Homeopathy

Baroness Gardner of Parkes Excerpts

Tuesday 19th March 2013 Lords Chamber

[Earl Howe]

My Lords, the best way I can answer the noble Lord is to refer him to the page on NHS Choices that explicitly refers to the placebo effect. As he will know, the 2010 House of Commons Science and Technology Committee report on homeopathy said that homeopathic remedies perform no better than placebos. It is important to emphasise that message. On the other hand, many people have found benefit from homeopathic medicines and, in a way, that is their privilege and right.

[Baroness Gardner of Parkes]

My Lords, is the Minister aware that homeopathy started at a time when the one treatment they gave people was to bleed them? It was effective because they did not bleed them and allowed them to recover normally; I was on the board of the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital for a good many years, where I learnt that. Does the Minister not think that, faced with a situation where antibiotics have been used too casually, it is time to look at what we should not be taking? Does he think it important that patients should have the right to whatever treatment they choose provided that homeopathy does not allow them to escape proper diagnosis for cancer or some other tragic condition, which could be overlooked if it is not combined with ordinary medicine?

[Earl Howe]

My noble friend makes an important point. We are clear in recommending that patients should talk to their GPs before stopping any treatment that has been prescribed by a doctor in favour of homeopathy and before they start taking homeopathic remedies. It is important that people understand that homeopathy may not be effective in many situations.