Doctors attack alternative medicine

A group of doctors have called for their ruling body to ban doctors using their professional titles when offering alternative medicines such as homeopathy, acupuncture and the skin rejuvenation treatment mesotherapy.

They say doctors are banned from promoting scientifically unproven treatments and cite the Euro­pean science advisory council that ruled in 2017 that there was “no robust, reproducible evidence that homeopathic products work” beyond a placebo and that it “can actually be harmful” by delaying evidence-based treatment.

The doctors also asked the government to stop reimbursing such treatments until they had been scientifically proven to be effective.

Meanwhile, the government has said that smear tests for cervical cancer are to be made free for all women aged 25-65. The cancer kills 1,000 women a year and health minister Agnès Buzyn said she wanted to fund more preventive medicine.