Lack of integration of traditional and allopathic medicine

New medical therapies are normally researched, written up in the medical literature, and officially recommended by medical societies before they are considered acceptable for use by a physician. Whilst there is no regulatory process for new medical treatments, doctors are required to conform to the prevailing standards. A doctor could jeopardize their license by treating a patient in a way that is not accepted by other physicians. In the absence of research, medical authorities have either ignored diseases or denounced their existence. In the case of syndromes with many and often ill-defined symptoms, the routine approach is to label them as functional or psychosomatic. They are not investigated further because they do not constitute a known medical condition.

Some alternative/complimentary practitioners (naturopaths, chiropractors, herbalists, acupuncturists) promote their services for the treatment of complaints for which there is often no successful and proven medical treatment. Supplement makers may also market products to relieve such problems. This fuels the impression among the medical mainstream that this diagnosis is an invention of alternative charlatans to lure their patients from them.