Ben Goldacre And More Giving Evidence At Parliamentary SciTech

by podblack on December 6, 2009

Here’s a particularly good part (out of eleven!) with Ben Goldacre talking (http://www.parliamentlive.tv/)

Ben Goldacre on his blog reports:

Personal highlights, from memory, include:

Paul Bennett from Boots saying that there is no evidence showing homeopathy pills are effective at treating any conditions, but Boots are happy to sell them anyway, since the MHRA have given them a license. Wahey!
Robert Wilson, the head of the homeopathic pill manufacturers’ association, giving us a lecture on trial methodology, explaining that: 65 people in any trial cannot be statistically relevant (which is rubbish, if you have a pill that cures everyone from an incurable condition then 40 people is fine, hell, a dozen would do); that if you talk to statistically literate people they will tell you that size is everything (it’s one of many things); and anything less than 500 people is not going to be statistically significant (which is utter, utter nonsense).
Edzard Ernst pwning Peter Fisher with relaxed aplomb in the second half, especially when Fisher wheels out some claims on homeopathic aggravations.
Some angry looking people in the room staring at me very intently which, from background research by Gimpy, may have been part of a magickal ritual.
Evan Harris MP doing his “that’s rubbish” face as it emerged that the Royal Pharmaceutical Society are still slowly investigating a complaint about dangerous homeopathic pharmacists from 2006.
Ian Stewart MP talking.

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{ 2 comments }

Mick December 7, 2009 at 3:41 pm: *headslap*

No. The babies don’t manifest the placebo effect. The MOTHERS do!

Ben did very well, though.
AndyD December 7, 2009 at 11:25 pm: I’m not familiar with UK politicians and haven’t watched the videos – but I did just read the whole transcript. I assume Ben’s inclusion of “Ian Stewart MP talking” in his highlights was a joke.

Stewart effectively insisted the panel answer the question “can you state categorically that there are no fairies at the bottom of the garden?” And when offered the fact that no one has seen any, he then effectively asks “could they just be hiding?”

Hopefully Stewart is a larrikin who likes to take the piss and wasn’t seriously asking a bunch of scientific professionals to publicly refute the existence garden fairies. But it didn’t read that way.

The entire transcript could be put on stage and travel the world as a sellout comedy.