NCCAM
NCCAM began as the Office of Alternative Medicine (OAM) in 1992 (1-3). It was created within the office of the NIH director with a budget of $2 million by a directive from the Senate Appropriations Committee. The driving force behind the directive was Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), chairman of the Appropriations Committee, a long-time supporter of NIH research and advocate for alternative medicine.
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