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Homeopathy 2006; 95(01): 57-61
DOI: 10.1016/j.homp.2005.11.003
Letter to the Editor
Copyright © The Faculty of Homeopathy 2005

‘Proof’ against homeopathy in fact supports Homeopathy

Lex Rutten
a   Breda, The Netherlands
,
Erik Stolper
b   Heerde, The Netherlands
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Publication Date:
29 December 2017 (online)

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Suppose a salesman visits you with a basket of more than a hundred apples. You ask: ‘are they all good?’ Out of your sight, the salesman takes eight apples out of the basket. He shows you the apples and they look fine to you. ‘This is the proof that all apples are all good’, the salesman says. You ask: ‘can I take some too?’ and you take out eight rotten apples out of the basket, just like that. ‘That means nothing, because I have just proven that all apples are fine’, the salesman answers.

You may not believe it, but the editors of the leading medical Journal ‘The Lancet’ cheated likewise and think this trick will mean the end of homeopathy. On 27 August 2005, The Lancet published a study, which purposed to prove that homeopathy is nothing more than a placebo effect.[ 1 ] With a selection of eight out of 110 studies on the efficacy of homeopathy, medical science is of the opinion that they can prove millions of satisfied users wrong. This basket of apples was therefore welcomed by opponents of homeopathy: for them good apples are studies that show no effect of homeopathy and rotten apples are studies with positive results for homeopathy.