What is the definition or description of: complementary and alternative medicine?

Non Western Medicine: Complementary or alternative medicine is a number of different medical approaches that do not fall under the scope of traditional western medicine. Often the methodologies have not received the same level of scientific scrutiny as standardized western approaches. However, this does not mean that a number of these approaches are not effective.

Proven vs unproven: By definition, "alternative" is different than modern western medicine. Generally any drug, herb, treatment, or procedure that stands up to rigorous scientific scrutiny is included in modern medicine. The problem is that many alternative practices, herbs etc do not stand up to scientific scrutiny and cannot be shown to work. They therefore remain "alternative". Be careful and watch your wallet.