In my opinion, the short answer to this question is no. Scientists cannot test the efficacy of alternative medicine effectively. This is because modern science works within a strict standard that is at best difficult to apply to a variety of characteristics in alternative medicine.

Modern scientific medicine is based on strict standards that provide scientists with a structure within which testing and experimentation is limited. However, not all phenomenons are necessarily verifiable using this standard and several aspects of alternative medicine are simply outside the modern scientific model.

Let’s start with what should easily be verifiable by modern science. The result of a particular herb should be easily verifiable and should provide reliable results. Problem is, the tests often give different results and do not agree about efficacy of a specific herb. Why? This is where it gets a bit more complex.

In order to examine a specific herb for its medicinal properties and efficacy, the scientists must use the right species of herbs. This is easy to accomplish, however, there are some key differences in the same species, based on how and where it is grown, the time of the day and year it is harvested, the condition of the soil the herb was grown in and the different processing methods. But the modern scientists treat both the herbs as if they were same.

Scientists do not achieve consistent results because they are testing the same species but not the same quality of the herbal extract. Unless the scientists test the same thing there are strong chances of obtaining different results.