It's open season for those who wish to blast homeopathy into extinction.
The recent LMCs conference, Scottish BMA Young Doctors Conference and the Commons science and technology committee have all determined NHS homeopathy should be scrapped.
I'm not a homeopath. I'm a GP who uses homeopathy with acupuncture, listening, advising and drugs to help my patients. If I was unable to use my homeopathic knowledge,
a number of my patients would be worse off, as they have benefited when conventional treatments have failed. It's not the placebo effect. Every doctor/patient consultation involves the placebo effect – not just the voodoo stuff.
Evidence-based medicine, the standard of the science lobby, is missing in 80% of what we GPs do. And side-effects? EBM produces evidence of what drugs can treat, not what drugs can do.
I was taught that medicine is a science but also an art. If homeopathy is removed from the NHS, 0.08% of its drugs budget will be saved. But I will have to send patients who have benefited to consultant after consultant and prescription after prescription in search of relief. Might cost a bit.
Dr Graham Jagger, Salisbury, Wiltshire. Primary Care Representative, Board of Faculty of Homeopathy
