The dangers of homeopathy
Many people view homeopathy as rubbish, but do not ascribe to it severe adverse effects. However, in some cases it can endanger patients who chose not to use conventional medicine. One example is malaria prophylaxis. The BBC’s Newnight has reported on some of the advice given by homeopaths, here is one example of the advice given:
“The doctors have this big fear thing about malaria… obviously it is a nasty thing, but actually, as I say, you can prevent it with the remedies; and as you say, the tablets are really horrible. They’re very nasty, have nasty side effects, and I’ve seen quite a lot of patients who have had serious problems from them.”
Just before Christmas there was a debate about homeopathy in my professional journal, and I wrote a letter about the dangers of homeopathy in this area, but since the correspondance was coming to an end I decided not to submit my letter. Instead I produce it here, since it is of relevance.
Further to Lawrence Collin’s revelation [PDF] that homeopathy is used to treat malaria (PJ, 1st October 2005) I would like to remind people that homeopathic remedies have also been supplied for malaria prophylaxis.
The results appear somewhat disappointing. Carlson et al. report five cases of tourists who used homeopathic malaria preparations when visiting malarious zones. All of them contracted either Plasmodium ovale or Plasmodium falciparum.(1) Another tourist who used a homeopathic remedy Malaria officinalis 4 CH (charmingly made from “African swamp water containing impurities, algae and plants as well as mosquito slough, larvae and eggs.”, and one of the few times the principles of homeopathic dilutions appears to carry a logical benefit), spent 2 months in hospital with multiple system organ failure due to Plasmodium falciparum.(2)
In homeopathy lack of efficacy is a serious safety issue.
1. Carlsson T, Bergqvist L, Hellgren U. Homeopathic Resistant Malaria. J Travel Med. 1996; 3(1): 62.
2. Delaunay P, Cua E, Lucas P, Marty P. Homoeopathy may not be effective in preventing malaria. BMJ 2000; 321: 1288.
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There’s a discussion about this, with video clip, over at http://www.badscience.net/?p=260.
As eny fule kno, Hahnemann founded homeopathy on the basis that overdoses of quinine produced symptoms he thought mimicked malaria, so by using v small quantities, he could cure it. So cinchona bark isn’t really like other homeopathic remedies, in that it actually has an allopathic indication to treat the disease. Hahnemann was as being as scientific as many a physician at the time (people believed in the doctrine of signatures, for example, and I’m sure I recall a plan to measure time at sea by the idea of sympathetic pain – two dogs would be cut with the same knife, one dog goes to sea, the other stays at home. The home dog is cut at exactly midday with the “sympathetic” knife, and the sea-dog (sorry) would howl at that moment. May have got the details wrong there but you get my drift). Nor should we be historicist – ie assuming that everyone in the past was not as bright as us. But science has moved on, evidence has moved on (eg Avagadro’s number, germ theory, Ross et al on malaria). Ask a hoemopath the Popper question (what evidence would persuad you you were wrong), then decide if its really science.
Question. If I or my nearest and dearest took homeopathic prophylaxis or treatment prescribed/recommended by a homeopath who was also a registered health professional, could the homeopath be sued for negligence or arraigned before their professioanl body when I died/suffered, on the grounds that they owed me a duty of care, they breached it and the damage was reasonably forseeable? Even if they could get an “expert” to support them a la the Bolam test, surely the Court could take account of the overwhelming evidence that homeopathy doesn’t work?
Andy
Thanks for the link Andy. That is scary stuff.
[...] The reason I am reading Hahnemann’s Organon is because the increasing popularity of homeopathy means that it has become essential to ensure that health professionals are aware of its methods and the evidence base behind it. Yes, I am going to teach people about homeopathy (and a variety of other complementary therapies). I’m going to concentrate on the theory behind the therapies, the evidence base for their effectiveness and the potential risks. It should be interesting. [...]