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
Metaphysics Fundamentalist atheism? 27 Jul 2009 One of the more annoying claims some people make is that atheists are or can be fundamentalists. This is annoying for two reasons: one is that atheists rarely go out and picket funerals or insist on what people can do in their own bedrooms based on a literal reading of… Read More
Evolution Supernatural selection: Book review 5 May 2010 I have received a copy of a forthcoming book, Supernatural Selection: How Religion Evolved by psychologist Matt Rossano. Despite the title, it turns out to be an interesting, although I think ultimately flawed and incomplete, account of religion as a natural process. As I read it, I will do a series… Read More
Epistemology Was Jesus a philosopher? 9 May 2010 A local philosophy mailing list has announced a talk being given by a philosophically inclined plumber on Jesus’ philosophy. This rather begs the question* that he was indeed a philosopher. Jesus certainly held ethical principles and taught doctrines, but that is insufficient to make someone a philosopher. Many people have… 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.