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ABSTRACT
Given the expansion of pseudoscience, there is a need to understand its mechanisms of diffusion. Our aim was to evaluate how pseudoscience operates among pharmacists. We performed 29 semi-structured interviews to assess the stance of pharmacists regarding pseudoscience. Interview data were analyzed qualitatively to seek common themes. Our results indicate that although pharmacists were broadly opposed to more extreme pseudoscientific practices, some attitudes were detected that may contribute to pseudoscience acceptance. We identified some of the processes by means of which pseudoscience boundaries with science are blurred: the minimization of risk, the hierarchy of health-related pseudoscientific therapies, inappropriate utilization of the notion of “innocuousness,” and the use of the placebo effect as a justification for prescription. Discursive patterns typical of pseudoscientific argumentation were also recognized, such as contradictory arguments and the sequndum quid and ad antiquitatem fallacies, which, we conclude, may contribute to a greater acceptance of pseudoscience.
Authors’ responsibilities
All authors contributed equally to the paper.
Data access statement
Due to ethical concerns, supporting data cannot be made openly available. All the data obtained from this research – anonymised interview transcripts from participants and the original records – are available upon demand at grup de recerca en comunicació científica (grecc), at the universitat pompeu fabra data archive.
Disclosure statement
The authors declare no competing interests.