Anthony Daniels

Don’t believe in miracles

Everyone likes to attack Western medicine, says Anthony Daniels, but we must ignore the siren song of hocus-pocus and respect rationality

issue 31 October 2009

Irrationality, without which life cannot be lived, is profoundly irritating, especially in others. It is at its worst when those who are guilty of it try to sue those who, like Simon Singh, try to expose it. Singh was sued by the British Chiropractic Association after he wrote a book debunking several alternative ‘therapies’. A few weeks ago, thankfully, he was given leave to appeal but the affair nearly spelled victory for irrationality. Irrationality is also very bad when displayed by someone close to you.

My late mother suddenly suffered from a non-life-threatening but disfiguring skin condition of her scalp that naturally enough caused her great distress. Old ladies in their eighties, worried about their appearance, are not high on the National Health Service’s list of priorities; and this, combined with a severe shortage of dermatologists in this country, meant that she could not be seen on the NHS for 18 months.

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