CHILDREN in Scotland may be put at risk by the widespread prescribing of homeopathic medicines which will do them no good but may do harm, a leading child health care expert has warned.

Dr James McLay, a clinical pharmacologist, believes that no child should be prescribed homeopathic remedies but his research shows children under one year old are the most likely to receive such a prescription.

The research by Aberdeen University will add to the controversy over homeopathic remedies in the wake of 12 national societies - including the British Pharmacology Society, the Royal Society and the Academy of Medical Sciences - raising fears over patient safety and accuracy of information about homeopathic and herbal medicines.

The study involved analysing the records of nearly two million patients in 323 practices from 2003-4 and revealed that 60per cent of doctors' surgeries in Scotland prescribe homeopathic or herbal remedies.

The research showed that 4160 patients (2.2 per 1000 registered patients)were prescribed at least one homeopathic remedy during the study period with 73per cent female and the average age was 47.

Children under 12 months were most likely to be prescribed a homeopathic or herbal remedy (9.5 per 1000 children in that age group). That was followed by adults aged 81-90 (4.5 per 1000) and 16per cent of homeopathic prescribing was to children under 16.

"There is a real drive to use rational and proven medication and the whole thing about homeopathy is it is totally unproven and totally irrational as well. There are herbals also being prescribed by GPs and we have the use of totally unproven medicines being paid for by NHS, " he said.

"It is difficult to knowwhy children are being prescribed homeopathy. If one assumes homeopathy works because of the placebo effect, and I personally do believe that, you can't do that with children under one year old, " added DrMcLay.

Referring to older children, he said: "If the child is not ill then they should not be treated. If they are ill with a self-limiting illness, which thank goodness most are, then why treat it at all? Is it appropriate to have people from a young age believing that there is a pill for every ill?

"Another aspect is that if the child has an illness and you treat with homeopathy and the parent is happy what happens if the doctor gets the diagnosis wrong? It creates a situation where potentially the child could be unwell but the parents are unlikely to say anything about it because they believe that the child is being treated. They may let the situation progress longer than they would usually.

"I believe homeopathy works because of the placebo effect. There is no such thing as magic so is it right to use homeopathic remedies as a placebo when placebos are banned?"

He said many doctors had told him they use homeopathic remedies as placebos in children to pacify the parents.

DrMcLay, who personally avoids all forms of medication where possible, said there were a disproportionate number of doctors in Scotland who had done homeopathic courses at the Royal Homeopathic Hospital in Glasgow.

"One of the reasons for doing that is that in general practice continuous medical education is rewarded by an increase in payments, " said Dr McLay. "You can get your whole year of continuous medical education payments by attending that course. That is a bit cynical but it is the truth."

Sally Penrose, chief executive of the British Homeopathic Association and Faculty of Homeopathy, said it was disappointing that the authors of the study had chosen to ignore the clinical trials which showed homeopathy to be effective in conditions such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, childhood diarrhoea, fibromyalgia, influenza treatment, premenstrual syndrome, respiratory tract and ear infections, rheumatic diseases and seasonal allergic rhinitis.

"GPs trained in homeopathy are best-placed to decide whether conventional medicine or homeopathy is most likely to be effective for their patients, " she said.