Homeopathy: Such a summer theater!
Great. The health care reform is currently driven to the wall, the health insurance contributions will rise in 2011, and not too close. And now even homeopathy should be deleted from the catalog of benefits of the statutory health insurance? SPIEGEL has kicked off the discussion and the parties have promptly put it on the agenda for their summer theater.
Ironically, the SPIEGEL. Just seven weeks ago, he explained to us how the pharmaceutical industry is making billions in sales of cancer medicines, the effects of which are questionable. In comparison, homeopathic globules and drops cost almost nothing - except a little time for the attending physician or homeopath.
This will probably even save our health care system money: expensive diagnostics, which is used far too often, where even simple questions could clarify the clinical picture. And on conventional medical therapies and drugs, whose successes are often hardly better, but their side effects are much more harmful than in homeopathy.
Do you believe in the effect of the beads? The dispute is ancient. What is new is that even scientific medicine is seriously interested in an effect called placebo. "It helps me what I believe in" - this principle applies not only to naturopathy and Co., but also for operations, painkillers and high-tech medicines. Clever school physicians are taking advantage of this effect for a long time.
The vote took place - with the feet: Surveys show that more than half of the women and men in Germany use alternative medicine. Because they help them and because they feel better treated by doctors offering such methods. Many are willing to pay extra for it - even though they finance the health insurance with hefty contributions.
Who now wants to delete the few health insurance payments from homeopathy may have everything in mind. But health costs are guaranteed not saved.
