For ikke så lenge siden var vi innom en fagetisk artikkel som fant at homøopati er moralsk uforsvarlig. Det kunne nesten se ut til å være en trend, for i seneste utgave av Focus on Alternative and Complementary Therapies er det en annen anvendt etiker, filosofen og bioetikeren David Shaw som tar for seg temaet.

Artikkelen «Homeopathy and medical ethics» går gjennom

homeopathy from the perspective of four principles of medical ethics and two case examples. It transpires that homeopathic practice is in contravention of all four of these principles, and is by its very nature, unethical.

De fire prinsippene er «respekt for autonomi», «non-maleficence» (ikke gjør skade»), «nytte» og «rettferdighet». Hvordan homøopati blir sagt å bryte med dem alle kan du lese mer om i artikkelen selv. Eller du kan nøye deg med følgende, poengterte oppsummering:

Homeopathy involves deceiving patients in order to achieve dubious benefit, which could potentially delay access to conventional treatment, contribute to attendant harm, and unfairly waste resources. It has been argued that homeopathy must be provided in order to respect patient autonomy, in the atypical sense that patients ought to be able to choose whichever treatment they want. However, if there is no evidence of effectiveness for homeopathy, we should not deprive conventional medicine of funding to satisfy the whims of those who happen to have a particular belief. In other words, respecting patient autonomy does not mean giving patients whatever they want, even if it harms them, but rather offering them treatments that science has shown to work. Homeopathy is an unethical anomaly that has no place in the era of evidence-based medicine.

Artikkelen er kort og poengtert. Det er mye mer å tillegge, men den er verdt de få minuttene den tar.