"Help" for Homeopaths

(Picture: Sugar Pills by distillated, Creative Commons License)
@swaldman spotted an interesting tweet by @Skepticat_UK recently, encouraging us to help out by filling in a survey.

After a bit of doubt about whether to respond to this at all (and lots of discussion on that point with various friends) I have taken the few minutes required to state my views! I was particularly impressed by a friend's clever and concise comment, to back up a "Not allowed" response to question 6, below: "The plural of "anecdote" is not "statistically valid data". Much shorter and wittier than my comment! (If the author sees this, and wishes to identify him/herself in a comment, please feel free!)

I am not alone in blogging about this: for example, see Niklas Smith's piece - spotted while I was googling to get a source for what the Advertising Standards Authority has really said about homeopathy (more at The Quackometer - the ASA's rules for health-related advertisers is available at the Copy Advice website). If you know of others, please leave links in a comment, and I will check them out. Maybe someone could collate, and publish a book!

My responses to the survey are below: I encourage you to make YOUR views known! (The bold text below is taken from the survey text, the responses and comments are mine, as are the links to organisations mentioned in the survey). I wonder if we will ever hear about the results?

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Homeopathy as a profession is under attack from groups such as Sense about Science and groups such as the Nightingale Collaboration.

This Research will gauge public opinion as to the amount of information that the public and prospective patients wish to be able to access from professionally Qualified Practitioners only.

1. Do you know what Homeopathy is?
Response: Yes

2. If you had a health concern, would you consider supplementing conventional medicine with alternative medicine such as Homeopathy?
Response: No

3. Have you ever taken a Homeopathic Remedy?
Response: No

4. Qualified Homeopaths are no longer permitted to explain how Homeopathy works or offer any evidence on their websites because of a ruling by the Advertising Standards Agency.

Do you think Homeopaths should be allowed to explain how Homeopathy works?
Response: No
Comment:
I find it hard to believe that the situation is as described in the question. If there were real evidence, the ASA could not prevent publication on websites. (Although since it is impossible that homeopathy works, allowing advertising to suggest that it does should not be allowed.)

5. Qualified Homeopaths are no longer allowed to state which medical conditions they treat.
If you visited a Homeopaths website, would you find it useful or not useful to know which conditions they can treat?
Response: Not useful.
Comment:
It would not be useful because there are no circumstances under which would I ever consult a homeopath. (However, this is a hypothetical question for me, as I would not, except inadvertently, ever visit a homeopath's website.)

6. Qualified Homeopaths are no longer allowed to give testimonials from genuine patients if those patients want to state that their health has improved as a result of homeopathy.

(Testimonials means comments only from verifiable, genuine patients)

Do you think testimonials giving details of improvement from genuine patients should be not allowed or allowed?
Response: Not allowed.
Comment:
Neither testimonial givers, nor those reading testamonials, can know whether or not homeopathy was responsible for their improved health, rather than other factors (or, in some cases, whether their perception is a reliable indicator that their health has actually improved; and, if it has, whether the improvement is for a meaningful length of time).

7. Why do you think Homeopaths are being treated in this way?
Comment:
Because it is appropriate to treat people who cannot scientifically substantiate their practices in this way, to avoid vulnerable people being misled.