homeopathy
MORE than £150,000 was spent by NHS Grampian on homeopathic treatments last year. Referrals to homeopathic practitioners cost £37,000 and referrals to the Glasgow Homoeopathic Hospital cost £7,315 in 2014-15. In view of the fact that highly diluted homeopathic remedies are pure placebos, any amount of tax payers’ money spent on homeopathy is hard to justify. Yet an NHS Grampian spokeswoman defended its use of by the health board with the following words:
“We have a responsibility to consider all treatments available to NHS patients to ensure they offer safe, effective and person-centred care. We also have a responsibility to use NHS resources carefully and balance our priorities across the population as well as individuals. We also recognise that patient reported outcome and experience measures are valued even when objective evidence of effectiveness is limited. Homeopathy can be considered in this arena and we remain connected with the wider debate on its role within the NHS while regularly reviewing our local support for such services within NHS Grampian.”
Mr Spence, a professional homeopath, was also invited to defend the expenditure on homeopathy: “When a friend started talking to me about homeopathy I thought he had lost his marbles. But it seemed homeopathy could fill a gap left by orthodox medicine. Homeopathy is about treating the whole person, not just the symptoms of disease, and it could save the NHS an absolute fortune. If someone is in a dangerous situation or they need surgery then they need to go to hospital. It’s often those with chronic, long-term problems where conventional treatment has not worked that can be helped by homeopathy.”
What do these arguments amount to, I ask myself.
The answer is NOTHING.
The key sentence in the spokeswomen’s comment is : “patient reported outcome and experience measures are valued even when objective evidence of effectiveness is limited.” This seems to admit that the evidence fails to support homeopathy. Therefore, so the argument, we have to abandon evidence and consider experience, opinion etc. This seemingly innocent little trick is nothing else than the introduction of double standards into health care decision making which could be used to justify the use of just about any bogus therapy in the NHS at the tax payers’ expense. It is obvious that such a move would be a decisive step in the wrong direction and to the detriment of progress in health care.
The comments by the homeopath are perhaps even more pitiful. They replace arguments with fallacies and evidence with speculation or falsehoods.
There is, of course, a bright side to this:
IF HOMEOPATHY IS DEFENDED IN SUCH A LAUGHABLE MANNER, ITS DAYS MUST BE COUNTED.
The nice thing about New Year is that one sometimes tries to get some order into the chaos of one’s files and thus finds things that were long forgotten. Such a thing, for instance, is the 1996 book ‘DURCH AEHNLICHES HEILEN‘ edited by the Austrian homeopath, Perter Koenig. It contains lots of uncritical, pro-homeopathy articles by homeopaths, but also an article I wrote upon invitation.
When I composed it, I had just started my research in Exeter after leaving my post in Vienna. The subject I had been asked to address was ‘THE PLACE OF HOMEOPATHY WITHIN MEDICAL SCHOOLS’. My short article arrives at the following conclusions (as it is in German, I did a quick translation):
What place does homeopathy have in medical schools? An extremely low one! Even homeopathic optimists cannot reasonably doubt this answer. And how can its position be improved? Only through systematic research! This research should best be conducted in cooperation between experienced homeopaths and university-based methodologists. It must fill the existing gaps in our current knowledge, particularly in respect to the proof of homeopathy’s clinical effectiveness, and the research methods must comply with the currently accepted quality standards. History demonstrates fairly clearly that conventional medicine has changed according to new knowledge. In homeopathy, such a demonstration is so far missing.
Would I change this conclusion now that 20 years worth of research is available?
Yes!
The cooperative evaluation of homeopathy that I had in mind has happened.
And what are its conclusion?
The Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NH&MRC) has made the most thorough and independent assessment of homeopathy in its history. On 11/3/2015, the NH&MRC has released its final report on homeopathy. In essence, it concluded that there is no scientific basis for homeopathy and no quality evidence of its efficacy: Homeopathy should not be used to treat health conditions that are chronic, serious, or could become serious. People who choose homeopathy may put their health at risk if they reject or delay treatments for which there is good evidence for safety and effectiveness. People who are considering whether to use homeopathy should first get advice from a registered health practitioner. Those who use homeopathy should tell their health practitioner and should keep taking any prescribed treatments.
In view of this, I would today revise my conclusions as follows:
What place does homeopathy have in medical schools? Its place is in the history books of medicine! Even homeopathic optimists cannot reasonably doubt this answer. Systematic research in cooperation between experienced homeopaths and university-based methodologists complying with the currently accepted quality standards has filled the gaps in our knowledge, particularly in respect to the proof of homeopathy’s clinical effectiveness. Now it is up to homeopaths to demonstrate that they are sufficiently responsible to adapt to this new knowledge in the best interest of their patients. If they don’t, they cannot be considered to be members of the community of ethical health care professionals.
It is Christmas time – one cannot possibly fail to realise it, if only by listening to the perennial reports about our hospitals and GP surgeries being over-stretched to breaking point.
Will we cope?
Sure we will – after all, we can rely on our homeopaths! Yet again, they are at the ready to help out and prevent a disaster.
What, you don’t believe me? But it must be true, just look at this tiny selection of what homeopaths currently say on the internet:
Where to begin… Let’s start with my favorite holiday event: Eating-To-Excess. From there we slide over to the Too-Much-Drinking Marathon, the Suicidal Depression Derby, the Slipping On Ice, Falling Off Ladders and Sleep Deprivation Triathlon… the World Series of Overwork, Tension Headaches, Anxiety About Seeing Your Relatives and… maybe we should just cancel this holiday altogether! Fortunately, homeopathy can help.
Stressed before Christmas? Well the good news is that many of these emotions can quickly be tackled with Homeopathy, helping you relax and get back into the swing of the festive season…
Here’s how homeopathy can help make your Christmas a happy one…Consultation fees vary from homeopath to homeopath – please ring us for details and to book an appointment.
Give the gift of health this Christmas with our Homeopathy Gift Sets. These sets have been carefully put together by registered homeopathy Jenny Livingstone M.A., R.S.Hom. There are three kits to choose from: the first aid kit for those little emergencies, the travellers kit for those on the road and for our mums to be – the birthing kit. The kits are priced at £45…
THE HOMEOPATHIC CHRISTMAS SURVIVAL KIT: Christmas is a great time for catching up with friends and family, taking time out to enjoy the festive season and of course partying! It can also be a time of stress physically and emotionally as we rally hard to create the perfect day and cope with situations outside our comfort zone. There is the pressure of shopping, dealing with relatives and in laws, coping with the cold weather conditions, worrying about finances, perhaps coping with feelings of sadness or loneliness and over indulging in food and wine which wreaks havoc on our digestive system. For these type of situations Homeopathy can help bring relief on a number of levels whether for acute periods of physical or emotional stress, or longer term it can be a great support for those grieving or suffering from depression or confidence issues.
Homeopathy can be very helpful and healing during this time of the year. I have heard some homeopaths talk about their practice being quite busy during the holiday months, November thru January. Issues, emotions, situations, responses, reactions, and physical complaints and concerns may come more to the surface than at other times of the year. Because they are more accessible and right there on the surface, it may be a good time to come for homeopathic care.
And whatever you do, don’t forget your pet: With Christmas time just around the corner, I thought it may be worthwhile to draw attention to some of the hazards that can face our pets during this festive season.
END OF QUOTES
Convinced? Well, I am!
It’s Christmas – so, let’s not be cynical!
If our health care does not break down completely this time, it surely is due to the altruistic sacrifice of the nation’s homeopath.
(My only worry is: how will we cope next year when those awful, nasty sceptics, scientist and rational thinkers will no doubt have succeeded in insisting that even homeopaths need evidence for their claims?)
HAPPY, HEALTHY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!!!
(And don’t forget your Nux Vomica for the detox next week)
Researching and reporting shocking stories like this one can only make me more enemies, I know. Yet I do think they need to be told; if we cannot learn from history, what hope is there?
I first became aware of Sigmund Rascher‘s work when I was studying the effects of temperature on blood rheology at the University of Munich. I then leant of Rascher’s unspeakably cruel experiments on exposing humans to extreme hypothermia in the Dachau concentration camp. Many of his ‘volunteers’ had lost their lives, and the SS-doctor Rascher later became the symbol of a ‘Nazi doctor from hell’. In 1990, R L Berger aptly described Rascher and his sadistic pseudo-science in his NEJM article:
“Sigmund Rascher was born in 1909. He started his medical studies in 1930 and joined both the Nazi party and the storm troopers (the SA) three years later. After a volunteer internship, Rascher served for three years as an unpaid surgical assistant. He was barred temporarily from the University of Munich for suspected Communist sympathies. In 1939, the young doctor denounced his physician father, joined the SS, and was inducted into the Luftwaffe. A liaison with and eventual marriage to Nini Diehl, a widow 15 years his senior who was a one-time cabaret singer but also the former secretary and possibly mistress of the Reichsführer, gained Rascher direct access to Himmler. A strange partnership evolved between the junior medical officer and one of the highest officials of the Third Reich. One week after their first meeting, Rascher presented a “Report on the Development and Solution to Some of the Reichsführer’s Assigned Tasks During a Discussion Held on April 24, 1939.” The title of this paper foretold the character of the ensuing relationship between the two men. Because of Rascher’s servile and ingratiating approach to Himmler, his “connections were so strong that practically every superior trembled in fear of the intriguing Rascher who consequently held a position of enormous power.
Rascher’s short investigative career included a leading role in the infamous high-altitude experiments on humans at Dachau, which resulted in 70 to 80 deaths. He was also involved in testing a plant extract as a cure for cancer. The genesis of this project illustrates Rascher’s style and influence. Professor Blome, the deputy health minister and plenipotentiary for cancer research, favored testing the extract in mice. Rascher insisted on experiments in humans. Himmler sided with Rascher. A Human Cancer Testing Station was set up at Dachau. The deputy health minister collaborated on the project, held approximately 20 meetings with Rascher, and visited the junior officer at Dachau several times.
Another of Rascher’s major research efforts focused on the introduction of a pectin-based preparation, Polygal, to promote blood clotting. He predicted that the prophylactic use of Polygal tablets would reduce bleeding from wounds sustained in combat or during surgical procedures. The agent was also recommended for the control of spontaneous gastrointestinal and pulmonary hemorrhages. Combat wounds were simulated by the amputation of the viable extremities of camp prisoners without anesthesia or by shooting the prisoners through the neck and chest.
Rascher also claimed that oral premedication with Polygal minimized bleeding during major surgical procedures, rendering hemostatic clips or ligatures unnecessary and shortening operating times. He published an enthusiastic article about his clinical experience with Polygal, without specifying the nature of some of the trials in humans. The paper concluded, “The tests of this medicine ‘Polygal 10’ showed no failures under the most varied circumstances.” Rascher also formed a company to manufacture Polygal and used prisoners to work in the factory. A prisoner who was later liberated testified that Rascher’s enthusiasm for Polygal’s antiinfectious properties was probably sparked by news of the introduction of penicillin by the Allies and by his eagerness to reap fame and receive the award established for inventing a German equivalent. He initiated experiments in humans apparently without any preliminary laboratory testing. In one experiment, pus was injected into the legs of prisoners. The experimental group was given Polygal. The controls received no treatment. Information filtered to Dr. Kurt Plotner, Rascher’s physician rival, that the controls were given large, deep subcutaneous inoculations, whereas the victims in the experiments received smaller volumes of pus injected intracutaneously. Plotner reportedly investigated the matter and discovered that the Polygal used was saline colored with a fluorescent dye.
The frequent references to Rascher in top-level documents indicate that this junior medical officer attracted extraordinary attention from Germany’s highest officials. His work was reported even to Hitler, who was pleased with the accounts. Rascher was not well regarded in professional circles, however, and his superiors repeatedly expressed reservations about his performance. In one encounter, Professor Karl Gebhardt, a general in the SS and Himmler’s personal physician, told Rascher in connection with his experiments on hypothermia through exposure to cold air that “the report was unscientific; if a student of the second term dared submit a treatise of the kind [Gebhardt] would throw him out.” Despite Himmler’s strong support, Rascher was rejected for faculty positions at several universities. A book by German scientists on the accomplishments of German aviation medicine during the war devoted an entire chapter to hypothermia but failed to mention Rascher’s name or his work.”
For those who can stomach the sickening tale, a very detailed biography of Rascher is available here.
I had hoped to never hear of this monster of a man again – yet, more recently, I came across Rascher in the context of alternative medicine. Rascher had been brought up in Rudolf Steiner’s anthroposophical tradition, and his very first ‘research’ project was on a alternantive blood test developed in anthroposophy.
A close friend of Rascher, the anthroposoph and chemist Ehrenfried Pfeiffer had developed a bizarre diagnostic method using copper chloride crystallization of blood and other materials. This copper chloride biocrystallization (CCBC) became the subject of Rascher’s dissertation in Munich. Rascher first tried the CCBC for diagnosing pregnancies and later for detecting early cancer (incidentally, he conducted this work in the very same building where I worked for many years, about half a century later). The CCBC involves a visual evaluation of copper crystals which form with blood or other fluids; the method is, of course, wide open to interpretation. Bizarrely, the CCBC is still used by some anthroposophical or homeopathic doctors today – see, for instance, this recent article or this website, this website or this website which explains:
“Hierbei werden einige Tropfen Blut mit Kupferchlorid in einer Klimakammer zur Kristallisation gebracht.
Jahrzehntelange Erfahrung ermöglicht eine ganz frühe Hinweisdiagnostik sowohl für alle Funktionsschwächen der Organe, auch z.B. der Drüsen, als auch für eine Krebserkrankung. Diese kann oft so früh erkannt werden, daß sie sich mit keiner anderen Methode sichern läßt.” My translation: “A few drops of blood are brought to crystallisation with copper chloride in a climate chamber. Decades of experience allow a very early diagnosis of all functional weaknesses of the organs and glands as well as of cancer. Cancer can often be detected earlier than with any other method.”
The reference to ‘decades of experience’ is more than ironic because the evidence suggesting that the CCBC might be valid originates from Rascher’s work in the 1930s; to the best of my knowledge no other ‘validation’ of the CCBC has ever become available. With his initial thesis, Rascher had produced amazingly positive results and subsequently lobbied to get an official research grant for testing the CCBC’s usefulness in cancer diagnosis. Intriguingly, he had to disguise the CCBC’s connection to anthroposophy; even though taken by most other alternative medicines, the Nazis had banned the Steiner cult.
Most but not all of Rascher’s research was conducted in the Dachau concentration camp where in 1941 a research unit was established in ‘block 5’ which, according to Rascher’s biographer, Sigfried Baer, contained his department and a homeopathic research unit led by Hanno von Weyherns and Rudolf Brachtel (1909-1988). I found the following relevant comment about von Weyherns: “Zu Jahresbeginn 1941 wurde in der Krankenabteilung eine Versuchsstation eingerichtet, in der 114 registrierte Tuberkulosekranke homöopathisch behandelt wurden. Leitender Arzt war von Weyherns. Er erprobte im Februar biochemische Mittel an Häftlingen.” My translation: At the beginning of 1941, an experimental unit was established in the sick-quarters in which 114 patients with TB were treated homeopathically. The chief physician was von Weyherns. In February, he tested Schuessler Salts [a derivative of homeopathy still popular in Germany today] on prisoners.
Today, all experts believe Rascher’s results, even those on CCBC, to be fraudulent. Rascher seems to have been not merely an over-ambitious yet mediocre physician turned sadistic slaughterer of innocent prisoners, he also was a serial falsifier of research data. It is likely that his fraudulent thesis on the anthroposophic blood test set him off on a life-long career of consummate research misconduct.
Before the end of the Third Reich, Rascher lost the support of Himmler and was imprisoned for a string of offences which were largely unrelated to his ‘research’. He was eventually brought back to the place of his worst atrocities, the concentration camp in Dachau. Days before the liberation of the camp by the US forces, Rascher was executed under somewhat mysterious circumstances. In my view, the CCBC should have vanished with him.
The US homeopath Alan V Schmukler has been the subject of one post on this blog already. Here, to remind everyone, is his fascinating background again:
He attended Temple University, where he added humanistic psychology to his passions. After graduating Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa and President’s Scholar, he spent several years doing workshops in human relations. Alan also studied respiratory therapy and worked for three years at Einstein Hospital in Philadelphia. Those thousands of hours in the intensive care and emergency rooms taught him both the strengths and limitations of conventional medicine.
Schmukler eventually learned about homeopathy in 1991 when he felt he had been cured of an infection with Hepar sulphur, his very own ‘homeopathic epiphany’, it seems. He then founded the Homeopathic Study Group of Metropolitan Philadelphia and helped found and edit Homeopathy News and Views, a popular newsletter. He taught homeopathy for Temple University’s Adult Programs, and has been either studying, writing, lecturing or consulting on homeopathy since 1991. Today, he is Chief Editor of Hpathy.com and of Homeopathy4Everyone and says that his work as Editor is one of his most rewarding experiences.
Schmukler is clearly well-placed to comment on all aspects of homeopathy competently and with great vision. What he says must be taken seriously. And that includes his profound and well-researched opinions regarding homeopathy’s critics. The most recent article by Schmukler is entitled ‘WHEN THE GAME IS OVER’ and it discloses the truth and nothing but the truth about these critics and the worldwide conspiracy against homeopathy. Here is an excerpt from his revelations:
…we still find homeopathy being attacked as placebo, mostly by government officials, academics and the press. There are essentially two categories of critics. The first category consists of individuals who are totally ignorant of homeopathy and just repeating propaganda they’ve been exposed to. The second category is people who know that homeopathy works, but have a vested financial interest in destroying it. When you read about attacks on homeopathy, you have to ask yourself whether you are dealing with pure ignorance, or deceit. Those who deny homeopathy from deceit use the same tactics as those who deny global warming. Just as global warming deniers are financed by the petroleum industry, homeopathy deniers are financed by the pharmaceutical industry. They engage in the same tactics of misinformation using surrogates in academia, in the media and in government.
So here we have it!
Two categories of critics!!!
THE IGNORANT and THE CORRUPT!
I am so glad Schmukler did find this out through his research and said it with such clarity. It needed to se said! And I am surprised how simple it all becomes, once one has the guidance from someone in the know.
The opposition to homeopathy has nothing to do with evidence (and as evidence does not come into it, there is also no need to supply evidence for Schmukler’s statements, of course), as some might have speculated. Instead, it all is a huge conspiracy. Makes sense! Why did we not think of this myself?
I applaud Schmukler for putting the defence of homeopathy to a level which must be a new low.
In 1790, as Hahnemann was translating the Scottish physician’s, Cullen, ‘Treatise on Materia Medica’, he came across the passage where Cullen explains the actions of Peruvian (or China bark, [Cinchona officinalis]) which contains quinine, an effective treatment of malaria. Hahnemann disagreed with Cullen’s explanation that Cinchona worked through “a tonic effect on the stomach”. Therefore he decided to conduct experiments of his own to prove Cullen wrong.
Hahnemann thus ingested high doses of Cinchona and noticed that subsequently he developed several of the symptoms that are characteristic of malaria. This is how Hahnemann later described his experience:
I took for several days, as an experiment, four drams of good china daily. My feet and finger tips, etc., at first became cold; I became languid and drowsy; my pulse became hard and quick; an intolerable anxiety and trembling (but without rigor); trembling in all limbs; then pulsation in the head, redness in the cheeks, thirst; briefly, all those symptoms which to me are typical of intermittent fever, such as the stupefaction of the senses, a kind of rigidity of all joints, but above all the numb, disagreeable sensation which seems to have its seat in the periosteum over all the bones of the body – all made their appearance. This paroxysm lasted for two or three hours every time, and recurred when I repeated the dose and not otherwise. I discontinued the medicine and I was once more in good health.
Hahnemann repeated this experiment several times and eventually concluded that he had discovered something of great general importance: there seemed to be a similarity between the symptoms of a disease and the symptoms caused by the drug that is effective in treating that very disease.
After several more experiments, Hahnemann became convinced that he had, in fact, discovered a law of nature: similia similibus currentur (often translated as ‘like cures like’ yet meaning ‘like should be cured with like’). This became the basis of homeopathy and is, in fact, its definition.
In 1796, Hahnemann published his theory in an article entitled ‘Essay on a New Principle’. In 1806, he wrote a more detailed treatise ‘The Medicine of Experience’ and, in 1810, the first edition of his major work ‘The Organon’ followed. He continued to revise his ‘Organon’ throughout his long life, which thus saw a total of six editions (the last was only published well after his death).
Since Hahnemann’s days, several attempts have been made to reproduce Hahnemann’s quinine experiment. The results of the most rigorous of these replications have failed to confirm Hahnemann’s original findings: neither Cinchona bark nor its main ingredient, quinine, produce the symptoms of malaria in health individuals.
And what is the explanation?
The dose Hahnemann took contained about 400 to 500 milligrams of quinine. After ingesting it, he felt languid and drowsy (hypotension); he noticed palpitations (ventricular tachycardia), pulsation in the head (headache), redness in cheeks (rash), prostration through limbs (general weakness), thirst (fever) and cold fingers and feet with trembling which are indicative of an allergic reaction. One has to praise Hahnemann’s skills of (self-) observations. Unfortunately, his ability to interpret them correctly was, at least in this particular instance, wanting.
The most likely cause of his symptoms is, according to many experts who have analysed the case in much detail, an allergic reaction to quinine. Hahnemann described his symptoms accurately, yet he was mistaken in his interpretation of the event.
If this conclusion is correct – and I have little doubt that it is – the main assumption of homeopathy, the notion on which the entire school of homeopathy rests, is based on a misunderstanding.
Some time ago, when we published our systematic review about the adverse effects associated with homeopathic remedies, there was an outcry of critics stating that it is not rational to claim, on the one hand, that homeopathic remedies are so dilute that they contain nothing and therefore do nothing and, on the other hand, that homeopathic remedies can cause side-effects. These people should, of course, have known better, but I admit it can be a little confusing. So, let me explain.
Every homeopathic remedy starts as a ‘mother tincture’. That is the undiluted stock prepared according to a homeopathic pharmacopoeia. The mother tincture is then diluted and shaken to give the first ‘potency’. Depending on the potency scale, this could be a ‘C1’ (1:100) or ‘D1’ (1:10). The resulting potency can be potentised again to give the second potency which can be potentised again to give the third potency. And this process of ‘serial dilution’ can be continued ad infinitum (the most common potency is the C30 which is a dilution of 30 times 1 : 100).
All of these remedies are by definition homeopathic, of course; even a mother tincture is strictly speaking a homeopathic remedy.
Now imagine we have a highly toxic stock, for instance, arsenic. This is by no means an extreme example, as many substances used in homeopathy are poisonous. A ‘D1’ of arsenic is both effective and dangerous: it is effective for killing rats and other unwanted creatures, and it is dangerous should a patient take it.
So, now we understand better why homeopathic remedies can, contrary to a common myth, cause direct adverse effects (in addition to the scenario outlined above, they can also be contaminated or adulterated, of course). We also realise that the ‘experts’ who protested against our review of side-effects of homeopathic remedies were either ignorant or stupid or both. Most importantly, we understand, I hope, that when we speak or write about the ineffectiveness of homeopathic remedies, we of course mean those that are too dilute to have any effect at all – and these are certainly the vast majority.
A ‘RAZOR’ is an argument for “shaving off” unlikely or implausible explanations or arguments. Who would, in this context, not think of alternative therapies and the explanations provided for them? And who could deny that homeopathy, in particular, is crying out for its very own razor?
I am, of course, inspired by 4 existing razors:
Occam’s Razor: Among competing hypotheses, the one with the fewest assumptions is likely to be the correct one.
Hitchens’s Razor: What can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.
Hanlon’s Razor: Never attribute to malice what can adequately explained by stupidity.
Alder’s Razor: What cannot be settled by experiment is not worth debating.
To those of my readers who fail to see the relationship to homeopathy, I offer the following explanations:
OCCAM
Homeopaths claim that the explanation for homeopathy’s mode of action is the ‘memory of water’ theory which is now supported, they say, by all sorts of basic science from water structure to nano-particles. Even if true [which it is not], this explanation relies on a whole series of further assumptions, for instance, about how nano-particles bring about any clinical outcome. The competing hypothesis is that the benefit experienced by patients after homeopathy is due to non-specific or context effects such as the placebo effect, the empathetic consultation etc. We have therefore one single hypothesis (i. e. homeopathy works via non-specific effects which is even supported by experimental data) against a myriad of postulates which are largely speculative. Occam’s Razor holds that the explanation with the least assumptions is likely to be correct.
HITCHENS
Homeopaths claim that their remedies are more than a placebo. To support their claim, they have no good evidence but rely on cherry-picking and misrepresenting the available data. Hitchen’s Razor suggests that, as long as they don’t come up with evidence, we can dismiss these claims without even attempting to prove the cherry-pickers wrong.
HANLON
Homeopaths have given us plenty of evidence (for instance, on this blog) for the fact that they often have a somewhat disturbed relationship with the truth. One might think that this is because they are maliciously trying to mislead us. According to Halon’s Razor, it is more likely that they are just stupid.
ALDER
Homeopaths regularly claim that, as long as there is no proof that homeopathy does not work, there must be an open debate about the issues involved and, as long as there are genuine debates and doubts, we must continue to make homeopathy available to all. Alder’ s Razor, however, suggests otherwise: there have been many tests of homeopathy; their results have failed to settle the matter in favour of homeopathy; therefore we can forget about the whole thing, stop debating it, and close the issue.
So, what about the razor promised in the title of this post? Here it comes; it is an attempt to synthesize the 4 razors above and apply them to homeopathy. I will call it (somewhat pompously) ‘Ernst’s Razor’ and I have tried to formulate it such that it can be applied to most other bogus treatments simply by exchanging one single word:
INSTEAD OF RELYING ON EVIDENCE, HOMEOPATHY’S SURVIVAL DEPENDS ON MULTIPLE ASSUMPTIONS, LIES, IGNORANCE AND STUPIDITY.
Recently I have focussed several posts on well-known homeopaths and proponents of homeopathy; they include 6 prominent defenders of this therapy:
Dr Peter Fisher, the Queen’s homeopath,
Dr Michael Dixon, GP, chair of the NHS Alliance, the College of Medicine and holder of many other posts,
Prof Michael Frass, intensive care physician at the University of Vienna,
Christian Boiron, general manager of Boiron, the world’s largest homeopathic manufacturer,
Christophe Merville, lead pharmacist at Boiron,
Dana Ullman, US homeopath and entrepreneur.
This inevitably begs the question what these people might have in common. After some consideration, I think, there are the following common denominators (you might see others; if so, please let me know):
- Most have conflicts of interest, yet try to hide this fact as best as they can, a circumstance which could be seen as less than honest.
- Most are quick of accusing critics of homeopathy of dishonesty and harbour conspiracy theories of various kinds.
- Most seem unable to think critically.
- They never criticise each other, not even for demonstrably wrong remarks or actions.
- Most use fallacious arguments regularly.
- Most rely on cherry-picking their evidence.
- Most display anti-scientific tendencies, yet rely on ‘cutting edge science’ as soon as they can interpret it in favour of homeopathy.
- They seem to be unable to learn in the light of new evidence.
- They seem never able to change their mind about things related to homeopathy.
- This gives them a distinct flair of fanaticism and arrogance.
- Most seem to have an odd attitude towards medical ethics.
- Most try to mislead the public by claiming things which are evidently not true.
The last point is, in my view, the most striking, important and disturbing issue. I ask myself what reasons these individuals have to tell untruths and whether ‘telling untruths’ is the same as ‘telling lies’. The first part of this question seems to be answered by the fact that most have powerful conflicts of interest; that is to say their livelihood depends on misleading the public about homeopathy. But are they lying or telling untruths?
This is a potentially important difference, I think.
An untruth is a statement which is false. By contrast, a lie is a false statement made with deliberate intent to deceive. So, are the untruths issued by the above-named homeopaths lies or untruths?
I would not dare to decide on the answer of this question…but hope my readers have some suggestions.
A recent article in the LIVERPOOL ECHO caught my eye. It is about the possibility that the NHS in Liverpool might stop funding their homeopathy service . Maybe I should read the LIVERPOOL ECHO more often, because the short article is most revealing.
It first cites the chairman of the local NHS Clinical Commissioning Group, Dr Nadim Fazlani saying that “There is little evidence that homeopathy has a clinical benefit so, as a governing body, our preferred option would be to stop commissioning this service. However, it is important that the people have an opportunity to provide their views before a decision is made.”
Fair enough!
I would like to mention, however, that health care is not a beauty contest or a supermarket shelve. We don’t have popular votes for bone marrow transplants or bypass surgery either. Why? Not because we don’t believe in democracy but because the general public cannot possibly understand medicine well enough. This is why we send some of our kids to medical school and other institutions to help us comprehend and eventually take responsible decisions for us. It is, I think, an ethical imperative to base important health care decisions of this nature on the best evidence and expertise, and it seems foolish to expect the public to have either.
Then the article in the LIVERPOOL ECHO quotes a statement of the Liverpool homeopathy service which is run by GPs Dr Hugh Nielsen and Dr Sue de Lacy: “The patients we see generally have long-standing, complex conditions that are often difficult to treat with conventional medicine. Yet regular audits of our clinic show a very high level of patient satisfaction, with patients consistently reporting an improvement in their health. As experienced doctors trained in homeopathy we see it working every day and that is why we believe Liverpool CCG – and more importantly the patients the CCG serves – is getting excellent value for the relatively small amount of funding the service receives.”
I find this interesting, not least because the arguments used by these two GPs are, in my view, miles better than those we have seen on this blog recently by Christian Boiron, Dana Ullman, Dr Michael Dixon or the Queen’s homeopath Dr Fisher all put together. At least they do not contain blatant lies!
This does not mean, however, that the arguments of the two homeopaths from Liverpool are convincing. They are not – for the following 4 reasons:
- True, long-standing, complex conditions are often difficult to treat with conventional medicine. But if they are difficult to treat with real medicine, they surely are even more difficult to treat with fake medicine.
- I have no problem believing that their audits show high level of patient satisfaction, with patients consistently reporting an improvement in their health. But we need to be quite clear that these effects are not brought about by the homeopathic remedies which contain zero active ingredients. They are due to the compassion shown by these homeopath. If they prescribed real medicine in addition to providing compassion, their results would in all likelihood be even better.
- It is also true that an experienced doctor trained in homeopathy will see it working every day. But the ‘it’ refers not to the remedy, it relates to the compassion – and to convey compassion, we do not need bogus treatments.
- It is a little misleading to claim that homeopathy is ‘excellent value’. The remedies contain nothing but lactose, and £ 5-10 for a gram or two of lactose is jolly expensive! So, the remedies are over-priced placebos, and the consultations might be good value.
Despite these counter-arguments, I must congratulate these two GPs from Liverpool: they seem to be so much more honest and intelligent than the defenders of homeopathy mentioned above.
