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Abstract
Homœopathy, once an accepted form of medicine, is currently under attack in Australia, so much so that its very existence is threatened. To illustrate techniques of marginalisation of homœopathy in Australia, the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council’s (NHMRC) report of 2015 is examined. As there is no standard framework or classification of marginalisation techniques, boundary work ideas were used to suggest techniques used in the process of marginalisation. To condemn homœopathy, the NHMRC used at least eight techniques: authority, asserting protection of autonomy, exclusion, double standards, normalisation, denigration, censorship, expansion and diversion. The NHMRC report is a revealing example of how biomedicine uses various tactics to marginalise alternative therapies, thereby maintaining biomedicine’s dominant position.
Acknowledgements
For useful discussion and feedback on drafts I thank Gerry Dendrinos, Kevin Dew, Michael Higginson, Stuart Macdonald, Nicola Marks, Brian Martin, Jenni Tree and others who prefer to remain anonymous, including four anonymous referees. I am grateful for the background information obtained from presentations and conversations at the AHA biannual conference. A draft of this paper was sent to a number of individuals, including AHA members, and I acknowledge their feedback. This research is supported by a scholarship from the Australian government’s research training program (RTP).
Notes
1. Jennifer Jacobs (Citation2015) has presented RCTs in homœopathy, as have Debora Olioso and her colleagues (Olioso et al., Citation2016). Others have also produced trials showing homœopathy to be clinically viable (see Homeopathic Research Institute (HRI), passim) available at https://www.hri-research.org/resources/ (accessed March 2018).
2. FOI request 2014/15-004 pertaining to the NHMRC homeopathy review, 64 documents released in full or part, with redactions under s22 (499 pages). Access date 29 October 2014.
3. An account of events was produced by the NHMRC (Citation2015b). An alternative, anonymous account is available at http://www.nhmrchomeopathy.com/bias.html (accessed April 2018).
4. A reference to Avogadro’s constant, often designated with the symbol N A or L, and having the value 6.022140857(74)×1023 mol−1. Harvey is implying that homœopathy is impossible because of its dilutions.
5. FOI 2014/15 021-08 Mendelsohn, F., expert feedback to NHMRC Homeopathy Working Committee on the July 2012 version of the first reviewer’s draft report, 15 July 2012.
6. FOI 2015–16 006 Complementary Medicine Australia FOI request to NHMRC re final draft report of the first contractor, 7 October 2015.
7. Cochrane Australia (2018) ‘Our work,’ available at http://australia.cochrane.org/our-work-0 (accessed April 2018).
8. FOI 2015/16 007-05 Australasian Cochrane Centre follow-up methodological review feedback to NHMRC Homeopathy Working Committee.
9. FOI 2014/15 021-03 email correspondence from Peter Brooks to NHMRC CEO Warwick Anderson.
10. FOI 2015/16 008-11 Minutes of face to face meeting of the Homeopathy Working Committee, 30 July 2014.
11. FOI 2014/15 004 Expert reviewer feedback on the NHMRC draft information paper on homeopathy, section 62, 10 May 2014.
12. FOI 2015/16 007-05 Australasian Cochrane Centre follow-up methodological review feedback to NHMRC Homeopathy Working Committee.
13. FOI 2014/15, email from the Office of NHMRC to Homeopathy Working Committee members attaching final agreed research protocol, section 58.
14. FOI 2015/16 008-06 Minutes of face to face meeting of the Homeopathy Working Committee, Principles for evidence statements, attachment B, item 7, 11–12 July 2015.
15. FOI 2015/16 007-05 Australasian Cochrane Centre follow-up methodological review feedback to NHMRC Homeopathy Working Committee.
16. FOI 2015/16 008-06 Minutes of face to face meeting of the Homeopathy Working Committee, 11–12 July 2015.
17. FOI 2015/16 007-05 Australasian Cochrane Centre follow-up methodological Review feedback to NHMRC Homeopathy Working Committee.
18. For example, nearly three million dollars was awarded to Joseph Trapani of the University of Melbourne to undertake in vitro research investigating ‘Cell death pathways and type 1 diabetes.’ Over $77,000 was granted to Helene Kammoun of the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, Victoria for research using animal studies to investigate ‘Developing new therapeutic approaches to depression.’ $250,000 was granted to Georges Grau from the University of Sydney for in vitro research to investigate ‘Pathogenic roles of microparticles in cerebral malaria.’