Nevada is the first state to create a review board for the practice of alternative medicine. Now the city of sin may have a new focus. The President of the Nevada Institutional Review Board [1] hopes this new regulation will draw extensive health care business to Las Vegas turning it into the number one destination for CIM (complementary and integrative medicine) — also known as CAM [2].

The review board is a product of Assembly Bill 208 [3] (PDF), which was signed into law in June. Though homeopathic doctors can already be legally licensed in Nevada, the board was established to govern alternative medicine research and to determine the standards for practicing medicine in the state. It will also dictate what practices are eligible to be paid for by insurance companies based on the safety and efficacy of the treatment.

For state officials the real excitement seems to be about money not medicine. The Las Vegas Review-Journal [4] reports that the review board may help to bring billions of dollars of health care business to the city. “”It allows new and different kinds of businesses to operate in Nevada. Some might be homeopathic drug companies or pharmaceutical companies,” said Bob Cooper, economic development manager for the neighboring city of Henderson.

The Nevada Institutional Review Board has already met four times and has compiled more than 30 pages of rules and regulations through public hearings.

(Map: travelnevada.com)