When homoeopathy meets science journalism…

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Homoeopathy multinational Boiron threatens amateur Italian blogger

Fabio Turone, Milan

A letter sent by the Italian arm of multinational company Boiron, threatening to sue an amateur blogger over remarks he made about homoeopathy, has sparked a strong internet reaction in defence of freedom of speech. Samuele Riva posted two articles on his blog, blogzero.it , on 13 and 27 July,which included pictures of Boiron’s blockbuster homoeopathic product Oscillococcinum, marketed as a remedy against flu symptoms. The pictures were accompanied by captions, which joked about the total absence of any active molecules in homoeopathic preparations. On 28 July Boiron fired off a letter to the internet provider, complaining that both the articles and the captions were “untrue and derogatory both of homeopathy and [the] company,” and responsible for tarnishing the company’s reputation and causing “serious damage”…
http://www.bmj.com/content/343/bmj.d5197.full

Mi fa piacere non solo di dare il mio sostegno a Samuele, ma anche di aver potuto citare la seguente frase di Piero Angela, che nel 2004 sconfisse in tribunale (sia in sede civile sia in sede penale) due associazioni di medici omeopati che pretendevano di avere a “Superquark” il diritto di replica: “The courts looked into the scientific evidence we provided, and stated that homoeopaths had no right of reply on public service TV, accepting my view that it is a science journalist’s duty to clearly distinguish between what is science and what is not”.