Against homeopathy – a utilitarian perspective

A selection of abstracts of clinically relevant papers from other journals. The abstracts on this page have been chosen and edited by John R. Radford.

Abstract

'...a medical tool gains moral content if by its intrinsic nature it is ineffective'. Homeopathy is therefore not morally neutral.

Main

Smith K. Bioethics; DOI:10.1111/j.1467-8519.2010.01876.x

Readers of this journal have been exercised recently as to the merits, or otherwise, of homeopathic dentistry. Homeopathy is based on two central principles. In the 'law of similars', Hahnemann observed on himself that cinchona bark (the natural source of quinine, still occasionally used to treat malaria) produced similar symptoms to malaria. Then there is the 'law of infinitesimals'. This states that the potency of the agent increases in the diluting process. The author of this paper cites others that have reported there is 'no good evidence in support of the efficacy of homeopathy.' Several normative ethical condundrums(ra) are explored including tensions between utility and disutility. One muses if the views espoused in this paper will be balanced by another paper entitled For homeopathy – a deontological perspective.