Homeopathy is 'rubbish' and should not be available on the NHS, says Britain's 'top doctor' (clueless government appointee who has no idea what the body is, let alone how it works)
Friday, 25 January 2013 10:23
Homeopathy is 'rubbish' and shouldn't be available on the NHS, says Britain's top doctor
- NHS spends £4m a year on homeopathy treatments
- Alternative therapy involves treating 'like with like', using very diluted substances
- Dame Sally and the BMA say it is due to placebo effect
- Defenders say homeopathy has passed more clinical trials than it had failed
- Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Prince Charles have both endorsed treatment
Homeopathy was condemned as ‘rubbish’ by Britain’s chief medical officer yesterday, who admitted she is ‘perpetually surprised’ it is available on the NHS.
Professor Dame Sally Davies also described homeopaths as ‘peddlers’ and spoke of her concern that they can prescribe pills and potions to treat malaria and other illnesses.
Giving evidence to an influential committee of MPs, Dame Sally said that homeopathy doesn’t work past the placebo effect.
Homeopathy is based on the principle that 'like cures like', using very diluted substances. Scientists say they are unlikely to contain any of the original substance
Her outspoken views are in conflict with the policy of the Health Service, which spends around £4million a year on funding homeopathic hospitals and on prescriptions and referrals.
Homeopathy, which has the backing of Prince Charles, claims to prevent and treat diseases using diluted forms of plants, herbs and minerals.
It is based on the principle that an illness can be treated by substances that produce similar symptoms.
Outspoken medic Professor Dame Sally Davies, left, has described homeopathy as 'rubbish' despite the fact it has been endorsed by high profile figures such as Prince Charles, right
Asked about her views on homeopathy by the Commons science and technology committee, Dame Sally – a consultant haematologist, or specialist in blood diseases, at the Central Middlesex Hospital from 1985 until 2011 – said: ‘I’m very concerned when homeopathic practitioners try to peddle this way of life to prevent malaria or other infectious diseases.’
She added: ‘I am perpetually surprised that homeopathy is available on the NHS.’ Dame Sally concluded by saying homeopathy ‘is rubbish’. Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has endorsed homeopathy.
In 2007, while shadow minister for the disabled, he signed an early day motion backing its use on the NHS.
Fifteen per cent of Britons have used homeopathy at some point in their lives.
The exact amount of NHS spending on the discipline is unclear but various homeopathic associations say it is as high as £4million a year.
original article here
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