tl;dr—if doctors don’t denounce homeopaths, people will start going to “real” homeopaths and other alt-medicine people, and there is no practical limit to the lies and harm done by real homeopaths.
For a layperson there is no perceivable difference between a doctor and a homeopath.
That is so because doctors also offer homeopathy. If almost all doctors clearly denounced homeopathy, fewer people would choose to go to homeopaths, and these people would benefit from better treatment.
From the experience the homeopath might have more time to listen, while doctors often have a approach to treatment speed that reminds me of a fast food place.
This is a problem in its own right that should be solved by giving doctors incentives to listen to patients more. However, do you think that because doctors don’t listen enough, homeopaths produce better treatment (i.e. better medical outcomes)?
they are already at a doctors place for treatment with placebos for trivial stuff, while actual dangerous conditions get check out from a competent person.
Do you have evidence that this is the result produced?
What if the reverse happens? Because the doctors endorse homeopathy, patients start going to homeopaths instead of doctors. Homeopaths are better at selling themselves, because unlike doctors they can lie (“homeopathy is not a placebo and will cure your disease!”). They are also better at listening, can create a nicer (non-clinical) reception atmosphere, they can get more word-of-mough networking benefits, etc.
Patients can’t normally distinguish “trivial stuff” from dangerous conditions until it’s too late—even doctors sometimes get this wrong. The next logical step is for people to let homeopaths treat all the trivial stuff, and go to ER when something really bad happens.
Personal story: my mother is a doctor (geriatrician). When I was a teenager I had seasonal allergies and she insisted on sending me for weekly acupuncture. During the hour-long sessions I had to listen to the ramblings of the acupuncturist. He told me (completely seriously) that, although he personally didn’t have the skill, the people who taught him acupuncture in China could use it to cure my type 1 diabetes. He also once told me about someone who used various “alternative medicine” to eat only vine leaves for a year before dying.
When the acupuncture didn’t help me, my mother said that was my own fault because “I deliberately disbelieved the power of acupuncture and so the placebo effect couldn’t work on me”.
I perceive you as attacking me for having said position, but I am the wrong target.
I know homeopathy is BS, and I don’t use it or advocate it.
What I do understand is doctors who offer it for some reason or another, for the reasons listed above. What you claim as a result is sadly already happening. I have had people getting angry at me for clearly stating my view, and the reasons for it, on homeopathy. (I didn’t say BS, but one of the ppl. was a programmer, if that counts for something.)
Many folks do go to alternative treatments, and forgo doctors as long as possible. People have a weak opinion on the ‘school medicine’ (german term translation for the official medical knowledge and practice.) criticize it—sometimes justified. And use all kind of hyper-skeptical reasoning, that they do not apply to their current favorite. That is bad. And hopefully goes away.
Many still go the double route you listed.
And well, then we have the anti-vaccination front growing. It is bad, and sad, and useless stupidity.
Lets get angry together, and see what can be done about it.
Personal story: i did a lecture on skeptic thinking.
try i dumped everything i knew, and noticed how dealing with the H-topic tends to close people up.
try i cut out a lot, and left the H topic out. still didn’t work
I have no idea what I can do about it, and am basically resigning.
tl;dr—if doctors don’t denounce homeopaths, people will start going to “real” homeopaths and other alt-medicine people, and there is no practical limit to the lies and harm done by real homeopaths.
That is so because doctors also offer homeopathy. If almost all doctors clearly denounced homeopathy, fewer people would choose to go to homeopaths, and these people would benefit from better treatment.
This is a problem in its own right that should be solved by giving doctors incentives to listen to patients more. However, do you think that because doctors don’t listen enough, homeopaths produce better treatment (i.e. better medical outcomes)?
Do you have evidence that this is the result produced?
What if the reverse happens? Because the doctors endorse homeopathy, patients start going to homeopaths instead of doctors. Homeopaths are better at selling themselves, because unlike doctors they can lie (“homeopathy is not a placebo and will cure your disease!”). They are also better at listening, can create a nicer (non-clinical) reception atmosphere, they can get more word-of-mough networking benefits, etc.
Patients can’t normally distinguish “trivial stuff” from dangerous conditions until it’s too late—even doctors sometimes get this wrong. The next logical step is for people to let homeopaths treat all the trivial stuff, and go to ER when something really bad happens.
Personal story: my mother is a doctor (geriatrician). When I was a teenager I had seasonal allergies and she insisted on sending me for weekly acupuncture. During the hour-long sessions I had to listen to the ramblings of the acupuncturist. He told me (completely seriously) that, although he personally didn’t have the skill, the people who taught him acupuncture in China could use it to cure my type 1 diabetes. He also once told me about someone who used various “alternative medicine” to eat only vine leaves for a year before dying.
When the acupuncture didn’t help me, my mother said that was my own fault because “I deliberately disbelieved the power of acupuncture and so the placebo effect couldn’t work on me”.
Sorry about your experience.
I perceive you as attacking me for having said position, but I am the wrong target. I know homeopathy is BS, and I don’t use it or advocate it. What I do understand is doctors who offer it for some reason or another, for the reasons listed above. What you claim as a result is sadly already happening. I have had people getting angry at me for clearly stating my view, and the reasons for it, on homeopathy. (I didn’t say BS, but one of the ppl. was a programmer, if that counts for something.) Many folks do go to alternative treatments, and forgo doctors as long as possible. People have a weak opinion on the ‘school medicine’ (german term translation for the official medical knowledge and practice.) criticize it—sometimes justified. And use all kind of hyper-skeptical reasoning, that they do not apply to their current favorite. That is bad. And hopefully goes away. Many still go the double route you listed. And well, then we have the anti-vaccination front growing. It is bad, and sad, and useless stupidity. Lets get angry together, and see what can be done about it.
Personal story: i did a lecture on skeptic thinking.
try i dumped everything i knew, and noticed how dealing with the H-topic tends to close people up.
try i cut out a lot, and left the H topic out. still didn’t work
I have no idea what I can do about it, and am basically resigning.
I didn’t intend to attack you. Sorry I came across that way.