By Royal Appointment
The supplier of homeopathy to the Queen is under investigation:
The company, Ainsworths, has been accused of “quackery” for supplying bottles of pills labelled as “Swine Flu Formula” for people suffering from the disease.
The British Medical Association (BMA) warned it would be dangerous if the treatment caused people to delay seeking medical help and said the pills should not be used as an alternative to conventional treatment.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has announced that one of its enforcement teams will examine the company’s claims over the effects the pills can have.
Ainsworths has been granted a Royal Warrant by the Queen and Prince Charles, who are both said to be supporters of homeopathy. Warrants are issued to individuals or companies who have supplied goods or services to the Royal Family for at least five years.
Its treatment is in the form of small “sugar pills”, which dissolve under the tongue. It is sold in £7 bottles, containing 50 pills, which can be bought on the company’s website or over the counter of its central London store.
The current monarch keeps a dignified silence on matters such as these. The generally anti-science Prince Charles on the other hand does not. His Foundation for Integrated Health has produced misleading information about alternative medicine, and he has an addiction to snake oil.
Like the cigarette manufacturers who ignored the science that showed the harms of their products, the purveyors of homeopathy similarly ignore the science that shows their products have no effect. At one time cigarettes carried the Royal Warrant. Due in part to Prince Charles “by Royal Appointment” was removed from Silk Cut and Benson and Hedges in 1999. Perhaps next century we might see “by Royal Appointment” removed from quackery
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