Homoeopathy in the NHS

[don9999]

Hey Les. So you're a professional clinical trialist are you?

Depending on the replies I get back from the government ministers, could I contact you privately for advice?

I suspect they may come back with some samples of scientific trials or whatever. However, I've already read up about many of them and from what I can see, they all have significant faults due to inadequate testing or controls etc.. But I'm no professional.

Might be useful to have your comments, if needed.

Cheers,
Don

 

[Asolepius]

Hey Les. So you're a professional clinical trialist are you?

snip

Might be useful to have your comments, if needed.

Cheers,
Don

Yes, I have worked in and around the pharmaceutical industry for 30 years, and currently practise as a clinical research consultant. One of my clients gets me to critique published studies. One problem is the quality of abstracts. Claims are very often based on abstracts, when reading the full text tells another story. Peer review is so poor that getting into print does not guarantee a valid conslusion. One review I saw recently found that half of peer-reviewed medical papers had basic flaws. Yes I will be delighted to look at the responses you get.

 

[Jaggy Bunnet]

OK. I even have a real live address in Scotland with a real live vote attached to it and so what if I very deliberately didn't put my cross in the box labelled "McConnell"?

Rolfe.

Happy to help in any way I can.

 

[Rolfe]

Secondly...I recently game a cross a government Consultation Paper entitled "Regulation of herbal medicine and accupuncture". This document goes into great detail about why and how these practices should be regulated. However, they make No comment on whether they actually work! Unfortunately the deadline for responses to the paper passed on June 6th. However, depending on the replies I get from the government ministers I may follow this up later.

Some of us here did reply to that. Some discussion of this can be found near the end of the Homeopathic pharmacists thread.

Rolfe.

 

[Beausoleil]

Yes, I have worked in and around the pharmaceutical industry for 30 years, and currently practise as a clinical research consultant. One of my clients gets me to critique published studies. One problem is the quality of abstracts. Claims are very often based on abstracts, when reading the full text tells another story. Peer review is so poor that getting into print does not guarantee a valid conslusion. One review I saw recently found that half of peer-reviewed medical papers had basic flaws. Yes I will be delighted to look at the responses you get.

There's no substitute for having expertise and making a judgement on the quality of work reported. Peer review should make sure that this is possible at a minimum and hope to catch significant flaws, but publication in a peer reviewed journal does not make something true, and we should avoid giving this impression to the public.

In the UK I've begun to hear government ministers imply that publication in a peer reviewed journal places something beyond argument.

 

[Asolepius]

Some of us here did reply to that. Some discussion of this can be found near the end of the Homeopathic pharmacists thread.

Rolfe.

Just a quick follow-up to the Addison's disease episode you are now using as your sig. You don't have to be a top medical consultant to spot this one. My son is a 2nd year medical student and got it right first time, including the treatment. I am getting monumentally tired of people saying that CAM is harmless. It is not even 'mostly harmless' (apologies to Douglas Adams). BTW at Southampton Medical School they offer a very popular module on CAM. God help us.

 

[Benguin]

BTW at Southampton Medical School they offer a very popular module on CAM. God help us.

Probably not a bad thing medics know about it ... providing they are switched on enough to see through all the flim-flam.

After all, who's going to pick up the pieces?