Why Intranasal Light Therapy is Alternative Medicine (for now)

The National Science Foundation has defined alternative medicine as "all treatments that have not been proven effective using scientific methods." The Institute of Medicine (IOM) in 2005 defined complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) as the non-dominant approach to medicine in a given culture and historical period.

Most people do not realize that this means that it is quite a high bar to climb to be recognised by the conventional medical community as a medicine that “works”. That common bar is to be recognised by a health regulatory authority such as the FDA of the US or Health Canada. Why is it a high bar? Simple: it costs millions of dollars to do the clinical trials to have the evidence to be recognised as medicine that “works” and not just “alternative medicine”. For a device like the Intranasal Light Therapy device to make a medical claim, say for treating hypertension, it would need clearances from regulatory bodies.

Here’s the catch. To obtain evidence that the regulatory bodies are satisfied with to support the medical claims, one needs to spend literary millions of dollars. Something that either only a cash rich company can afford or a big pharmacological drug company. All others fall into “Alternative Medicine”. Even if you’re well funded it is not likely that you will spend the millions to do something like this unless you are protected from others exploiting the results of the fruits of your labour. And therefore the requirement for even more money to protect your intellectual property. And more reasons that only the big boys can play this game.

There are exceptions of course – such as Genentech in its early days – getting the support of the venture capitalists. That’s a lot of money, a lot of equity dilution, and a lot of risk. Most of all, it is an exception.

So, Intranasal Light Therapy is Alternative Medicine….at least for now……