Polish science challenged

[joller]

"indeed, most of the civilized world has fallen for the homeopathic nonsense, and a reluctance to test or to regulate that quackery"
Why single out Poland then?

"Remind me not to get sick in Poland; it appears that in that country, homeopathic "drugs" aren't regulated, at all, just sort of accepted if they "look" okay! "
As if you don't get the same stuff in UK or other "developed" countries.

Polish physicians are pretty good by the way, not many of them fall for homeopathy. They often make very good diagnosticians for example - I live in Australia now, but i always try to go to a polish GP if I need to.
Did you know that these days many britons come to Poland to visit dentists? Dentistry in Poland is much cheaper (i.e. less than US$50 for a root canal), and the quality of service is much better than what I was served in Australia so far.

"a chap named Nicolaus Copernicus comes to mind"
Yeah, well.. not forgetting this lady http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Curie

"I'm not pointing out here anything that is specific only to their country"
Yes, but you're singling out Poland to send the message.
Poland may lack the equipment that big hospitals in more developed countries are taking for granted, but we're doing pretty well with what we've got.

By the way, polish medical services are fighting with both the wording of the act Randi included in this article, and Homeopathy alltogether.
I'm not willing to translate all of that, but here's a link to the polish "medical services magazine"website:
http://www.sluzbazdrowia.com.pl/html/more3556.php
It includes lots of very good and well edited articles on Homeopathy. All against it.
Some of the headers:
Homeopathy: The biggest scam in the history of medicine?
Homeopathy above the law
Homeopathy and the scientific research (includes a critique of the Lancet publication)
An appeal to the supporters of Homeopathy
Homeopathy and the medical codex of ethics
We have a right to be sceptical (about homeopathy)
A criminal law (re the act cited in the commentary)

So although yes, there are people even in the government who think " homeopathy isn't harmful, so why not accept all the perks that come from the rich lobbying groups" The polish medical society fights it like crazy, especialy the wording of the act cited in the commentary.

 

[Dioptre]

Great post, Joller. It's good to hear the good news about the
fight against ignorance as well.

I didn't get the impression that Randi was singling out Poland though - he's said
similar things about quackery in Australia and the UK recently as well.

Still, it's nice to get a balanced view of how homeopathy is considered and treated in various places, and your post provided that.

 

[BillyJoe]

Below is the entire quote form Randi's commentary with joller's excerpts hihglighted:

Remind me not to get sick in Poland; it appears that in that country, homeopathic "drugs" aren't regulated, at all, just sort of accepted if they "look" okay! Now, before a crowd of patriotic Poles hits me with e-mails specifying the many discoveries and positive advances given to the world by Polish scientists — a chap named Nicolaus Copernicus comes to mind — I'm not pointing out here anything that is specific only to their country; indeed, most of the civilized world has fallen for the homeopathic nonsense, and a reluctance to test or to regulate that quackery. I'm merely saying that this great country can only be poorly served by pseudoscientific notions that may exist only because of their need and desire to be part of the European community. This is a price they should not be prepared to pay.

Now read the unhighlighted bits.
Sometimes Randi cannot win

regards,
BillyJoe.

 

[joller]

Now read the unhighlighted bits.

I only commented on what I found offensive.
Specially, where Randi commented he'll remember not to get sick while in Poland, which I took as an insult towards polish physicians, and I think they're pretty good and rarely fall for woo (in general. Of course there are misguided GPs everywhere in the world)
Randi's comment made it look as if he thought he'd be given homeopatic substances by a typical GP in Poland, which is obviously incorrect.

 

[BillyJoe]

joller

I only commented on what I found offensive.
Specially, where Randi commented he'll remember not to get sick while in Poland....

But, you can't "remember" not to get sick, it just happens, so he's obviously joking around a bit here. He is merely saying that.....

I'm merely saying that this great country can only be poorly served by pseudoscientific notions that may exist only because of their need and desire to be part of the European community. This is a price they should not be prepared to pay.

Randi's comment made it look as if he thought he'd be given homeopatic substances by a typical GP in Poland, which is obviously incorrect.

I think he definitely did not mean to say that (refer back to above quote).

regards,
BillyJoe

 

[ImaginalDisc]

Jolly, Randi criticised Poland's recent foray into homeopathic total garbage "medicine." Then he said that he's not criticising Poland's scientific contributions to humanity in general. What do you actually find offensive about this? When the U.S. government does something foolish, Randi critises them and bemoans the state of the U.S. goverment' relationship with science. There's really no difference.