Big Deals with Alternative Medicine
The market is growing for homeopathic remedies, diets and all kinds of miracle cures. Although homeopathic practitioners in Germany are largely unregulated, their supporters are growing in number. An industry has sprung up around alternative medicine that draws on the mistrust towards the pharmaceutical industry, medicine and the media. Many products are as harmless as they are ineffective – but some are dangerous or even lethal. Beate Frenkel investigates: where is the source of this boom? What role do conspiracy theories play as well as the influence of the internet? Why do politicians and the German Medical Association take so few preventive steps? Powerful examples are backed up with statements from doctors, patients and alternative medicine practitioners.