Will Heaven

News that the NHS will offer acupuncture to back pain sufferers has delighted some. For a start, as the Guardian reports, the condition costs the UK over £5.1bn annually and leads to 5m lost working days. It affects, we are told, “one in three adults each year and leads to 2.6 million people visiting their GP”.

So it appears the NHS is attempting to cut costs. To be fair, this will be achieved: although the acupuncture services will cost the taxpayer £24.4m, money will be saved as the NHS plans to stop the dodgy practice of injecting therapeutic substances into the lower back which, doctors were saying as early as 1991, is not effective against persistent back pain.

But is government-endorsed acupuncture really a good idea? Here are three reasons why I think acupuncture on the NHS sets a dangerous precedent.

1. Acupuncture’s effectiveness is highly disputed.

A study earlier this year, reported by Counterknowledge.com and the BMJ, concluded: “Whether needling at acupuncture points, or at any site, reduces pain independently of the psychological impact of the treatment ritual is unclear.” In other words, scientists do not know whether acupuncture works like a placebo, or if it has a real biological effect. The study also stated that effect of acupuncture on pain relief is so small that it “seems to lack clinical relevance and cannot be clearly distinguished from bias”.

2. If we allow placebos on the NHS, it opens the door to other alternative medicines.

There are plenty of alternative medicines out there which, users claim, reduce pain and help treat various conditions - just take a look at Counterknowledge.com’s archives. That they have not been successful in clinical tests - that they work only on a psychological level - is what keeps them out of our hospitals. If we are going to have acupuncture, then why not have, say, traditional Tibetan medicine? Lion claw soup, anyone?

3. If the government endorses acupuncture, it will only encourage people to turn to quackery outside the NHS.

As the Telegraph reported when the NHS acupuncture announcement was first made, provision for back pain will be “very variable”. One GP - Dr Martin Underwood - said that “very few” areas in the UK will be able to give the full recommended treatment for persistent (read chronic) back pain. So what do we get? That’s right: a middle-aged man writhing from back pain tries to get the new government-endorsed acupuncture on the NHS; he is told it is not available in his area. As a result, he goes to Mr Wang, a cheap practitioner is his local area family, naturally, have practised acupuncture for centuries. He’ll get the full works - all to restore his ‘Qi’. And guess what? It’ll be a waste of cash and could even worsen his condition.

But fear not: at least the NHS will have saved their money.

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