Homoeopathy meeting - suggestions for action?

zooterkin

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zooterkin
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We have a GP who is a homoeopath giving a public meeting the week after next. The local SITP group would like to take the opportunity for some good publicity and to perhaps get some of the attendees thinking. We definitely do not want to be confrontational, but I've not done anything like this before, so any tips would be welcome. (We also have Psychic Sally in the area on the same day, and a separate group are considering what to do about that, though I think the consensus from Simon Singh et al at the moment is to tread quietly there.)

There is a leaflet from Sense About Science, but it's a bit wordy; does anyone have anything better?

There is an admission charge of a tenner a head for the meeting, so we are mostly considering some sort of action outside the meeting room, though one or two may attend to see what is said.
 
zooterkin said:
We have a GP who is a homoeopath giving a public meeting the week after next.
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If you know what sources the GP usually cites (for example if they have published anything or you are aware of the content of any previous talks), it might be worth writing something about them. There is a fairly small pool of studies that homoeopaths tend to cite from, and they often don't say quite what the homoeopaths say they do.

For example they will often claim that there are four positive reviews (Kleijnen 1991, Linde 1997, Cucherat 2000, and either Boissel 1996 (actually a previous publication of the same research as Cucherat 2000) or Linde 1999, but all of these papers are basically inconclusive (the most positive is Linde 1997), noting that the quality of the evidence is not good enough to come to a positive conclusion, and in the later papers also noting that the good quality research tends to be more negative. Linde 1999 wasn't even looking at whether homoeopathy works but at how study quality affects the outcome of the trials, and it manages to effectively retract the mildly positive conclusion of Linde 1997.
 
I can't think of anything useful to say, but good luck on making your presence, and of course your arguments, felt!
 
This is the website of the quack good doctor in question, and this is the talk being given:

Nursing Children Supportively Through Acute Illness

What do you do if you don’t vaccinate (and even more so if you do)?
We will look at health beliefs and fears around acute childhood illness and infections and learn about:
how the Germ Theory of Disease and the Medical Model affect the treatment options you are offered by you GP and health visitor
the Holistic model of disease – using the healing power of your own or your child’s body
the Problems caused by Suppression of Fever
the Basic Needs of children to maintain Optimal Health
the Basic strategies for coping with any acute childhood illness or infection
a Simple Guide to Homoeopathy for Acute Fever
Plenary/ Quiz
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zooterkin said:
This is the website of the quack good doctor in question, and this is the talk being given:
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After looking at the website and the list of topics, I suggest that at least one attendee just keeps his/her mouth closed (or ask inane non-confrontational questions) but take copious notes.

If the presentation goes as I suspect (promotion of homeoquackic woo over reality and science), a complaint to the appropriate medical association is almost mandatory. Take particular note of whatever is said about tetanus, because there is only one treatment that works (hint: it has nothing to do with magic and distilled water) and failure to take that treatment almost universally results in a painful death.

Medical Doctors should not be permitted to use their position of authority to convince people to reject reality; particularly when it puts the lives of children at risk. :mad:

IMHO of course. :th:
 
Maybe you can ask the person to explain homeopathic theory. I know I've done just that to friends who used to think it was real science. It was enough to convince them otherwise.
 
zooterkin said:
This is the website of the quack good doctor in question, and this is the talk being given:
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Sounds rather dangerous.

Gord_in_Toronto said:
After looking at the website and the list of topics, I suggest that at least one attendee just keeps his/her mouth closed (or ask inane non-confrontational questions) but take copious notes.
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Or film it or record audio.

If the presentation goes as I suspect (promotion of homeoquackic woo over reality and science), a complaint to the appropriate medical association is almost mandatory. Take particular note of whatever is said about tetanus, because there is only one treatment that works (hint: it has nothing to do with magic and distilled water) and failure to take that treatment almost universally results in a painful death.
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More to the point, have a different person (who also keeps their mouth shut) ask about tetanus. Cancer, too. There's a specific law about claiming cures for cancer.
 
Invite the attendees to have some homeopathic whisky and see if they like it.
 
She's the doc that was up before the GMC (she won) because of her evidence as an expert witness in a vaccination case, isn't she? If so I would look into what was in her testimony for an idea of what studies she relies on and what criticisms of research she uses wrt to vaccination.
 
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In the USA, use of the term "homeopathic" does not necessarily mean "diluted all to hell." Rather, the term has been selected in some cases to refer to a remedy that is unregulated and has not been clinically verified as safe and effective:
Brown said:
First, the record wasn't clear as to whether the stuff sold by Matrixx was diluted all to hell, as many homeopathic (supposed) remedies are. What WAS clear from the record was that Matrixx CALLED its concoction "homeopathic" for the particular purpose of avoiding federal regulations. In particular, Matrixx wanted to make claims about the product and make a ton of money from it without having to prove its claims to the satisfaction of the FDA.
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I do not know whether the same is true elsewhere--that a "homeopathic" pill may have some active ingredients but be called by the name for the suspicious purpose of avoiding government oversight--but it is possible that not all stuff labeled as "homeopathic" is vitiated placebo.

So one proper question might be, are there any actual active ingedients in the remedy? Or is it diluted all to hell?

And another question might be, has the remedy been tested or certifed by the government as safe and effective in the same way as (say) aspirin or Viagra has?

And another question might be, what published clinical trials have been conducted, and what hospitals or universities conducted them? (It's possible that clinical studies, if any, weren't conducted under the auspices of any prestigious health institution.)
 
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Make sure the pamphlets you hand out have plenty of Internet references. Then people can do their own research later. Also a telephone number and e-mail address of someone they can contact for more information.
 
rjh01 said:
Make sure the pamphlets you hand out have plenty of Internet references. ...
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Perhaps you could use QR codes on pamphlets, so people can visit relevant web info on the spot with their smart phone.

QR codes should be combined with short catchy lines of text explaining what it's about, to attract scanners.
 
You could always commit homeopathic suicide:

1) Get some hydrochloric acid
2) Dissolve penny in front of audience
3) Dilute! Dilute! Exceptions eternally? Absolute none!
4) In front of audience, drink resulting homeopathic suicide mix.

You just diluted it like ten times so it should be even deadlier than when you started, right?
 
zooterkin said:
...
There is a leaflet from Sense About Science, but it's a bit wordy; does anyone have anything better?
...
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Here's a full sized link QR code example for the homeopathy.pdf file:

picture.php

And below is the same link shortened with tinyurl:
picture.php

Here, the qr code can be printed smaller as it's less dense.
made @: http://qrcode.kaywa.com/

Still wordy of course, but it gets people there. Phone numbers can be done as QR codes as well.
 
I think the best suggestion I've heard so far is to ask the good doctor to give an account of the principles of homeopathy.

If one person in the audience asks, and a couple more back up the request, it might be hard to avoid.
 
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