Posts Tagged ‘Government’
Mass Lobby for Libel Reform
Do you know who your MP is?
If you don’t, you can find him or her on the excellent They Work for You website.
Why is this important? Well, in case you’ve been hibernating all winter (and who could blame you), there’s going to be a General Election fairly soon and there’s no better time to lobby your MP and find out what his/her views are on important issues.
In case you’re struggling to think of something to ask your MP, here’s a suggestion:
Libel law.
What a week for quackery!
Phew! This has been a spectacular week or so for alternative medicine.
Firstly, we had the Landmark ASA ruling on asthma and colic. Then we have the spectacle of some of its major proponents being tortured and exposed before the House of Commons Science and Technology Sub-committee looking into the evidence (or lack of it) for homeopathy. Skepticat tells it far better than I could, but the admission by Boots of the absence of evidence for homeopathy and that they just sell the stuff ‘cos their customers want to buy it has been described as a Ratner moment.
That was Wednesday; but today was another significant day for the regulation of quackery.
Regulating nonsense: my response
The deadline was today, and I only just managed to get my response in to the Department of Health consultation (take a deep breath):
A joint consultation on the Report to Ministers from the DH Steering Group on the Statutory Regulation of Practitioners of Acupuncture, Herbal Medicine, Traditional Chinese Medicine and Other Traditional Medicine Systems Practised in the UK
…otherwise known as the Pittilo consultation.
I covered the launch of this consultation in August (see Regulating nonsense). Since then, Professor David Colquhoun has blogged his response and urged everyone to respond to this consultation to ‘help to stop Department of Health making fool of itself‘.
David also published the excellent response by someone known as Allo V Psycho. David correctly summarised this response:
‘The document is a model of clarity, and it ends with constructive suggestions for forms of regulation that will, unlike the Pittilo proposals, really protect patients.
I have taken my lead from these responses and concentrated on my unique view of current statutory regulation: that of chiropractors.
Regulating nonsense
David Colquhoun’s frustration — and indeed anger — is palpable. And understandably so.
He brilliantly covered Monday’s announcement by the Department of Health (DoH) of their consultation into the regulation of “acupuncture, herbal medicine, traditional Chinese medicine and other traditional medicine systems”.
This consultation is the DoH’s response to the infamous Pittilo Report, which saw the light of day just over a year ago.
