Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Dr calls on pharmacists not to sell homeopathics
Media Release
Doctor calls for pharmacists not to sell homeopathic products
25th March 2009 - “Pharmacists are scientists, and I urge them not to sell products that are proven to be ineffective”, states Dr. Shaun Holt in the latest issue of Pharmacy Today.
Mirroring a similar call made by Professor Ernst in the UK, Dr. Holt said that homeopathic products did not contain any active ingredient but supposedly had energy of substances that were in the product before they were diluted away. “Not only does this make no sense, it has never been demonstrated and there is a US$1 million prize for the first person to show that this occurs”.
Dr Holt continued: “homeopathic products are not just very diluted – they are so diluted there’s nothing there. It is like pouring a cup of coffee into Lake Taupo and then taking a cup of water from the lake the next day and describing that water as “dilute coffee”, and saying that you will get an even bigger boost from it than regular coffee as the dilution has increased its power”.
He said that people thought that homeopathic products worked because of placebo effects, and the natural history of many illnesses, in other words, the illness would have improved on its own. Controlled clinical trials take into account any placebo effects and the natural history, and that’s why all well-done clinical trials of homeopathic products were negative.
Dr. Holt concluded that he did not want people wasting their time or money on products with nothing in them that did not work, and recommendations from pharmacies gave homeopathic products scientific credibility that they did not deserve.
See the article: www.pharmacytoday.co.nz
About Dr Shaun Holt
• Qualified Doctor and Pharmacist
• One of
NZ’s most experienced medical researchers
• Author of
2008 best-seller “Natural Remedies that Really
Work”
• Regular commentator on TV One’s Breakfast
show and national radio shows
• Member of International
Editorial Board of Focus on Alternative & Complementary
Therapies
• Founder of The Vitamin Lab
www.thevitaminlab.co.nz
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