Additional Government CAM Resources

National Library of Medicine (NLM)

Toll-free: 1-888-346-3656
E-mail: custserv@nlm.nih.gov

Address: 8600 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20894
Fax: 301-402-1384

NLM is the world's largest medical library. Services include MEDLINE, NLM's premier bibliographic database covering the fields of medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, the health care system, and preclinical science. MEDLINE contains indexed journal citations and abstracts from more than 4,600 journals published in the United States and more than 70 other countries. MEDLINE is accessible through NLM's PubMed system at pubmed.gov. NLM also maintains DIRLINE (dirline.nlm.nih.gov), a database that contains locations and descriptive information about a variety of health organizations, including CAM associations and organizations.

• MEDLINE, produced by the National Library of Medicine, is searchable through PubMed. MEDLINE has bibliographic citations and abstracts to biomedical journal literature.
• CAM on PubMed, a database accessible via the Internet, was developed jointly by NCCAM and the National Library of Medicine (NLM). It contains bibliographic citations to articles in scientifically based, peer-reviewed journals on CAM. These citations are a subset of the NLM's PubMed system that contains over 12 million journal citations from the MEDLINE database and additional life science journals important to health researchers, practitioners, and consumers. CAM on PubMed displays links to publisher Web sites; some sites offer the full text of articles.
• MEDLINEplus, produced by NLM, links to expert health information on the Web. MEDLINEplus includes:
  • Alternative Medicine
  • Chiropractic
  • Evaluating Health Information
  • Herbal Medicine

ClinicalTrials.gov

ClinicalTrials.gov provides patients, family members, health care professionals, and members of the public access to information on clinical trials for a wide range of diseases and conditions. The National Institutes of Health (NIH), through its National Library of Medicine, has developed this site in collaboration with all NIH Institutes and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The site currently contains more than 6,200 clinical studies sponsored by NIH, other Federal agencies, and the pharmaceutical industry in over 69,000 locations worldwide.

Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

Toll-free: 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357)

The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint or to get free information on consumer issues, call toll-free 1-877-FTC-HELP, or use the online complaint form found at www.ftc.gov. Consumers who want to learn how to recognize fraudulent or unproved health care products and services can learn more at www.ftc.gov/cureall.

National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM)

NCCAM is dedicated to exploring complementary and alternative medical practices in the context of rigorous science, training CAM researchers, and disseminating authoritative information to the public and professionals.

Toll-free: 1-888-644-6226
International: 301-519-3153
TTY (for deaf or hard-of-hearing callers): 1-866-464-3615

E-mail: info@nccam.nih.gov
Address: NCCAM Clearinghouse, P.O. Box 7923, Gaithersburg, MD 20898-7923

Fax: 1-866-464-3616

NIH Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS)

The ODS, whose mission is to explore the potential role of dietary supplements to improve health care, promotes the scientific study of dietary supplements through conducting and coordinating scientific research and compiling and disseminating research results. ODS provides all its public information through its Web site. One of its services is the International Bibliographic Information on Dietary Supplements (IBIDS) database, at ods.od.nih.gov/showpage.aspx?pageid=48.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

Toll-free: 1-888-INFO-FDA (1-888-463-6332)

FDA's mission is to promote and protect the public health by helping safe and effective products reach the market in a timely way, and monitoring products for continued safety after they are in use.

To report serious adverse events or illnesses related to FDA-regulated products, such as drugs, medical devices, medical foods, and dietary supplements, contact MedWatch:

Toll-free: 1-800-FDA-1088
Fax: 1-800-FDA-0178
Web site: www.fda.gov/medwatch/report/consumer/consumer.htm

To report a general complaint or concern about food products, including dietary supplements, you may contact the consumer complaint coordinator at the FDA District Office nearest you. Visit www.fda.gov/opacom/backgrounders/complain.html to find the telephone number of your district office or check in the government listings in your phone book.

Dictionary of Cancer Terms and
MedlinePlus - Health Information from the National Library of Medicine for health professionals and consumers.