The BBC Abandons Its Complementary Medicine Website Due to Pressure (fwd)

[Guest guest]

February 28 2008

The BBC Abandons Its Complementary Medicine Website Due to Pressure

by Donohoe

(NaturalNews) The BBC, Britain's venerable TV

station known and respected worldwide for its

impartiality and integrity, has suddenly closed

down the Complementary Medicine section on its

Health website (www.bbc.co.uk/health) .

This is believed to be in response to a curious

and abnormal amount of letters and e-mails

demanding that information on such therapies as

homeopathy and cranial osteopathy be removed.

The BBC Health website is one of the most widely

accessed websites in the world and has been

online for almost 15 years. Its Complementary

Medicine section had in excess of 40 pages on

" alternative " therapies, objective evaluations, a

practitioner 'search' facility, and other useful

information. But the controllers of BBC Health

have now decided to abandon all coverage of

Complementary Medicine.

Recently, in the UK, there has been a concerted

attack on " alternative " medicine from people like

University College London Professor

Colquhoun who described 61 university

complementary medicine courses (45 of them

science degrees) as " gobbledygook " . Professor

Colquhoun went on to say that, " the teaching of

complementary medicine under a science banner was

worse than 'Mickey Mouse' degrees in golf

management and baking... "

Another critic of " complementary " medicine is

Baum, Emeritus Professor of Surgery at

University College London, who caused a storm by

criticising Prince 's support for the

Royal London Homeopathic Hospital (RLHH).

" Homeopathy, " says Professor Baum, " is no better

than witchcraft. " Criticising a £20 million

refurbishment of the RLHH Professor Baum says

that that money would have been better spent on

drugs like Herceptin.

In May 2006, Prince had addressed the

World Health Assembly in Geneva to argue for

homeopathy and its kindred therapies. The Prince

urged a return to remedies " rooted in ancient

traditions that intuitively understood the need

to maintain balance and harmony with our minds,

bodies and the natural world. "

The decision by BBC controllers is a curious one,

especially at a time when more than 40% of

Britons use some form of " complementary " medicine

and spend £1.6 billion pounds annually (Ernst).

In Britain, the BBC is a public service

broadcaster and its remit is to broadcast for the

benefit of the public - not for commercial

concerns. As public outrage begins to grow, we

are sure to hear a lot more about this sinister

development in the days and weeks ahead.

The BBC, in response to criticism of their

action, says that the " complementary health

section was incomplete and, therefore, not of a

satisfactory editorial standard. " They go on to

say, " The BBC will continue to cover

complementary health in other areas of its

output, such as TV, radio and news programmes,

and may reassess its complementary health content

in future. "

If you have ever accessed the BBC's

" Complementary Medicine " site or believe that it

should be restored, please take just a minute to

complain or express your views using their online

comment form at: (www.bbc.co.uk/feedback/)

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