Regulatory situation

In order to practise medicine as a physician, a candidate must hold a university certificate, obtain authorization from the Minister of Health, and have the consent of the Medical College. Treatment, diagnosis, and prevention of disease are restricted to members of the allopathic medical corpus. Article 7 of the Law of 29 April 1983 (172) stipulates that persons without the required qualifications who practise or participate in the diagnosis or treatment of real or supposed pathological disorders through personal acts, verbal or written consultations, or other methods, can be prosecuted. Non-allopathic practitioners using complementary/alternative medicine are regularly prosecuted.

Though not legally binding, the Code of Professional Ethics (172) states that it is unethical for allopathic physicians to recommend, to either their patients or acquaintances, therapies that are based on illusory methods or which are not scientifically proven.

The Medical College (172) is unequivocally opposed to the practice of complementary/alternative medicine in Luxembourg. It considers practitioners of complementary/alternative medicine to be quacks and crooks. Nevertheless, members of Parliament are in favour of granting official recognition to complementary/alternative practitioners and techniques.

Education and training

There is no officially recognized complementary/alternative medical training in Luxembourg (172).

Insurance coverage

Reimbursed at 80% of fees, homeopathy is the only officially covered complementary/alternative practice. In the case of other complementary/alternative therapies, there is no specific reimbursement rate in the list of publicly covered medical acts and services, meaning that theoretically, they are not covered by public health insurance. However, when they are legally provided by a recognized allopathic health care professional, complementary/alternative treatments are unofficially reimbursed in the context of a normal consultation. Approved allopathic physicians are thereby free to choose the treatment they provide (172).

There are no private insurance companies offering coverage for complementary/alternative medicine (172).