In short: Alternative medicine businesses in Türkiye should distinguish regulated traditional and complementary medicine practices, known as GETAT, from wellness, cosmetic, food and other consumer activities. The current framework addresses permitted methods, certified practitioners, authorized units and practice centres, patient records, informed consent, inspections and sanctions.
Why it matters: The 28 April 2026 Traditional and Complementary Medicine Practices Regulation replaced the former 2014 regulation. A clinic’s legal risk may also involve healthcare-facility permissions, health advertising, product claims, patient rights, personal health data, employment, suppliers and disputes.
How We Assist GETAT and Alternative Medicine Businesses in Türkiye
Turkish Trade Lawyers advises clinics, healthcare facilities, certified practitioners, wellness businesses, product companies, investors and international groups on the legal issues surrounding traditional and complementary medicine in Türkiye.
Regulatory classification
We map the proposed service, practitioner, facility and product against the current GETAT and healthcare rules.
Facility permissions
We review applications, operating permissions, provincial requirements, facility records and changes to an existing healthcare licence.
Practitioner authorization
We assess certificates, professional roles, work permissions, supervision models and the boundary between authorized and unauthorized practice.
Product and claims review
We coordinate the legal review of supplements, cosmetics, medical devices, medicines, labels, websites and patient-facing claims.
Advertising compliance
We review websites, social-media posts, influencer campaigns, testimonials, before-and-after content and international marketing plans.
Patient documentation
We help structure information forms, informed consent, treatment records, privacy notices, data-processing arrangements and retention practices.
Health tourism models
We advise on foreign-patient workflows, provider and intermediary roles, contracts, communications and cross-border data issues.
Investigations and disputes
We support responses to inspections, administrative action, patient complaints, professional-liability claims, supplier disputes and debt recovery.
The Current GETAT Legal Framework in Türkiye
The main sector instrument is the Traditional and Complementary Medicine Practices Regulation published in the Official Gazette on 28 April 2026. It defines the purpose and scope of traditional and complementary medicine practices, the relevant healthcare facilities, certified practitioners, application centres and units.
The 2026 regulation is not a general licence for every service described commercially as “alternative medicine”. It should be read together with the Medical Practice Law No. 1219, the Fundamental Law on Healthcare Services No. 3359, the applicable private healthcare-facility rules, patient-rights legislation, product rules and the current health-promotion framework. The 2014 GETAT regulation was repealed, so older checklists and website copy should not be treated as a complete statement of the current law.
For a new project, the first legal question is not simply whether the business uses the phrase “alternative medicine”. It is whether the proposed activity is:
- a regulated healthcare practice listed or recognized under the current framework;
- a service requiring a Ministry-authorized healthcare facility or unit;
- a product activity governed by food, medicine, medical-device or cosmetics legislation; or
- a wellness or educational activity that must not be presented as diagnosis or treatment.
Permitted Practices and Scope of Service
GETAT permissions are method-specific. A clinic should verify the current regulation, annexes, application guidance and facility permission before advertising or offering a practice. A method used in another country, a private training course or a practitioner’s general healthcare experience does not automatically create authority to perform it in Türkiye.
The scope review should cover the permitted indication, who may perform the practice, where it may be performed, the required equipment, patient information, consent, recordkeeping, reporting and the relationship with conventional medical treatment. The framework is not designed to allow a GETAT practice to replace standard treatment or to disrupt a patient’s ongoing care.
Method-specific permissions
Confirm that the practice appears within the current permitted framework and that the proposed facility has permission for that method.
Evidence and patient safety
Separate permitted supportive care from unsupported promises, prohibited claims and representations that may delay appropriate medical treatment.
Scope of the engagement
Define what the practitioner, clinic, product supplier and referring professional each undertake to provide and document.
Change management
Reassess the legal position when the clinic adds a method, changes premises, engages a new practitioner or launches a new product.
Who Can Perform Alternative Medicine Practices in Türkiye?
The current framework links practice authority to the relevant Ministry-registered certificate and authorization. The identity and professional status of the person performing the service therefore matter as much as the company that receives the patient or collects the fee.
Businesses should verify the practitioner’s professional qualification, certificate, practice field, work permission and relationship with the authorized facility. A person who completed a commercial course cannot be presented as a Ministry-authorized GETAT practitioner merely because the course uses official terminology or a certificate bears a healthcare-related logo.
Support staff and other healthcare professionals may have defined roles under the applicable framework, but the clinic should document supervision, responsibility, patient communication and access to the practice area. Job titles, website biographies and social-media profiles should reflect the person’s actual legal authority.
GETAT Units, Practice Centres and Facility Permissions
A GETAT unit or practice centre is part of a regulated healthcare setting. Permission to perform a GETAT practice should not be confused with an independent entitlement to open a new private healthcare institution, expand capacity or provide every healthcare service named in a business plan.
Before opening or changing a facility, the operator should check Ministry and provincial planning, application documents, physical requirements, responsible practitioner arrangements, equipment, patient admission and waiting areas, archives, medical waste, emergency procedures and registration of the permitted practice on the facility’s licence or operating permission.
A practical opening file will usually need a responsibility matrix covering:
- the legal entity and the healthcare facility that will provide the service;
- the responsible physician or dentist and each certified practitioner;
- the permitted practice methods and the rooms or units in which they may be performed;
- equipment, medicines, products, suppliers and storage conditions;
- patient files, informed consent, incident reporting and personal-health-data controls; and
- inspection readiness, staff training and corrective-action records.
Products, Supplements and Health Claims
Alternative medicine businesses often combine a patient service with a product sale. That combination creates a classification and claims risk. Food supplements, medicines, medical devices and cosmetics can be governed by different regulators and rules; a product’s natural origin does not make it legally unregulated.
Before a product is sold or recommended, the business should identify its legal category, responsible supplier, market authorization or notification route, label, intended use, storage, adverse-event process and advertising restrictions. The wording used on a website, social-media post, product page, invoice or consultation form can affect how the activity is classified.
Particular caution is needed with claims that a product cures a disease, replaces a medicine, guarantees a result, detoxifies the body or is “approved by the Ministry” without a precise legal basis. The official health-claims portal should be consulted for the relevant product and claim framework.
Healthcare Advertising and Digital Content
The Health Services Promotion and Information Regulation published on 12 November 2025 prohibits overt and covert advertising in healthcare and limits permissible promotion and information activities. A GETAT clinic should therefore treat every public-facing communication as a compliance item, not only paid advertising.
Review should extend to search snippets, landing pages, Google Business profiles, videos, influencer posts, patient reviews, testimonials, before-and-after images, discount campaigns and translated versions of the website. Content that is technically accurate can still create risk if it implies guaranteed treatment, uses a patient story without the required consent, presents an unauthorized service or targets vulnerable patients with misleading urgency.
Safer healthcare content normally explains the facility, authorized field, practitioner credentials, opening hours and general health-protection information in a restrained way. It should not blur the difference between education, commercial promotion and a promise of diagnosis or treatment.
Patient Rights, Consent and Personal Data
GETAT services involve sensitive health information and should be supported by patient-centred documentation. Before a practice begins, the patient should receive information that is understandable, proportionate and consistent with the actual service. The consent document should not be used as a substitute for lawful authorization or as a blanket release from professional responsibility.
Depending on the service, the compliance file may include identity and contact data, health history, contraindications, the proposed method, expected benefits and limitations, alternatives, foreseeable risks, fees, follow-up, adverse events and the patient’s right to ask questions or withdraw where legally possible.
Clinics should also map whether they act as a data controller, processor or joint participant, how records are stored, who can access them, how long they are retained, whether vendors process them and whether data is transferred outside Türkiye. Patient photographs, testimonials and online reviews require particular care because consent for treatment is not automatically consent for publicity.
Health Tourism and Cross-Border Business Models
Foreign patients, international marketing and remote pre-consultation can add a second layer of regulation. The provider should identify the authorized healthcare facility, the role of any international health-tourism intermediary, the responsible practitioner, the language of patient information, payment terms, complaints route and the law governing contracts.
Cross-border data transfers, translated health claims, patient travel arrangements, interpreter agreements and the use of overseas platforms should be reviewed together. A foreign marketing campaign does not remove Turkish restrictions where the service is provided in Türkiye or the communication concerns a Turkish healthcare facility.
Inspections, Administrative Sanctions and Disputes
GETAT units and practice centres may be inspected, and the current framework provides requirements and sanctions for unauthorized practice, operation outside the permitted scope, missing records, unqualified personnel, non-compliant facilities and other breaches. A response should begin with preservation of the licence, patient, staff, supplier and advertising records rather than an informal deletion of online content.
Potential disputes may include patient injury or dissatisfaction, allegations of misleading claims, practitioner discipline, facility closure or suspension, product recalls, unpaid professional fees, employment claims, confidentiality issues and disagreements between investors or business partners. The correct response depends on the regulatory status, evidence, contract structure and urgency of the risk.
Our team can help prepare an inspection response, assess an administrative decision, coordinate a patient complaint, review professional-liability exposure, negotiate with a supplier or plan litigation and enforcement where necessary.
Frequently Asked Questions About Alternative Medicine Law in Türkiye
What is GETAT in Türkiye?
GETAT is the Turkish abbreviation for geleneksel ve tamamlayıcı tıp, meaning traditional and complementary medicine. It is a regulated healthcare field rather than a label that can be applied to every wellness service.
The current framework addresses permitted practices, authorized practitioners, Ministry-approved units and practice centres, training, patient records, informed consent, inspections and sanctions.
Which law regulates alternative medicine practices in Türkiye?
The principal sector regulation is the Traditional and Complementary Medicine Practices Regulation published on 28 April 2026. It replaced the former 2014 regulation.
It operates together with the Medical Practice Law No. 1219, the Fundamental Law on Healthcare Services No. 3359, healthcare-facility legislation and the rules governing health-service promotion, products, patient rights and personal data.
Who can perform GETAT practices in Türkiye?
A person must hold the relevant Ministry-registered certificate and authorization for the practice. The 2026 regulation should be checked for the specific method, facility and professional role.
A business registration or a private course certificate does not by itself authorize a person to provide a regulated healthcare practice.
Can a wellness centre offer alternative medicine without a healthcare licence?
A wellness business cannot assume that a commercial workplace licence authorizes regulated diagnosis, treatment or GETAT practices. The activity, practitioner, facility and proposed method must be matched to the applicable healthcare permissions.
Services and marketing should be structured so that wellness, cosmetic, food and regulated healthcare activities are not incorrectly presented as the same service.
Does a GETAT unit need Ministry permission in Türkiye?
Yes, the facility and its permitted practices must be assessed under the current Ministry framework. A GETAT unit or practice centre is connected to an authorized healthcare facility and its practices must be recorded in the relevant licence or operating permission.
The applicable provincial planning, application and inspection requirements should be confirmed before opening or expanding.
Are alternative medicine advertisements allowed in Türkiye?
Healthcare advertising is restricted. The Health Services Promotion and Information Regulation published on 12 November 2025 prohibits overt and covert advertising in healthcare and permits only defined information and health-protection content.
Claims about diagnosis, treatment, guaranteed results, patient stories, products or practitioner expertise require a fact-specific compliance review.
Can a clinic sell supplements or natural products with GETAT services?
The answer depends on the product category and the proposed activity. Food supplements, medicines, medical devices and cosmetics can be subject to different authorities, licences, claims rules and promotion restrictions.
A clinic should classify each product and review its label, website, social-media claims, sales process and relationship to the healthcare service before offering it to patients.
What compliance documents should a GETAT clinic maintain?
Depending on the activity, a clinic may need facility permissions, practitioner certificates, operating records, patient files, informed-consent forms, data-protection documents, adverse-event records, equipment and waste procedures, staff files, supplier documents, product records and advertising approvals.
The exact document set should be mapped to the facility and each permitted practice.
Legal Counsel for GETAT and Wellness Businesses
In this sector, a marketing decision can become a licensing issue, a product claim can become a patient-safety issue, and a patient complaint can become an administrative or professional-liability matter. Early legal review helps the business separate regulated healthcare from adjacent commercial activities and build records that can withstand scrutiny.
Turkish Trade Lawyers advises international and Turkish businesses on healthcare regulation, market entry, contracts, data protection, advertising compliance and disputes involving alternative medicine and GETAT services in Türkiye.
