The Big Pharma. vs Big Homo.

I have visions of some overweight farmer in overalls wrestling with a guy in tight gold shorts and an oiled up torso …but that’s me, on with the post. (note the title of this post references an inside joke – listen to the Skeptic Zone)

In discussions with friends and colleagues about Homoeopathy(homeopathy), without fail the Big Pharma conspiracy is rolled out time and again.

1. Pharmaceutical companies have a financial interest in the outcome of trials, hence trials they sponsor can’t be trusted
2. Pharmaceutical companies market heavily to doctors, and supply them with samples, hence you can’t trust doctors
3. Pharmaceutical companies and governments collaborate on trials, hence government can’t be trusted

Vs

1. The innocent well meaning homeopathic industry,  struggling against all odds
2. Using natures gifts to cure us etc
3. Blah blah blah

So I often counter it with the usual raft of information

• The ridiculous but little known history of Homeopathy
• The ridiculous claims of urine drinkers and KFC cancer curers
• etc

But one of my favourites is to get the person to view the situation not as a dichotomy, an either or proposition between Pharma and Homeopathy but to view themselves as a consumer, a purchaser of healthcare

Pharmaceutical and homeopathy companies are just that, companies.  Companies subjected to all the pressures that companies are subjected to and to note which of the two has the more stringent controls/protections and why.

That we should be skeptical of anyone trying to sell us something and that the best way to determine who is right is to look at the scientific evidence.

Until now I haven’t had any information on how much the alternative medicine industry is worth – thanks to Ben Goldacre though we have this interesting bit of info:

According to statistics released in July 2009 from a nationwide government survey, U.S. adults spent $33.9 billion out-of-pocket on visits to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) practitioners and purchases of CAM products, classes, and materials. [read more]

So perhaps next time you frame a discussion with a supporter of CAM, you might want to point out how large an industry it is, and that perhaps they have just fallen for some very slick marketing by a company, plain and simple.

Related posts:

1. Alternative Medicine on the Yorke Penninsula, historical or symptomatic? One thing I have noticed in previous trips to...
2. 9 Red Flags that your chosen health modality is most likely bunk Below are red flags (warning signs) that usually alert me...
3. Stop the Australian Vaccination Network Random Reader: What?… What ? Stop the Australian Vaccination Network?...