The placebo effect
THIS is taken from the website of the The Society of Homeopaths:
Scientifically it can not yet be explained precisely how homeopathy works…
So the question arises: why is the NHS funding it? If a treatment cannot be scientifically evaluated and proven to work, why is public money being used to dispense such treatment?
I have absolutely no problem at all with people using homeopathic medical treatments, and I’m prepared to believe that many do feel an improvement in their conditions as a result of that treatment.
But they should pay for it themselves.
The NHS, even at the best of times – and these are certainly not the best of times – cannot afford to provide such treatment. But have a look at this advert for a “Speciality Doctor in Homeopathy” based in Dundee.
The NHS does not have a bottomless pit of money on which to draw, and that means that valuable treatments and medicines which have been verified as effective will be denied to someone, somewhere in Scotland because of the establishment of this post.
That’s unacceptable. Even when the economic climate allows us to loosen the purse strings on health spending a bit, that money must not be spent on treatments that are no more effective than a placebo.