Tuesday, June 29, 2010

The Magical Thinking and Made-Up Science that is Homeopathy - BBC 2010-06-29

Nick Triggle reports, in "Doctors Call For NHS to Stop Funding Homeopathy" [2010-06-29]:

"the NHS should stop funding homeopathy and it should no longer be marketed as a medicine in pharmacies, doctors say [...who] voted on the issue at the British Medical Association's annual conference [...they] dismissed the highly-diluted remedies as 'nonsense' and potentially harmful to patients as it can lead them to shunning conventional medicines [...] Dr. Mary McCarthy, a GP from Shropshire, said there was no evidence from hundreds of trials that homeopathy worked beyond the placebo effect [...] 'we risk as a society slipping back into a state of magical thinking when made-up science passes for rational discourse.' Peter Bamber, from the BMA's consultants committee, added: 'if you want to buy a bottle of water go to the supermarket.'"

Note: 'made-up' science is also called pseudoscience, IMHO!

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