Wikipedia Co-founder Wants to stop homeopathy

Wales's public statements

After a pharmacy recommended a potentised remedy for his sore throat, Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia, shared his views on homeopathy in a series of public statements. Wales described homeopathy as fraudulent and expressed his wish to support efforts to restrict its sale.

His comments included: "homeopathy is a proven fraud," "makes me ill," and "Homeopathic remedies of no value whatsoever are legally marketed." He asked, "Who should I talk to about this in order to encourage the creation of a campaign to stop this? This is not my primary area of interest and so I am not the right person to lead it myself. But I would like to help."

Wales also stated: "It's a scandal in the modern world," "We know with full rational certainty that they do not work at all. They are nothing more than placebo sold fraudulently," and "the effectiveness of homeopathic remedies, relative to placebos, is 0%. Not effective at all. A useless fraud." He added: "There have been no properly conducted large scale studies which suggest in the least that homeopathic remedies are any different from sugar water" and "Homeopathy does not work at all. It has been shown in an extremely thorough way to be no better than a placebo."

The pharmacy visit

The incident occurred after Wales visited a pharmacy seeking relief for a sore throat. The recommendation of a homeopathic preparation prompted his online comments. Wales mentioned Oscillococcinum, a widely sold homeopathic preparation marketed for flu-like symptoms in several countries including Australia.

Wikipedia's coverage

Wales has been vocal about his view that Wikipedia should reflect mainstream scientific consensus on medical topics. The online encyclopedia's articles on homeopathy present it as a discredited practice, citing systematic reviews and meta-analyses that have not found evidence of effectiveness beyond placebo. Attempts by homeopathy supporters to modify these articles have generally been rejected by Wikipedia's volunteer editors, who cite the platform's policies on reliable sources and neutral point of view.

Whether Wales's public position directly influences Wikipedia's editorial decisions on homeopathy remains a matter of ongoing discussion within the homeopathic community.

Continue with the Homeopathy in culture and public debate collection.