A Robert Gordon University (RGU) academic combines business ethics with medical ethics in a newly published report.
Louise Crawford, who is a Professor of Accountancy at RGU’s Aberdeen Business School, authored a paper entitled Moral Legitimacy: The Struggle of Homeopathy in the NHS which has been published in the high-ranking journal Bioethics.
The paper deals with the controversial issue of homeopathy in the context of the NHS funded Glasgow Homeopathic Hospital (GHH).
The article deploys a well-established theoretical model from the accountability literature to the domain of bioethics. Specifically, homeopathy is identified as a controversial industry and the strategic action of advocates to secure moral legitimacy and attract public funding is explored.
Louise said: “In this paper I have taken an interdisciplinary approach, combining business ethics with bioethics, to explore the moral legitimacy of homeopathy in the NHS.
“Arguably, the hidden costs to society and a lack of accountability, together with misleading claims masquerading as legitimate medical treatments, render the public funding of homeopathy particularly controversial compared with more visible controversial industries such as trading in armaments, tobacco or pornography.
“My analysis of the strategic actions of homeopathy advocates who have campaigned for its continued public funding at the GHH, shows that they have been unsuccessful in persuading others that homeopathy is a morally legitimate practice.”
Louise argues that; “This is an encouraging development towards open and transparent NHS accountability for targeting limited public resources away from homeopathic treatments and towards evidence-based medicine, in pursuit of maximizing society’s health and well-being.”
The paper can be read online.