University calls halt to degree in homeopathy

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Westminster University has been criticised for wasting taxpayers' money by offering a BSc in homeopathy.

Scientists say it has no academic value and is merely a form of "quackery" with no proven medical benefits.

Last year, editor-in-chief of the Catholic Herald Damian Thompson publicly attacked Westminster's vice chancellor Professor Geoffrey Petts for "peddling mumbo jumbo".

The university has defended the degree by claiming a third of the course involves detailed biomedical studies.

But it has now emerged that recruitment for the course has been suspended with the university blaming a lack of students applying.

Professor David Colquhoun, a scientist who has waged a six-year campaign against "non-courses", believes the U-turn was due to criticism: "They say that the reason they're shutting it is they haven't got enough students, I think it's more likely to be due to pressure from people like me. I know there are people in Westminster who are embarrassed by it."

Homeopathy, a treatment rumoured to be favoured by the Queen, is based on taking a substance that triggers symptoms and using an extremely diluted dose to treat the same symptoms in an unhealthy person.

Homeopaths believe the weaker the dose the more effective it will be, and typically they dilute the extraction to the point where almost none of the original ingredients are left.

Degrees in alternative medicine have been largely confined to former polytechnics, such as Westminster. But Professor Colquhoun, a pharmacologist at University College London, said BScs in homeopathy devalue academic study.

"They embarrass the academic community. I'm not talking about vocational degrees like plumbing because at least they lead to a good, honest job and do what they say on the packet."

A spokeswoman for Westminster said: "Recruitment has been suspended to... degrees in homeopathy and remedial massage and neuromuscular therapy. These two courses have struggled to remain viable, recruiting a combined total of 14 students last year."