The article on homeopathy by Debra Ollivier was both ill-informed and irresponsible. It all but completely ignored the mass of scientific research that shows homeopathy to be complete bunk. None of the major critics of homeopathy were even quoted or mentioned. Not that finding a critic is hard to do. A quick Web search will show tons of information about homeopathy and its ridiculous claims.

The author's handling of science terminology was atrocious. She created analogies that were entirely fictitious and totally unrelated.

I hope in the future your reporters will do a better job of looking into extraordinary claims, especially when misinforming the public about matters of health. In the meantime, ask yourselves why none of the homeopathists will take up the James Randi Educational Foundation's offer of $1 million for proving homeopathy works. (The American Physical Society has agreed to conduct the tests.)

-- Andrew Harter,
researcher, James Randi Educational Foundation
Randi.org

Your article is a disgrace. Homeopathy is delusional practice. The idea that its mechanism resembles vaccination is silly. Vaccines contain measurable amounts of substances that, when injected into the body, produce a measurable immune response. The dilute form of homeopathy does not contain measurable active ingredients and does not produce a measurable immune response within the body. Accurate information is available at Quackwatch.com

-- Stephen Barrett, M.D.
Quackwatch.com

Debra Ollivier's happy article about the joy of homeopathy in France did not mention the work of Jacques Benveniste. Benveniste is, as he would be the second to tell you (apparently I am the first), the world's leading scientific expert on the subject. Benveniste has discovered new principles of nature that most scientists have been unable, and perhaps for that reason unwilling, to see. His work has already earned him two Ig Nobel Prizes. Benveniste's most recent finding is that you can tap into the memory of a glass of water, and transmit that information over telephone lines or over the Internet. I, for one, am most eager to see what new watery discoveries he will announce in the new millennium.

-- Marc Abrahams,
editor, Annals of Improbable Research (AIR)
and master of ceremonies of the annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony
Improbable.com

The fact that homeopathic cures worked on one child with an ear infection is an unconvincing argument for the procedure since most childhood ear infections do not require the use of any drugs (either antibacterial or homeopathic) for their treatment. The body is adequately prepared to fight them on its own.

-- Daniel Hertzman

Your article claims that homeopathy "works." That's certainly not my impression. Yes, there have been some poorly designed studies that support homeopathy, and better designed studies that show homeopathy is no better than placebos. For details, see the valuable Web site Quackwatch.com or ask physics professor Bob Park, whose forthcoming book was discussed a few days ago on Salon. Most alternative medicine is pretty dubious, but homeopathy is downright ludicrous. Of course, there are lots of people who believe in homeopathy. Lots of people believe in astrology and in dialing the psychic hotline, too.

-- John W. Farley,
professor of physics,
University of Nevada, Las Vegas

For years the medical establishment has been trying to suppress the healing properties of little vials of water to further its own nefarious ends. Now with the truth out, we will all be able to partake of the miracle healing properties of little vials of water, unadulterated with dangerous "active" ingredients. Kudos to you, Salon, for taking a brave stand against the establishment, making it safe for all humanity to benefit from the healing powers of little vials of water!

-- Ben Cooley

Homeopathy is bullshit. Only very, very diluted. It's completely safe to drink.

-- Peter Dorn

It perplexes me that suddenly trendy scientists who fancy themselves debunkers of myths keep jabbing at homeopathy. It works -- countless patients have confirmed this. Sure, the relief they experience may well be due to the placebo effect, and so what? The mind exerts more power over the body than we know or care to admit. Be it visualization, faith healing or simple placebo, the truth is that to an extent, one can heal oneself without drugs. Western medicine, with its reductionist approach to disease and its patriarchal disdain for patients' feelings, is not only unable to describe or to cure many chronic conditions affecting us, it is also foolishly creating a plague with its over-use of antibiotics. With that in mind, it seems to me we had better be a bit more humble and not attack what we fail to understand.

-- S. Marlaud

Next page | The first rational article I've read on the gun-control hysteria