Homeopathy: the job is half done

A very encouraging trend:

Homeopathy prescriptions falling

GP prescriptions for homeopathy have nearly halved in two years, figures show.

The number of prescriptions dropped from 83,000 in 2005 to 49,300 last year, GP magazine Pulse reported.

It comes as the overall number of prescriptions in England is on the rise.

This is really good news, but it might change the ground rules for my favourite game to play with homeopaths. It’s called ‘That’s Not Evidence’. Here’s how to play. You find a homeopath, and ask if they have any evidence for homeopathy. They invariably pull out an anecdote or some statistic about the popularity of homeopathy, to which you politely respond, “That’s not evidence.” You explain why, and you ask if they have anything better. Time how long it takes them to either make a personal attack or cry. Someone once made it six minutes. In the many years I’ve been playing, not one homeopath has ever cited a study.

Predictably, the proponents of ignorance and quackery deny the decline.

A spokeswoman for the British Homeopathic Association and Faculty of Homeopathy said about 200,000 NHS patients were treated with homeopathy annually and homeopathic hospitals provided 55,000 appointments a year.

“This situation has not perceptibly changed over the last two to three years,” she added.

“The reasons for the steady fall in homeopathic prescriptions in primary care over the last 10 years may be complex, but we do know that there is no evidence to show that GPs are shunning homeopathy, nor is there evidence to show patients are not seeking homeopathy due to adverse press coverage.”

Homeopath cites lack of evidence. Irony meter: broken.

But, hey, there’s a bright side for homeopaths. The fewer people that use it, the stronger it gets.