On the edges of medicine - a qualitative study on the function of complementary, alternative, and non-specific therapies in handling therapeutically indeterminate situations.

Our results demonstrate the important role of CAM and the somewhat smaller role of non-specific therapies for German general practitioners in dealing with therapeutically indeterminate situations. The concept of therapeutically indeterminate situations may be helpful in better understanding why many general practitioners treat patients in situations where treatment does not appear to be clearly indicated.