“The British Homeopathic Association has been accused of misrepresenting scientific evidence on alternative medicine in documents it gave to a parliamentary inquiry.
The organisation claimed several scientific reviews offered support for homeopathy in material submitted to the cross-party science and technology select committee, which is holding an investigation into the products. Robert Mathie, a researcher at the BHA, said the reviews found evidence for a difference between homeopathic remedies and sugar pills, which contain no active ingredients.
But the claim has dismayed some of the scientists who wrote the reviews and angered MPs on the committee who are in the final stages of writing their report.
One review cited was written by Edzard Ernst, a scientist who investigates complementary medicine at the Penisula Medical School in Exeter. He said the BHA’s interpretation of his study was “grossly misleading” because they failed to mention important caveats published in the study. Another review, by Jean-Pierre Boissel at the Hospitals of Lyon and University Claude Bernard in France, was quoted as evidence that homeopathic treatments differ to placebos. Boissel said his conclusion was that homeopathy tended to fare worse in the best-designed studies.
“It is extremely disappointing to be fed misrepresentations of science, whether it’s deliberate or incompetence,” said Evan Harris MP, science spokesman for the Lib Dems and a member of the parliamentary committee.
Homeopathic treatments are usually made by diluting a substance so much there are no molecules of the original ingredient left. In November the chief pharmacist at Boots, Paul Bennett, told the inquiry he had no evidence that homeopathy works. At the weekend, hundreds of people took part in a “mass overdose” of homeopathic pills outside branches of Boots to protest against the company selling the products.
The row emerged as a survey for the medical journal, Pulse, found 80% of GPs want the Health Department to stop funding homeopathy on the NHS. Only 14% were in favour of the health service continuing to provide the treatments.”
Read more at The Guardian (Thanks Tammy)
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At last some sensible comment. Maybe the most worrying thing is that approximately one in six GP’s continue to support homeopathy in the face of incontravertable evidence.
This report is, in itself, misleading. If you dilute a substance in solution, as long as you keep all of the solution, it doesn’t matter how much water you add, it will still contain as many molecules of the ‘active’ ingredient as there were originally. It’s the fact that the sugar pills are dipped in the solution, only coming into contact with a small part of it, which *statistically* means none of the ‘active’ molecules are likely to be present on any given pill. I’ll get my coat.
gee, just like tobacco companies did!
Well, thats just the icing on the sugar pill cake
@simon: its impossible to keep all of the solution when creating homeopathic products because of the extreme dilution involved. less than 1 molecule in all the world’s oceans.
The name Edzard is not as good as Edward. Fluffy pills are no subsitute for scientific ones. If there is a real medical ailment and aloe vera etc. won’t cure it, best to get the real chemical rat tested up to date solution from a giant chain.
“Robert Mathie, a researcher at the BHA, said the reviews found evidence for a difference between homeopathic remedies and sugar pills, which contain no active ingredients.”
Erm, homeopathic remedies contain no active ingredients either. The homeopaths even admit this.