Prince of Wales and Quackery

HRH is the president of the Foundation for Integrated Health, an organisation devoted to the use of therapies considered quackery:

The Prince of Wales's foundation for Integrated Health website provides information about the integration of complementary and conventional healthcare, including details of what we do, publications, conferences and seminars. (Source: www.fihealth.org.uk)

The Sunday Times - Britain brings this interesting article about HRH and Quackery:

Charles’s "alternative GP" campaign stirs anger by Jonathon Carr-Brown, Health Correspondent

PRINCE CHARLES has angered medical traditionalists by launching a campaign encouraging GPs to prescribe more "alternative" treatments to NHS patients.
The Prince of Wales’s Foundation for Integrated Health hopes to have signed up 150 GPs to the new and controversial scheme by October. Those who join will become "associates" of the foundation and are expected to offer a wide range of herbal and other alternative treatments to their patients.
..........

Edzard Ernst, professor of complementary medicine at Exeter University, said: "There is considerable danger in this initiative".

"The information the foundation puts out is dangerous and misleading. If it enters the realm of general practice it seems to me more like an attempt to brainwash GPs and patients."

Since members of the Royal family are using alternative remedies like herbs "Liz" probably will become "associates" of the foundation. But what about other 100.000 medical docs?

This is not the first time Charles has called for alternative research and supported alternative medicine.

Charles backed a controversial treatment last year which involved taking daily coffee enemas and carrot juice as cancer treatments instead of using drugs.

Michael Baum, emeritus professor of surgery at University College London sent An open letter to the Prince of Wales: with respect, your highness, you've got it wrong (More woodoo). Michael Baum's frank and reasoned answer to the medical advice given by someone not versed in medicine and science and the dozens of comments - are worth reading.

HRH has another engagement for sCAM via The King's Fund, of which he is the president. The organisation dishes out money for alternative treatment. Kings Fund supporting acupunture and I found several external links on complementary medicine.

Many people care about what the Prince's saying, because he is a high profile figure. I hope that intelligent people will be able to recognize the Prince's amateurish statements for what they are. The Prince's opinion should carry no weight at all and he should have been given the same reception as Tom Cruse received when expressing his views about Psychiatry and Science.

Further reading:
Prince Charles > CAM News Items
News Target: Articles on Prince Charles
Prince Charles and "Alternative" Medicine
The Prince's work
Prince Charles slams nanotechnology