Homeopathy is dereliction of a duty of care 5 Jun 2009 In a rather upsetting case in Australia, two Indian homepathic parents (I do not mean that they parented by diluting contact) have been convicted of failing to render a duty of care to their 9 month old daughter, who died from an infection caused by eczema. They treated their daughter using homeopathic drops, and she died over a period of five months. Their failure to get real medical care, for what is an easily treatable condition, is being treated as a criminal act. They face 25 years jail each. Science Sermon
Epistemology 50 words for snow, or conceptual confusion 11 Sep 20171 Mar 2019 Series Conceptual confusion The economics of cultural categories What are phenomena? What counts as sociocultural? Species Constructing phenomena Explanations and phenomena In a well-known and generally debunked story, Inuit people have around 50 words for snow. Or so the argument by anthropologist Franz Boas goes. In fact, people who engage… Read More
Politics What must a citizen know? 3 Jan 2008 The previous Australian junta introduced a “citizenship test” for those wanting to become naturalised Aussies. It includes such gems as who Don Bradman was, who wrote a song that isn’t even officially our anthem (Waltzing Matilda – Tom Wait’s version is way better), and other fluff. About one in eight… Read More
Epistemology Linnaeus: the founder of databases 17 Jun 200918 Sep 2017 A couple of years ago I was in Exeter, and was chatting to Staffan Müller-Wille, who is an expert in the history of biology specialising in Linnaean taxonomy. He mentioned to me that Linnaeus had invented the index card in order to keep track of the increasingly large data set… Read More
What’s really troubling is that the people who convinced this couple that homeopathic ‘remedies’ were effective will themselves receive no punishment.
I am an ex-homeopath (I doubted in the beginning, but it took me 1 1/2 yrs to research my doubt, 2 years until out). I am an ex-Marxist — 5 years until out. I am an ex-Christian — 7 years until fully out. I also use to work in Dermatology. I saw lots of kids with severe eczema hospitalized and a few died. The vast majority were by families who just neglected not only their children, but themselves. Half of the inner city would be put in jail if we jailed these folks. Can society afford this, should the afford this? Is the government the way to handle this?
Sabio, it’s my opinion that failure to apply sanctions in support of the duty of care has made people in general pretty careless of their responsibilities to others. Yes, I think this is in fact something government, or at least the legal system, needs to address.