Medical professionals express outrage over appointment of Michael Dixon as head of royal household’s medical team
The United Kingdom’s medical community is in an uproar after the appointment of Michael Dixon as the head of the royal household’s medical team. Despite having a prestigious career in public health, Dixon is known to support unconventional therapies such as homeopathy and laying on of hands. This has led to widespread concern and criticism from medical professionals.
Although homeopathic medicines were withdrawn from the British public health system as placebos in 2017, as they work more by suggestion than by their active ingredients, Dixon continues to support alternative medicine treatments, sparking outrage among fellow doctors.
According to the Telegraph, Dixon has defended himself by stating that he is responsible for looking after the Royal family, which also includes elderly patients. He has a team of doctors that cover different Royal Households and specialists to assist, which requires one or two days a week of his time.
In a report by the Daily Mail, it was revealed that Michael Dixon has been in his position in the royal household for about a year.
At 71 years old, Dixon is married to an artist named Joanna and has three children, two of whom are also doctors. He studied psychology and philosophy at the University of Oxford, later pursuing medicine at Guy’s Hospital, and has been working in general medicine since 1984. Dixon still sees patients two days a week at his practice in Devon and is the president of the Faculty of Medicine, promoting complementary medicine like aromatherapy, which has been highly criticized by medical professionals in the UK.
The news of Dixon’s appointment has also not been well received in the media. The Sunday Times reported that he once invited a Christian healer to his surgery to treat chronically ill patients and experimented with prescribing unconventional treatments such as an African bush called devil’s claw for shoulder pain and horny goat weed for impotence.
Michael Dixon took over the position from Sir Huw Thomas, a renowned professor of gastrointestinal genetics at Imperial College London, who was the personal physician to the late Queen Elizabeth II and was part of the team that attended Kate Middleton during the birth of Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.
The appointment of Michael Dixon has stirred controversy and raised concerns within the UK’s medical community, with many expressing outrage and skepticism about his unconventional treatment practices.