NHS Lothian set to axe ?240k homeopathy funding

[Northerner]

FREE alternative medicine clinics in Lothian look set to be scrapped after a public consultation found an overwhelming majority do not think they should be funded by the NHS.

NHS Lothian ? which spends around ?240,000 on homeopathy each year ? launched the consultation exercise in September, asking the public whether it should continue to pay for the service.

Almost 4000 people responded, with more than 70 per cent saying that homeopathy, which is not conclusively shown to work by any scientific study, should not be paid for with taxpayers? cash.

NHS Lothian said despite the landslide no final decision over the future of homeopathy had been taken, although the results were hailed as a victory by campaigners for an ?evidence-based approach? in healthcare.

http://www.scotsman.com/edinburgh-e...-set-to-axe-240k-homeopathy-funding-1-2797164

Personally, I don't think any NHS money should go to homeopathy 🙄

 

[LeeLee]

About bloody time! GPs should be able to prescribe placebos for pennies, assuming they don't already.

 

[DeusXM]

It's definitely good that taxpayer cash isn't going to unproven methods. I'm not against homeopathy per se as long as whatever is prescribed is proved to work. For instance, if they're able to prove that say, St. John's Wort is an effective depression treatment, then I don't see the problem in prescribing it. The issue is that the entire homeopathic sector is so poorly regulated that there's nothing to stop me from selling Zizania Hortus Anglicus* pills and claiming they're good for your health.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMGIbOGu8q0 if you need a laugh - Homeopathic A&E.


*That's 'English garden weeds if your Latin isn't too good.

 

[LeeLee]

There's nothing wrong with some of the herbal remedies. As you say, St John's Wort is antidepressant, and the common garden weed dandelion is diuretic. The list goes on.

With homoeopathy however, subtances that MIGHT have been useful are diluted to the extent that there is not a single molecule of the active ingredient left. Apparently water retains a 'memory' of it (!). They then add the powerful water to a sugar pill and dry it out. In other words, expensive placebo.

 

[Northerner]

There's nothing wrong with some of the herbal remedies. As you say, St John's Wort is antidepressant, and the common garden weed dandelion is diuretic. The list goes on.

With homoeopathy however, subtances that MIGHT have been useful are diluted to the extent that there is not a single molecule of the active ingredient left. Apparently water retains a 'memory' of it (!). They then add the powerful water to a sugar pill and dry it out. In other words, expensive placebo.

Quite, it goes against the known laws of physics as much as anything! 😱

The French for dandelion is 'pissenlit', meaning 'pee the bed' - when we were kids we were warned not to pick dandelions as you would wet the bed! 🙂

 

[rachelha]

Thank goodness for that. It drove me mad that they were funding that but i had over a 2 year wait for a pump.