Doctors believe that the NHS should not pay for homeopathy and that it should no longer be considered a medicine by pharmacies.
Medics voiced their opinion on the matter at the British Medical Association’s (BMA) Brighton conference. They labeled the remedies as ‘nonsense’ and stated that some can even be harmful to patients that choose these options over conventional medicines.
The Department of Health responded by stating that homeopathy therapy would be reviewed. The therapy itself is a 200 year old system of home treatment that makes use of diluted substances.
Due to the fact many of these substances are highly diluted, in some cases the original product does not remain when consumed. All substances are consumed orally under the theory that it will stimulate the body to begin to self-heal.
The NHS is estimated to spend around £4m per year on such treatments by funding four homeopathic hospitals as well as prescriptions.
Shropshire GP, Dr. Mary McCarthy, stated that there is no evidence that homeopathy produced results past the placebo effect, which is when a patient begins to heal only because of the psychological boost. She added that it harms patients that are diverted from conventional medical methods of treatment.
Many doctors at the BMA conference felt the same way, with dozens of the doctors agreeing. BMA junior doctor committee member Dr. Tom Dolphin called the therapy nonsense and that society risks falling back into a world of make believe when made-up science is accepted as a solution for rational treatment.
A handful of doctors did support the homeopathy therapy however with Edinburgh GP, Dr. John Garner stating that a ban would hurt patients that have seen a benefit.
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