Letters: Alternative medicine

With reference to "Homoeopathy: Does it work?" (January 23), medicine outside the mainstream goes by many names - such as naturopathy, complementary, homeopathy and ayurveda, which are not taught in medical schools or practised by traditional doctors of medicine. The truth is that alternative medicine, including homoeopathy, has become mainstream. Hospitals, at least in the US, have long accepted that what they do to treat and heal "involves more than just medications and procedures", as Nancy Foster, vice-president for quality and patient safety at the American Hospital Assn, recently said. "It is about using all of the art and science of medicine to restore the patient as fully as possible."

People want natural, safer remedies. Homoeopathy is still part of the National Health Service in the UK, though there is a demand for its withdrawal. Most patients are not treated very satisfactorily, and if conventional treatment was affordable there would probably be not much need for these alternatives. Modern medicine, too, has its share of limitations with some big drugs being withdrawn from the market. One of the biggest problems in health care is that the pharma giants have tremendous influence in how medicine is to be practised, and they operate strictly on profit-making principles. Alternative medicine lacks this clout.

H N Ramakrishna Bengaluru

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