Who's afraid of a homeopath's woo?

Advertising works, but only on people who aren't scientifically educated. So why not allow it? The question: Should there be freedom to mislead? The problem is this: the game is rigged. The playing field is so far from flat, it might as well be parkour. Scientifically validated treatments (aka "medicine") are required to be demonstrably effective, and carry pages of warnings of possible side effects. Even for the most temperate drugs, it must be as clear as vodka that they may cause all manner of hell ranging from vomiting, diarrhea and cramps, to coughing up your pancreas, genital self-mutation and in the most adverse reactions, the irrepressible desire to shave a wolf. However, none of these is very likely. Homeopathic products, conversely, are not obliged to warn of anything. In almost all cases, that is adequate, as...

Read the whole article on The Guardian - Science

More from The Guardian - Science

Related