the skeptics agenda - part 2

Homeopathy is dangerous, ban homeopathy.

People have died whilst having treatment from homeopaths... Homeopathy killed them.

I find these statements an interesting paradox:

Skeptics, using a purely chemical paradigm, will tell you that there’s nothing in a homeopathic medicine... yet it can be dangerous.

I don’t believe that homeopathy is dangerous, but I will concede that homeopaths can be.

Our current UK laws allow pretty much anyone to set themselves up as a homeopath. The title 'homeopath' is not a 'protected title', so some calling themselves a homeopath may have no training, no licence to practice, no insurance, or belong to any governing body or register of homeopaths. So, choose your homeopath wisely!

I feel it’s vital that homeopaths receive adequate training and supervision both working towards becoming a practitioner and being a practitioner. It’s essential to recognise our limitations and liaise with other practitioners including medical practitioners, in our quest to help our clients work towards ‘wellness’.

What do I mean by ‘adequate training’?...

Well, there are some ‘disciplines’, that you can be a ‘master’ of after a weekend. Homeopathy isn’t one of them. The major governing bodies of homeopathy only endorse courses that are either 3 year full-time or 4 year part-time courses. Furthermore, whilst I was at college nearly 20 years ago , it was felt that it would be a great idea to integrate homeopathic teaching at universities, with the scope to further increase the calibre of training, qualifications, and ultimate safety and effectiveness of the practitioners graduating from them. Unfortunately, this caused umbrage amongst some noteworthy skeptics due to the department ‘homeopathy’ was allied to, and the subsequent Bachelor of Science (BSc) qualification awarded. It appears to me, that they would prefer you not to have adequately trained homeopaths... and increase the likelihood of homeopathic malpractice.

There have been some well-publicised cases of homeopathy being ‘dangerous’. In drawing your conclusions from such articles, do some detective work –

• Was it actually the homeopathic medicine that was dangerous?
• Was the medicine actually a ‘homeopathic medicine’?
• Was the ‘homeopath’ actually a fully qualified, licensed, registered homeopath?

Inevitably, some practitioners have been negligent in either recognising their limitations, failing to understand the implications of interfering with medications prescribed by someone else or indeed both. The main governing bodies of homeopaths in the UK have and will strike people off their register for these breaches of their code of ethics.

Find a qualified homeopath

http://www.findahomeopath.org.uk/TheRegisters

Find a homeopathy course.

http://www.findahomeopath.org.uk/Courses

I would like to reiterate:

I don’t believe that homeopathy is dangerous, but I will concede that homeopaths can be. Choose your homeopath wisely!

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