Alternative research

Re: Shining A Light On Alternative Medicines, Heather Boon, March 5. The laudable suggestion that rigorous scientific inquiry be applied to complementary and alternative medical treatments begs the question of who will pay for all this research.

There is a near-infinite number of such therapies, and others have suggested that the purveyors of these treatments should be required to pony up for the costs of research. A better solution is to start by discarding those suggested therapies that have a very low probability of ever having a beneficial effect. For example, do you want tax dollars to be spent on research on ear candling — the treatment of diseases by placing a lighted candle in the ear?

Roy Preshaw M.D., Telegraph Cove, B.C.