Marcello Costa is a co-founder of “Friends of Science in Medicine”, an organisation established to campaign against university health-care courses that are not adequately supported by scientific evidence. Here he talks to Dr Simon Singh, co-author with Ernst Edzard of “Trick or Treatment? Alternative Medicine on Trial" about complementary and alternative medicines in Australia and the United Kingdom.
Marcello Costa: You have been involved in the United Kingdom in the big debate on alternative medicine, including chiropractic. And you were sued for libel in 2008 by the British Chiropractic Association after criticizing some of their claims, and successfully defended your article in 2010. What lessons have you learned?
Simon Singh: During the 1980s and 1990s, doctors and researchers largely ignored alternative medicine, and the result was a major rise in its promotion and use. It would be wrong to say that all alternative therapies are ineffective or dangerous, but in general I think it is fair to say that the vast majority lack any decent supporting evidence and many carry direct or indirect risks.
The big shift in the last decade has been a willingness for doctors, researchers and concerned members of the public to make their voices heard, so that patients have the complete story. This has involved everything from blogs to books, from mass homeopathic overdose campaigns to letters from academics raising concerns, from the lobbying of members of parliament to use of the official complaints procedures.
It’s hard to measure, but my instinct is that this activism has shifted the public’s view of alternative medicine. So, to answer your question, the main lesson we have learned is that we must not sit back and do nothing. Moreover, if we do go on the offensive we can begin to make a difference.
