Editing Acupuncture (section)

=== Risk of forgoing conventional medical care ===
As with other alternative medicines, unethical or naïve practitioners may induce patients to exhaust financial resources by pursuing ineffective treatment.<ref name=Barrett2007>{{cite web|last=Barrett|first=S|title=Be Wary of Acupuncture, Qigong, and "Chinese Medicine"|url=http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/acu.html|publisher=[[Quackwatch]]|access-date=4 May 2015|date=30 December 2007|author-link=Stephen Barrett|archive-date=2 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180602104856/https://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/acu.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| title= Final Report, Report into Traditional Chinese Medicine| url= http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/committee.nsf/0/ca78e168ce1b6fa2ca2570b400200a34/$FILE/reportversion2.pdf| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110628190713/http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/committee.nsf/0/ca78e168ce1b6fa2ca2570b400200a34/$FILE/reportversion2.pdf| archive-date= 28 June 2011| publisher= [[Parliament of New South Wales]]| access-date= 3 November 2010| date= 9 November 2005| url-status= dead}}</ref> Professional ethics codes set by accrediting organizations such as the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine require practitioners to make "timely referrals to other health care professionals as may be appropriate."<ref name=NCCAOMethics>{{cite web |url = http://www.nccaom.org/about/pdfdocs/Code_of_Ethics.pdf | publisher = National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine | title= NCCAOM Code of Ethics | access-date= 3 November 2010 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101127060246/http://nccaom.org/about/pdfdocs/Code_of_Ethics.pdf| archive-date= 27 November 2010}}</ref> [[Stephen Barrett]] states that there is a "risk that an acupuncturist whose approach to diagnosis is not based on scientific concepts will fail to diagnose a dangerous condition".<ref name=HumberAlmeder2013>{{cite book | last = Barrett | first = Stephen | editor1-last = Humber | editor1-first = James M. | editor2-last = Almeder | editor2-first = Robert F. | name-list-style = vanc |chapter='Alternative' Medicine: More Hype Than Hope |title=Alternative Medicine and Ethics |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ehWzBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA10 |year=2013 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=978-1-4757-2774-6 |page=10}}</ref>