The Great Homeopathy Debate - When is Enough, Enough?

Due to this topic's sensitive nature, I wish to state that all opinions are my own.

Alternative medicine, it seems, brings out the clandestine warlord in humans whenever it rears its controversial head. There are those completely committed to the idea that alternative medicine is the best thing since sliced bread and those who dispute its benefits wholeheartedly. The latters' opinions are largely based on clinical trials that have shown alternative medicines in general to be of no greater benefit than placebos. A recent article in The Telegraph¹ made me think about this once again: that famous line, where is it drawn when it comes to alternative medicine?

The article concerns a couple from Italy who have had a manslaughter investigation opened against them over the death of their child, who suffered from "cold-like symptoms" for three weeks before his parents took him to a hospital, where he later died.

Obviously, the loss of a child must be a crushing experience for anyone and I can only imagine what the parents must be going through. However, is this just one example of excessive reliance on something that has no concrete evidence? Someone specialising in a certain area of medicine will naturally be inclined to use treatments that they are familiar with before moving onto others. As a doctor of alternative medicine, the father treated his son for three weeks with fennel tea, a popular homeopathic remedy for coughs.

Even as a firm non-believer in alternative medicine (almost all thanks go to Ben Goldacre for this), I see no problem with the fact that someone may choose to use alternative medicine as treatment; everyone is entitled to their own opinions and beliefs, after all. It doesn't take a rocket scientist, though, to realise that if after one week an individual's symptoms haven't improved, there is a definite possibility of there being a more serious underlying cause. Alarm bells would ring in a pharmacist's mind if presented with a patient in a community pharmacy who had had a cold for more than one week, the fact that this boy had it for three weeks should have been worrying at the least. Could it be, in this case, that it wasn't so much the use of herbal and refusal of conventional medicine that brought the pair to court, but the indifference to their son's symptoms even after a lengthy period?

Without a doubt, all the facts are needed before one can pass judgement in this case. In general, however, I think the law should be made clear, in any country, that certain situations could warrant a manslaughter charge being brought against an individual. Those so focused on alternative medicine that they are blind to common sense ought to feel the full force of the law, especially when a life that was lost could have been saved.


Reference:
1. Pisa N. Parents face inquiry for treating son with alternative medicine. The Daily Telegraph. 23/10/2011 (accessed on 30/10/2011); Health. Available at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/alternativemedic...