Death by Homeopathy?

Steven Novella who blogs on Neurologica recently wrote a post that presents the idea that those who practice homeopathy can be held accountable for the deaths of those that believe them and follow their instructions. The story he tells is of a woman who died of a very curable form of cancer when she followed her homeopath's advice and refused surgery and chemotherapy which would likely have been curative. I do not recall having personally dealt with anyone who practiced alternative medicine that suggested their patients totally reject their medical doctor's advice in favor of alternative medicine. I have worked with some who have suggested quite strongly that the medical "habit" of "cut, burn, and poison" will not work as well as their supposed superior methods. As an aside I find it interesting that herbalists fuss at pharmacologists for their "unnatural poisons" while the herbalist sells "natural" poisons that supposedly do the same thing. I suppose an herbalist would object to the cut and burn for cancer but should admit that they too poison. I personally have never seen a cancer patient with verified cancer diagnosis cured by alternative medicine. I have seen many cancer patients cured by conventional medicine while also taking alternative medicine.

The point of my post is to follow up from the perspective of someone who was an adherent to the false medicine type that killed the woman mentioned by Novella. I can see how one person whose career in alternative "medicine" I have followed quite closely would respond to the above story. He would state that he practices "complementary medicine" and is most successful when he can coordinate care with a medical professional. The bizarre logic of the statement aside this naturopath's practice is not necessarily in line with his statement. I recently received an e-mail from a family member who stated he was ending his cancer treatment on the advice of this particular practitioner. Here is how it works- the patient comes to his "alternative medical doctor" and the "doctor" assures the patient that he can do something in this case (the alternative medical doctor will always have something that he thinks might work). The patient, with a sigh of relief, asks the "doctor" if he needs to have his chemotherapy continued (or whatever else was advised), and the "doctor" suggests that he probably does not need it but he cannot say to stop it. The "doctor" stops just short of telling the patient to leave off his effective truly medical treatment and so can say with a clear conscience that he did not tell the patient to stop it, but remember that the "doctor" of naturopathy claims the same amount of knowledge as the oncologist, and the patient trusts the suggestions of the naturopath as much as the oncologist. It is not the same as getting a second opinion, but many patients who do not understand these things think that they got a good second opinion from a well-studied professional when they go to an alternative health advisor because they call themselves doctor.

The key here is that the "doctor" really believes that his methods actually work. It may be because his ideology gives him certainty, or because he just doesn't know any better and has fallen victim to confirmation bias. The naturopath I mentioned above believes that he is more knowledgeable than most medical doctors, and has sought a means by which he could legally call himself "doctor" without actually doing the work that PhD candidates or MDs have done to be called "doctor". This particular naturopath took some correspondence "coursework" from what is a known diploma mill, and then sat for an exam from some shady accreditation board that is not recognized by the department of education. The board then conferred on this man a doctorate which only cost him $400. The US state in which he practices does not regulate naturopaths and so he is free to practice as a doctor of naturopathy. He honestly feels that his recently acquired title will allow him the recognition that will allow him to accomplish the things he feels he can do better than most medical doctors.

This brings me to my new blog title. my friend very sincerely believes that he knows a great deal, but that doesn't make it true. A recent visit to my friend's office showed me just how wrong he is. My friend has a palm reader that connects to his computer to scan a person's health condition from their hand and input it into a computer program. He also does live blood cell analysis, and uses several other dubious methods to diagnose health problems. In addition to all this he sends his patients away with herbs and other potentially dangerous "natural" medications.

It is true that a medical degree does not make a genius, and I must admit that my friend the naturopath does very well with his limited education. The problem is that a genius can only work with the tools he has acquired. A dunce can muddle through medical school training and work as an inferior doctor, but a genius only has potential until he has training. Many critiques of alternative medicine dismiss the alternative "doctor" as a money-grubbing quack who is knowingly endangering their patients, but there are a majority that truly believe that their limited knowledge is enough to truly help people. Many don't really even know how to critique their own mistakes, and are easily led astray by shady dealers who sell them crazy things like palm readers and degrees that won't ever be accepted by the board of education. Sadly these advisors will be responsible for leading many to their deaths even if unintentionally.