With thanks to the Deccan Chronicle 29.6.11:

The rivalry between allopathy and homeopathy has now assumed a filmy turn. A registered pharmacist has filed a public interest litigation in the Kerala High Court seeking to ban Malayalam movie Kana Kombathu saying it was creating an unnecessary scare about allopathy medicines. The petitioner, Mr Karakkad Rajasekharan Nair, said the film created the impression that even popping a paracetamol pill will give you deadly diseases in the long run.

“Its dialogues are aimed at portraying modern medical science as a demonic phenomenon and pharmacists and doctors as agents of imperialism,” he said. “The film says that allopaths are out to kill people.” Mr T.M. Subasah, the petitioner’s advocate, said the film, scripted by Madhu Muttom of Manichaitrathazhu fame, ended with the heroes triggering an explosion destroying a pharmaceutical factory. “The character played by Manoj K. Jayan then says that our society does not need allopathy and can survive with traditional medicines,” said Mr Subash.

The advocate added that on inquiry, he found that Kana Kombathu was produced by a homeopathy doctor who was also involved in running a homeo medicine firm. Mr Subhash said that the PIL had been filed before the HC Chief Justice citing section 5 of the 1952 Cinematography Act relating to defamation. The film, directed by newcomer Mahadevan, stars Mythili, Biju Menon, Nedumudi Venu, Suraj Venjarammoodu and cricketer Sreesanth’s brother Deepu along with newcomers.

The NHS is right to fund homoeopathy. S Clare Stanford, reader in experimental psychopharmacology, Department of Neuroscience, Physiology, and Pharmacology, University College London. c.stanford@ucl.ac.uk. BMJ 2011; 342:d2642 doi: 10.1136/bmj.d2642 (Published 4 May 2011)

The campaign to expel homeopathy from the NHS continues unabated despite a position statement from the Department of Health: “We believe in patients being able to make informed choices about their treatment, and in a clinician being able to prescribe the treatment they feel most appropriate … which includes … homeopathy.”

To put this skirmish into perspective, the NHS spends about £4m (€4.5m; $6.6m) a year on homeopathic prescriptions, which is peanuts. Even if subsidiary costs are rolled in, this battle is clearly more about winning a scientific argument, and protecting patients from themselves, than preserving NHS coffers. Read the rest of this entry »

The New Coalition Government rejects the petition to implement the Science and Technology Commission on Homeopathy Fourth Report of Session 2009-2010 on 18.2.11:

The new Government considered the findings and recommendations of the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee and has published a full response.

The Department of Health will not be withdrawing funding for homeopathy on the NHS, nor will the licensing of homeopathic products be stopped.  Decisions on the provision and funding of any treatment will remain the responsibility of the NHS locally.

A patient who wants homeopathic treatment on the NHS should speak to his or her GP.  If the GP is satisfied this would be the most appropriate and effective treatment then, subject to any local commissioning policies, he or she can refer them to a practitioner or one of the NHS homeopathic hospitals.

In deciding whether homeopathy is appropriate for a patient, the treating clinician would be expected to take into account safety, clinical and cost-effectiveness as well as the availability of suitably qualified and regulated practitioners.  The Department of Health would not intervene in such decisions.

The Department’s response to the Science and Technology Committee report explains the reasons behind its decisions in more detail.  The response can be found on clicking on the following link:

http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_4006368

See The Government defends the right to homeopathy on the NHS

See If you love homeopathy don’t vote Liberal Democrat

See Homeopathy: British Justice or British Bullying?

With thanks to Jenny Hope at the Mail Online 29.10.10:

Homeopathy really does work and doctors should recognise its healing effects, say researchers. A study found that allergy sufferers who were given homeopathic treatment were ten times more likely to be cured than those given a dummy pill instead.

Doctors should be more positive about the alternative medicine, which is the only complementary therapy available on the NHS, the researchers said. Read the rest of this entry »

With thanks to Dana Ullman, MPH, here is another of his striking articles written to protest about spin, bias and yellow journalism:

Medical Fundamentalists Prove (again) How They Misinform the Public about Homeopathy… by Dana Ullman:

The medical fundamentalists (the “denialists”) have again shown their strong propensity to spread misinformation about homeopathy and homeopaths.

On September 7, 2010, Andy Lewis (who arrogantly enough calls himself the “Quackometer”) declared in a headline for his blog: An Obituary: Royal London Homeopathic Hospital, 1849-2010.

Another denier of homeopathy, appropriately called “Gimpy,” provided a little more accuracy in his headline, Farewell to the RLHH, hello to the RLHIM.

However, both “reporters” provided a highly selective interpretation and significantly biased analysis of the re-naming of the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital to become the Royal London Hospital for Integrative Medicine.

This misinformation is akin to creating an obituary for a caterpillar, even though it did not die but simply evolved into a butterfly. Read the rest of this entry »