I was recently invited to give a lecture to the local medical association in Graz Austria. It was a pleasure to be in Austria again and a delight to visit the beautiful town of Graz. They had given me the following subject:
Mythen in der sogenannten Alternativmedizin [Myths of so-called alternative medicine (SCAM)]
In my lecture, I thought it prudent to relate to the situation of SCAM in Austria which is rather special:
- The seem to Austrians love the SAM; the 1-year prevalence of use is 36%!
- In Austria, SCAM is only allowed to be practised by doctors.
- Often SCAM is paid for by patients out of their own pocket.
- For many, SCAM is a question of belief.
- SCAM is being promoted by VIPs and loved by journalists; one politician even sells his own brand of dietary supplements!
- In Austria, SCAM is heavily promoted by the Austrian Medical Association who currently runs courses and issues several SCAM diplomas.
The Austrian newspaper DER STANDARD then decided to interview me on these issues. The interview has been published today, and I thought I might take the liberty of translating the central part for you:
Q: In Austria, the Medical Association offers diplomas in various alternative methods. Why is this problematic?
A: I am aware of no less than 11 such diplomas offered by the Austrian Medical Association. While in England, France or Germany, for example, homeopathy has been considerably restricted by the medical profession due to the largely negative evidence, in Austria it continues to be promoted by the medical associations. This makes Austrian medicine the laughing stock of the rest of the world. More importantly, it violates the principles of evidence-based medicine. And even more importantly, it seems to me that the Austrian Medical Association is neglecting its ethical duty towards patients for purely pecuniary reasons.
Q: But the Medical Association is only complying with the regulations.
A: The Medical Association boasts that the quality of medical care and patient safety are at the centre of its work. In view of these diplomas, this mission almost sounds like a bad joke. They claim that the diplomas comply with the regulations. But firstly, this is a question of interpretation and secondly, regulations can – I would say must – be changed if they run counter to the quality of medical care. Finally, according to its own statements, the Association is obliged to adapt the Austrian healthcare system to changing conditions. This means nothing other than that it must take account of changing evidence – for example in the field of homeopathy.
Q: And what do the many doctors who use homeopathy say?
A: They often claim that they are only following the wishes of their patients when they prescribe homeopathic remedies. This may be true, but it is certainly not a valid argument. It ignores the fact that it is a doctor’s damned duty to provide patients with evidence-based information and to treat them accordingly. After all, medicine is not a supermarket where customers can simply choose whatever they happen to like.
It should also be emphasised that the practitioners of homeopathy also earn a good living from it. The fact that there is resistance from them when it comes to prioritising evidence rather than earnings in this area is thus hardly surprising.
But of course there are also a few doctors who use homeopathy primarily because they are fully convinced of its effectiveness. I think that these colleagues should consider self-critically whether they are not violating their ethical duty to be at the cutting edge of current knowledge and to act accordingly.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, my lecture prompted a lively discussion. Those doctors in the audience who spoke were unanimously in favour of my arguments. I was later told that many of those people who are responsible for the 11 diplomas were in the audience. Sadly, none of them felt like discussing any of the issues with me.
Perhaps the interview succeeds in starting a critical discussion about SCAM in Austria?
7 Responses to So-called alternative medicine (SCAM) in Austria – the situation is not far from scandalous!
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Congratulations, Dr. Ernst. Rare are people who agree to confront the charlatans of medicine in such a direct, but polite way.
…a few:
– Edzard 1999:
When I asked him what had changed in the evidence for homeopathy since then, he tried to answer that it had deteriorated …
Sorry no, it changed further to good made studies! (see below your own comment)
– Edzard 2019
– Interview in DER STANDARD: Fortunately, you have already given interviews in more respected newspapers….
– Your luck: I wasn’t in Graz (the magical city) at the time….
are you alright?
you seem to surpass yourself in making stupid comments recently.
Are you upset, Heinrich, hat Edzard Ernst is considered more trustworthy than a retired country doctor who is more pretense? 😉
BTW, “Der Standard” has a high standard (I love the wordplay 🙂 ) in journalism.
https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/der-standard-bias/
Edzard said “…medicine is not a supermarket where customers can simply choose whatever they happen to like.”
So you don’t believe in health freedom where people have the freedom to choose their own treatment modality?
Do you really want Allopathic medicine to have the monopoly on health care? It’s really not as good as you think it is.
please don’t misinterpret what I wrote!
patents should of course have the freedom to chose between rational options – but not to waste public funds on nonsense.
@Mutus Bellator
So you believe in freedom where quacks and con artists have the freedom to offer ‘treatments’ that don’t actually do anything? So that they can defraud sick and vulnerable people (or taxpayers, for that matter) with impunity? Because that is what homeopaths and other SCAMmers basically do.