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Despite significant achievements in modern biomedicine developed some 200 years ago, there are also other parallel medical systems, some of which are a couple thousand years old. In spite of its scientific accomplishments, biomedicine has neither replaced nor suppressed such systems. The demand for research of parallel medical systems is considerable, for according to available data, they encompass minimum of 40 % of the population (data varies from country to country). We have a similar situation in Croatia. There are different explanations for the above mentioned state (poverty, illiteracy, underdevelopment of certain countries, superstition etc), but the most accurate one is that biomedicine has no cure for array of chronic and deadly diseases of modern time. In case of Croatia that was confirmed by a 10-years' working experience of over 1000 professional healer/therapists, current members of HUPED (engl.CRONES) as well as an online poll found on the CRONES website (www.huped.hr) which for the third year in a row is being conducted among the 8500 associated members who actually represent just a small sample of users of unconventional medicine services in Croatia. By June 2010 some 1289 people participated in a survey which shows that over 71 % of examinees have used unconventional medicine services due to the fact that no other form of medicine could solve their medical problems (26,69 % used unconventional medicine for physical problems, 34,83 % for mental issues whereas 9 % used unconventional medicine for solving human relations issues). The statistics show that in these cases biomedicine accompanied by psychiatry and psychology has failed. Only 24,48% of examinees have chosen unconventional medicine over biomedicine for a reason other than the failure of biomedicine (such as personal belief, religion etc). 

LAW REGULATIONS IN CROATIA

Despite CRONES efforts 10 years ago, our government has still not come up with a law which would regulate the field of unconventional medicine. So far, we have organized 7 congresses on the cooperation between clinical and unconventional medicine. The next 8th Congress will be held on October 22 and 23 at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Zagreb.
Our federation gathers healers and therapists from over 60 different fields which are divided into sections for acupuncture, homeopathy, chiropractic, ayurveda, bioenergy therapy, spiritual medicine etc. Thus each section within the federation has its own set of rules regarding conditions required for healers’ education and their work. Namely, methods very often differ from one another so the same education and work conditions cannot be applied to all methods.

Article 244 of the Criminal Law mentions term “quackery” which refers to all who practice medicine without possessing required medical qualifications, knowledge and skills. A fee which amounts to 150 wages or 6 months in prison is stipulated for everyone who treats people and offers medical help without adequate professional qualifications. Sentence of imprisonment of 1 year is estimated for those who receive payment or reward for such services. If they make products harmful to health they can also spend up to 1 year in prison.             
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, over the last 6 years in Croatia there have been 38 cases of quackery. Criminal charges were filed against the quackers. 
Therefore, following instructions by our federation, in their work therapists and healers do not use terms such as treatment and medicine, do not interfere with the prescribed therapy nor place diagnosis.
What they can do is solely contribute to improvement of life quality by healing, giving massage, recommending herbs, food supplements and analyzing energy level and functional state of the body. The important is not to damage the existing health condition of an individual. Also, according to the rules of our federation, it is necessary to upon completion of treatments advise your client (note the use of term client, not patient) to do a medical checkup to see if there has been any positive improvement.
In our archives, we have more than 7000 positive feedback by users of unconventional medicine which is little in comparison to the actual situation because most users, despite their positive experience, want to remain anonymous. 

The biggest improvement regarding law regulations was achieved in November of 2004 when the then minister of justice issued a decree on founding a Council of the Minister of Justice for Regulation of Unconventional Medicine with me, Vedran Korunić, president of CRONES, serving as the president of the Council.
Shortly afterwards, a working group was formed to prepare a preliminary draft of the bill on healing-therapeutic services. The members of the group were representatives of the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and I.

During its active period, the working group has encountered many issues and obstacles, has met only a few times within one year period which was a direct consequence of the lack of real interests on behalf of legislators to put this field within legal boundaries. The then president of the working group (at that time an employee of the Ministry of Justice, now officer in the same Ministry) told me in person that she knew nothing about the field, did not know how to address the issue and was not paid enough to deal with that…Representatives of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare from the working group also stopped to attend meetings so the whole thing came to a halt.
At the beginning of 2006 by the decision of the new minister of Justice the Council and the working group have been dissolved, thus the Ministry of Justice conferred the task of legal regulation of unconventional medicine upon the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare. Until today, nothing has been accomplished regarding the issue.

However, some crucial conclusions have been reached:
- unconventional medicine must not be legally regulated within the existing Law on Health Care, that is its amendments which would encompass this field;    
- a special Law should be drafted which will regulate the field of unconventional medicine, but that law must not be conditioned by any amendments of the Law on Health Care;
- the field of unconventional medicine is a branch that should be regulated independently, it should fall under the jurisdiction of the professionals who are in that field (very well organized within CRONES) because the Ministries and the expert organizations such as Croatian Medical Chamber or Croatian Catholic Medical Association at Croatian Medical Association as well as other interest groups in the field of biomedicine and pharmacy have no appreciation of this field and perceive it as a competition which in case of legal regulation would become a serious threat.

For those reasons, the two proposed legal solution did not, when the working group still existed, get the support of the competent bodies because the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare asked for the approval of Croatian Medical Chamber which did not grant it.
CRONES has just issued the third legal decision ruling that the field is regulated independently, that is outside and regardless of the Law on Health Care and under the jurisdiction of professional association of CRONES’ therapists and healers.
Namely the time has shown that this organization of therapists and healers in its ten years’ existence is the only one capable to gather therapists and healers of different orientations and organize them in a way that along with introduction of educational and professional standards will allow them to be recognized on the market as top-notch professionals, unlike those who due to lack of enough skills and knowledge use the shortage of law regulations in order to cheat and deceive people who seek help in unconventional medicine.
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