Homeopathy is witchcraft, say UK docs
Describing homeopathy as “witchcraft”, a body of junior doctors in Britain has voted overwhelmingly to seek a blanket ban on the practice of the alternative medicine.
Hundreds of members of the British Medical Association (BMA) have passed a motion denouncing the practice of homeopathy, saying taxpayers should not foot bills for remedies which have no scientific basis to support them. They demanded an end to all placements for trainee doctors who teach them homeopathic principles.
Dr Tom Dolphin, deputy chairman of the BMA’s junior doctors committee in England told the conference: “Homeopathy is witchcraft. It is a disgrace that nestling between the National Hospital for Neurology and Great Ormond Street in London there is a National Hospital for Homeopathy which is paid for by the NHS.”
The motion could become the official policy of the organisation if it is agreed upon by their full conference in June. Latest figures show that 54,000 patients are treated each year at four NHS homeopathic hospitals in London, Glasgow, Bristol and Liverpool, at a cost of ÂŁ4 million. A fifth hospital in Tunbridge Wells in Kent was forced to close in 2009 when local NHS funders stopped paying for treatments.
The BMA had previously expressed scepticism about homeopathy, arguing that the rationing body — the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, should examine the evidence base and make a definitive ruling about the use of homeopathic remedies in the NHS. Crystal Summer, chief executive of the British Homeopathic Association said attempts to stop the NHS funding alternative medicines ignored the views of the public, especially patients with chronic conditions.
“Homeopathy helps thousands of people who are not helped by conventional care. We don’t want it to be a substitute for mainstream care, but when people are thinking about making cuts to funding, I think they need to consider public satisfaction, and see that homeopathy has a place in medicine,” she said.
She said junior doctors’ call for an end to any training placements based in homeopathic hospitals ignored the lessons alternative medicine could provide in terms of how to diagnose patients. —PTI
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