The Futility of Finding Physical Explanations for Homeopathy

10th October, 2010 52

From the very first decades of homeopathy’s existence in the early 19th Century, mainstream scientists have dismissed its claims for one simple reason: the extremely dilute nature of the remedies. As Oliver Wendell Holmes remarked in 1842 “So much ridicule has been thrown upon the pretended powers of the minute doses”. Today’s modern understanding of the atomic nature of matter makes the homeopathic principle of dilution appear nonsensical. Many remedies [read more…]

John Benneth, Brian Josephson and an Absurd Talk at Cambridge

9th October, 2010 82

On the 1st of October, a rather unusual talk was held at the Cavendish Laboratories in Cambridge, entitled “The Supramolecular Chemistry of the Homeopathic Remedy”. The talk was at the invite of Nobel laureate Brian Josephson and was to be given by a chap named John Benneth. Josephson is a known supporter of parapsychology, telepathy and homeopathy. Now Benneth may well be known to critics of homeopathy as he is [read more…]

The Society of Homeopaths, Richard Barr and MMR

3rd October, 2010 32

The Society of Homeopath’s response to the latest BBC revelations was entirely predictable. The BBC investigation uncovered how homeopaths appear to be routinely offering their sugar pills as an alternative to childhood vaccinations such as MMR. Such unethical and unthinking behaviour can only lead to children being exposed to potentially dangerous infections. Doctors appeared to have been shocked by these findings. But they should not have been. Antagonistic beliefs towards [read more…]

The GP Commissioning Consortium for Integrated Medicine

22nd September, 2010 7

The UK health care system is about to undergo a major overhaul in how services are funded. Currently, tax funded Primary Care Trusts, based on geographical regions, have contracts with hospitals to provide the services that the NHS delivers. The PCTs decide what types of treatments and services are a priority for funding and negotiates the prices that shall be paid. All that is about to change.In a move that [read more…]

Can Homeopathy Cure Mastitis in Cows?

12th September, 2010 38

A new study has been published in The Journal of Dairy Research looking at if you can use homeopathy to treat mastitis in cattle. The paper fails to demonstrate that you can. And as such, that is not a surprise. These cows will have been given water drops as if it is medicine: homeopathy is a superstitious hang-over from 18th Century ways of thinking about health. Of course it does [read more…]

The Finchley Clinic, Triamazon and the Law.

9th September, 2010 4

There is nothing too remarkable about the Finchley Clinic in London. Apart that it is not really a clinic as you might understand the word. It is run by a chap called Mark Lester who apparently used to offer a number of questionable alternative medicine therapies, including ozone therapy, bowen therapy and very unorthodox tests such as Rife machine and something called electro-crystal therapy. These days, the Finchley Clinic just [read more…]

An Obituary: Royal London Homeopathic Hospital, 1849-2010

7th September, 2010 172

The Royal London Homeopathic Hospital of Great Ormond Street, London, has passed away after a long battle with science. Today, we learned from gimpy’s blog that London will no longer have a homeopathic hospital of its own. The Hospital can trace its origins back to The London Homeopathic Hospital founded by Dr. Frederick Foster Quin, the first homeopath in England. Quinn was a pupil of the founder of homeopathy, Dr [read more…]

The Curious Last Quack of the Prince’s Foundation for Integrated Health

30th July, 2010 9

Last April, I predicted that Prince Charles quackery promoting charity, the Foundation for Integrated Health faced imminent closure due to non submission of accounts to the Charity Commission. Ten days later, the Foundation announced its intention to close amid arrests for fraud and money laundering. In a statement, the charity claimed that it had always intended to close as its aims had been met. This claim was met with derision: [read more…]

Secret Email Reveals more Homeopathic Killing in Kenya

25th July, 2010 29

I have history with the Abha Light Foundation. I first criticised them three years ago when I wrote about a UK homeopath, Julia Wilson, who had joined Abha Light in Kenya – an organisation that sells a homeopathic product called MalariX. This sugar pill is used to treat and prevent malaria. It does not work – it is a simple sugar pill with no active ingredient. As such, encouraging people [read more…]

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