CORH - A quorum of quackery (part one)

The Council for Organisations Representing Homeopaths (CORH) is a coalition of a dozen or so bodies that purport to regulate the homeopathy profession in the UK. The key aims of CORH are:

a. To establish a single voluntary, self-regulating register of professional homeopaths.
b. To establish a common code of ethics.
c. To establish criteria and procedures for the registration of homeopaths to a single UK register.
d. To establish an accreditation process to accredit courses of homeopathic education.
e. To define, promote and continually evaluate the elements and standards of best homeopathic practice.

This seems like a good idea because a single standard would prevent homeopaths shopping around for the regulatory body that caresses with the lightest touch and goes down to the lowest ethical standards. Sadly CORH seems to have collapsed in bitter recriminations and it seems our friends at the Society of Homeopaths (SoH), known for their honesty, integrity and accountability are at fault.

The ensuing shambles is a good example of why homeopaths cannot be trusted to self regulate and suggests that any solution to reign in the excesses of homeopathy should be legislative in origin. I’ll do this in two parts, first I’ll introduce the principle and bit-part players today then tomorrow I will look at what CORH proposed to do and what actually happened (with the aid of some internal documents acquired as well as some information helpfully provided by certain homeopathy organisations).

I will briefly summarise the members of CORH with repect to their history, ideology and ethics. Somebody has to do it. Anyway, the members of this attempt to regulate the homeopathy cult are as follows:

Alliance of Registered Homeopaths (ARH)
Association of Natural Medicine (ANM)
British Register of Complementary Practitioners (BRCP Hom. Div)
Council for Homeopathic Colleges (CHC)
Embody
Fellowship of Homoeopaths (FelHom)
Homeopathic Medical Association (HMA)
International Register of Consultant Herbalists and Homoeopaths (IRCH)
International Society for Homoeopathy (ISH[UK])
National Association of Homeopathic Groups (NAHG)
Scottish Association of Professional Homeopaths (SAPH)
Society of Homeopaths (SoH)

Alliance of Registered Homeopaths (ARH)

The Alliance of Registered Homeopaths (ARH)

The ARH have ~650 members according to their latest register making them reasonable sized players in CORH. The ARH Code of Ethics and Practice is broadly similar to that of the SoH although considerably more succinct and concise coming in at a mere 10 pages. Like the SoH, the ARH specifically forbids its members from claiming or implying to cure any named disease. Like the SoH, breaching this doesn’t matter.

I like to think of the ARH as the homeopathic cultist equivalent of the Church of England scion of Anglicanism. Well meaning, benign and utterly useless. Of course like the CofE they promote bigotry and lies but they do it in such an ineffective manner that nobody really notices or cares. The ARH are full of decent but dim individuals and like the CofE have not proven particularly adept at gaining a significant media profile. Unlike their great rivals the SoH, the Catholic Church of homeopathy, the ARH barely get a mention on most blogs because almost nobody knows they are there and their website is crap.

Association of Natural Medicine (ANM)

The ANM was founded in 1983 and has a broader remit than just homeopathy. The ANM see their role as to:

promote interest in the use of natural medicine through education, by offering quality courses, supporting registered practitioners and supplying a forum for debate.

The ANM have 247 members practicisng 144 different therapies. I do not know how many homeopaths they have. The ANM do not have any Code of Ethics or specifically set out what they consider to be professional behaviour. The ANM seems to a talking shop and small organisational forum for different types of woo, perhaps the equivalent of a multi-faith community centre attracting the woolly thinkers who like to pick and choose bits of a religion they like. The fact that there is on average two members for every type of therapy suggests a certain lack of conviction or purpose. And ethics.

British Register of Complementary Practitioners (BRCP Hom. Div)

The BRCP was founded in 1982 and is a registered charity that aims to provide the public with information on Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) while making clear it is complementary to orthodox medicine. The BRCP represent 31 homeopaths making them bit part players. The BRCP do have a short code of ethics that seems broadly similar to that of the ARH and SoH and specifically forbids its members from claiming or implying to cure any named disease. I suspect the BRCP are like a fringe group of Anglicans desperately trying to reconcile their faith based beliefs with their rational observations of the world around them.

Council for Homeopathic Colleges (CHC)

The CHC don’t have a google presence (other than CORH documentation) and to all intents and purposes seem to be a one man band called doctorbob. Probably the equivalent of the high street preacher who competes with the Golf Sale gurus with a sandwich board quoting a passage from the Book of Revelations.

Embody

Embody is the register of the Complementary Therapists Association who seem to exist primarily to advertise the services of their members. There is no apparent code of ethics for this organisation. They have ~200 homeopaths registered, most of whom are members of the ARH or SoH.

Fellowship of Homoeopaths (FelHom)

FelHom seem to be an organisation for current and former students of a homeopath named Malcolm Stemp. His websites mainly sell his CDs. Clearly a fringe cult in thrall to their messianic leader. They appear to reject the more modern interpretation of Hahnemanns teachings in favour of some old fashioned fire and brimstone homeopathy. Not for them gentle talk of healing ailments but fiery preachings on

injuries, infections, coughs, colds, high temperatures, gout, warts, burns, leg ulcers, gall stones, and not only physical problems but the remedies for fear, shock, loss of a loved one and more.

The message is clear. If you don’t accept homeoapthy you will live a life of perpetual pain, fear and warty plagues until you die. Then who knows what fate awaits you.

Homeopathic Medical Association (HMA)

The HMA was established in 1985 and was established to represent qualified professional homeopaths as well as promoting homeopathy and homeopathic education. The HMA have around 200 members who they insist are bound by their code of ethics, although they have neglected to make it available to the public. The HMA seem more or less identical to the ARH in media profile, ideology and poor webdesign. I assume only a minor point of difference on scripture, perhaps on ehtics, is responsible for the continued existence of both organisations as they are more or less indistinguishable.

International Register of Consultant Herbalists and Homoeopaths (IRCH)

IRCH was established in 1960, making them one of the oldest organisations, “with the aim of ensuring that anyone consulting one of its members would experience skilled, ethical and professional care.”. They seem to espouse a original blend of homeoapthy and herbalism. Sadly, like the HMA, they have forgotten to make their Code of Ethics available to the public. IRCH appear to have around 50 members. Clearly like a dying gnostic sect from ancient times whose beliefs are influenced by more ancient forms of worship and considered apocryphal by mainstream forms.

International Society for Homoeopathy (ISH[UK])

ISHOM are the born-again fundamentalists of the homeopathy world. They describe themselves thusly:

I.S.Hom. is a group of Homœopaths who practise pure Homœopathy based strictly on the teachings of Samuel Hahnemann (1755 – 1843), the founder of Homœopathy, and on those of James Tyler Kent (1849 – 1916). I.S.Hom. practitioners do not find it necessary to go outside these teachings in regard to the fundamental principles of Homœopathy.

The ISHOM do not have a register of members so it is not possible to determine their size. They also have the shortest Code of Ethics of any organisation. I suspect they brought their original copies of Hahnemann’s works to CORH meeting and loudly read out verses that they feel other organisations have forgotten.

National Association of Homeopathic Groups (NAHG)

NAHG do not appear to have a website but apparently are “a patient orientated association of some 20 autonomous UK homeopathic group“. Who knows what they are about?

Scottish Association of Professional Homeopaths (SAPH)

SAPH have 19 members who apparently are bound by a Code of Ethics that is not available to the general public. A minor cult and probably of no relevance. May be the Church of Scotland to the ARH’s Church of England.

Society of Homeopaths (SoH)

Ahh the bad guys. The SoH are no doubt familiar to the readers of this blog. Rich (for homeopaths), successful (thousands of members) and with a media profile to die for (recruit respected novelists to their cause), the SoH are the Catholic church of homeopathy. Dictators of doctrine and proven bullies the SoH are the heavyweights of homeopathy. Like the Catholic church they prefer to hide the indiscretions of their members from the public. Their attempts to dominate CORH caused it’s collapse but you’ll have to come back tomorrow to find out just how it happened.