Applying an Ethical Framework to Herbal Medicine.

Herbal medicines make a vital contribution to healthcare globally, but from production through to practice, there are ethical challenges that require attention. Ethical challenges are often analysed through application of an ethical framework because this can facilitate a consistent and structured approach. In healthcare, the most commonly used framework over recent decades has been that of the four principles: beneficence, nonmaleficence, autonomy, and justice.

Is homeopathy really 'morally and ethically unacceptable'? A critique of pure scientism.

In this short response we show that Kevin Smith's moral and ethical rejections of homeopathy(1) are fallacious and rest on questionable epistemology. Further, we suggest Smith's presumption of a utilitarian stance is an example of scientism encroaching into medicine.