Posted on 13 July, 2020 by majikthyse
One thing leads to another, and with each step I am angrier. It started with a Twitter tip-off about a video on Facebook recommending homeopathy for coronavirus symptoms. Of course, homeopathic remedies are prescribed totally on the basis of symptoms, as homeopaths have no way of knowing any better, so nothing remarkable about that as such. But the video was made by Dr Elizabeth Thompson, a registered medical doctor, and apparently a consultant at University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust. I am not on Facebook and have no desire to be, and the video may have gone now. But it popped up at the same time at the National Centre for Integrative Medicine. At this point I need to explain a bit of history.
Continue reading →
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Advertising Standards Authority, general medical council, homeopathy | 6 Comments »
Posted on 12 May, 2018 by majikthyse
I don’t blog very often, but when I do……
Here in Salisbury we have a homeopathy college. I’ve mentioned it before, as it hires premises from St Thomas’s church, which sees no problem with telling lies about how the body works. I noticed that the college was running an open day, to recruit more students. The event was today, so I booked in. Continue reading →
Filed under: Charities, Education, Homeopathy | Tagged: homeopathy, training | 6 Comments »
Posted on 20 October, 2017 by majikthyse
I have for some time been critical of the GMC’s acquiescence over doctors who practise quackery, but I’m concerned now at how it seems to be getting into bed with them. I just came across an `oncologist and professor of Chinese medicine‘ and phoned the GMC for advice as to whether they would regulate such a person – who is not apparently registered to practise in the UK. It was an odd conversation, which I have followed up with this email to the GMC: Continue reading →
Filed under: Alternative medicine, Evidence-based medicine, Homeopathy, Medical regulation | Tagged: general medical council, herbal medicine, homeopathy | 2 Comments »
Posted on 19 August, 2017 by majikthyse
For many years I have strongly supported the Advertising Standards Authority. It is staffed by excellent people who know the difference between real medicine and quackery, and between evidence and opinion. When necessary they are not slow to call in expert help, and their decisions are usually robust and evidence-based. Continue reading →
Filed under: Alternative medicine, Homeopathy | Tagged: ASA, Education, homeopathy | 5 Comments »
Posted on 30 May, 2017 by majikthyse
The oldest church here in Salisbury is St Thomas’. The C of E is of course a major landowner, a tradition followed here, with the church owning the adjacent St Thomas’ House just across the square. I knew that the prestigious (!) Salisbury Homeopathy College ran its events there, and recently learned about a course entitled “Autism Spectrum Disorder and Homeopathy”, conducted by one Mike Andrews who has written a book of the same title. Continue reading →
Filed under: Alternative medicine, Education, Homeopathy, Religion, Uncategorized | Tagged: autism, church, homeopathy | 10 Comments »
Posted on 31 March, 2017 by majikthyse
I suppose it would be too much to expect the quacks to interpret correctly the legal framework for advertising. Heaven knows they have scant regard for the truth when plugging their snake oils. So I am going to explain what I have learned about the regulation of advertising, especially why what the quacks say about the Advertising Standards Authority is wrong. Continue reading →
Filed under: Alternative medicine, Homeopathy, Law, Uncategorized, What Doctors Don't Tell You | Tagged: alternative, ASA, homeopathy, Trading Standards | 2 Comments »
Posted on 30 December, 2016 by majikthyse
The old Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain laboured for years under a serious conflict of interest. It supported pharmacists in their role as high street shopkeepers (inter alia), and at the same time purported to regulate them as health care professionals. So it split into two bodies, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) and the General Pharmaceutical Council (RPhC). A nice clean break surely? Well no, and here is why. Continue reading →
Filed under: Alternative medicine, Homeopathy, Medical regulation | Tagged: EU Regulation, homeopathy, pharmacist | 4 Comments »
Posted on 6 October, 2016 by majikthyse
Do we have any health care regulators who do their job properly? Months ago I came across a pharmacist called Christine Glover, who runs Glovers Integrated Healthcare. Any use of the word `integrated’ usually means quackery of some kind, and this is one of those. But I really wonder how Mrs Glover copes with cognitive dissonance. She says she was “a former President of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society”. How did a respected professional body elect a quack as president? She regards ” illness as a set of physical symptoms”. Wrong, wrong, wrong, illness has causes of which homeopaths have not the slightest understanding. She sits on the advisory board of the Academy of Pharmaceutical Science. Science? How on earth does that align with homeopathy? NHS Choices says “There is no good-quality evidence that homeopathy is effective as a treatment for any health condition”. Continue reading →
Filed under: Alternative medicine, Homeopathy, Medical regulation, Uncategorized | Tagged: general pharmaceutical council, homeopathy, pharmacist | 1 Comment »
Posted on 19 February, 2016 by majikthyse
I was going to apologise for yet another post about the Charity Commission, but on reflection why should I? This is a serious matter and whatever I do the Commission seems more determined to look silly. You’ll recall that they have accepted that their internal guidance on complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) contains major errors of fact and logic, but that they refuse to update it. They did say however that my own review of the guidance would be circulated internally, as case officers also have to take into account updated information as well as approved guidance when making decisions. So I decided to see whether that had had any effect. Continue reading →
Filed under: Alternative medicine, Charities, Homeopathy, Law, Uncategorized | Tagged: Alternative medicine, CAM, cancer, charities, Charity Commission, homeopathy, WDDTY | 6 Comments »
Posted on 11 January, 2016 by majikthyse
Some things take time, and it’s rewarding to get even a tiny bit of progress. My effort to get the Charity Commission to introduce an evidence-based policy has at last reached the stage of a reasonably sensible dialogue, but not yet any meaningful action. To recap, there are several charities that make misleading health claims, homeopathy of course being a prime example. I have been asking the Commission why they granted charity status to these organisations, when they clearly fail the public benefit test. For the full back story read my posts here, here, here and here – in reverse order. Continue reading →
Filed under: Alternative medicine, Charities, Homeopathy | Tagged: Alternative medicine, CAM, charities, homeopathy | 2 Comments »