Peter Antony Goodwin Fisher, FRCP (2 September 1950 – 15 August 2018) was an English physician who served as physician to Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

for 17 years.

Life

A graduate of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, he went on to train at

Westminster Hospital Medical School The Westminster Hospital Medical School was formally founded in 1834 by George Guthrie, an ex-military surgeon – although students had been taken on at Westminster Hospital almost from the hospital's foundation in 1719 (the traditional name a ...

. He was an Honorary Consultant Rheumatologist at

King's College Hospital King's College Hospital is a major teaching hospital and major trauma centre in Denmark Hill, Camberwell in the London Borough of Lambeth, referred to locally and by staff simply as "King's" or abbreviated internally to "KCH". It is managed b ...

. He served as Clinical Director for 18 years, and Director of Research at the

Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine The Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine (formerly the Royal London Homoeopathic Hospital) is a specialist alternative medicine hospital located in London, England and a part of University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. ...

(formerly the ''Royal London Homoeopathic Hospital'') for 22 years. He was also President of the

Faculty of Homeopathy The Faculty of Homeopathy was formed in 1944 from the British Homeopathic Society (founded in 1844). It was incorporated by the Faculty of Homeopathy Act 1950, which confers an educational function on the Faculty. The Faculty promotes the developm ...

and Editor-in-chief of the journal '' Homeopathy''. Fisher chaired the World Health Organisation's working group on homeopathy and served on their Expert Advisory Panel on Traditional and Complementary Medicine. As a prominent practitioner of alternative medicine he was frequently criticised by

sceptics Skepticism, also spelled scepticism, is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the pe ...

. In 2006 he participated in a debate with science writer

Ben Goldacre Ben Michael Goldacre (born 20 May 1974) is a British physician, academic and science writer. He is the first Bennett Professor of Evidence-Based Medicine and director of the Bennett Institute for Applied Data Science at the University of Oxford ...

at the

Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more. ...

on ''Does Homeopathy Work?''; his contribution was described by evidence-based medicine campaigner

David Colquhoun David Colquhoun (born 19 July 1936) is a British pharmacologist at University College London (UCL). He has contributed to the general theory of receptor and synaptic mechanisms, and in particular the theory and practice of single ion channel ...

as "shameless cherry-picking of the evidence". His claim that

randomised controlled trial A randomized controlled trial (or randomized control trial; RCT) is a form of scientific experiment used to control factors not under direct experimental control. Examples of RCTs are clinical trials that compare the effects of drugs, surgical t ...

s "cannot capture the possible benefits of homeopathy" and his defence of the disproven "

water memory Water memory is the purported ability of water to retain a memory of substances previously dissolved in it even after an arbitrary number of serial dilutions. It has been claimed to be a mechanism by which homeopathic remedies work, even when th ...

" hypothesis of homeopathic medicine was critiqued by

Rose Shapiro Rose Shapiro is a British writer who contributes regularly to several publications including ''The Independent'', ''The Observer'', ''The Guardian'', '' Time Out'', ''Good Housekeeping'' and the '' Health Service Journal''. She wrote the book ' ...

in her book '' Suckers.'' Fisher was awarded the Polish Academy of Medicine's Albert Schweitzer Gold Medal in 2007. He had two daughters, Lily and Eve, from his marriage to Nina Oxenham, from whom he was divorced in 2015. Fisher's other interests were gardening,

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (land yacht) over a chosen cou ...

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee ( ...

and

scuba diving Scuba diving is a mode of underwater diving whereby divers use breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface air supply. The name "scuba", an acronym for " Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus", was coined by Chr ...

. As well as English, he spoke French, Afrikaans, and Dutch as a child.

Death

Fisher died in a cycling accident on 15 August 2018. Following his death, Dr Gill Gaskin, medical director of the specialist hospitals board of

University College London Hospitals University College Hospital (UCH) is a teaching hospital in the Fitzrovia area of the London Borough of Camden, England. The hospital, which was founded as the North London Hospital in 1834, is closely associated with University College London ...

(UCLH), said, "Peter was a highly regarded colleague and friend of many at the RLHIM, where he worked for more than 35 years. He was an international figure in homeopathy who was committed to

holistic Holism () is the idea that various systems (e.g. physical, biological, social) should be viewed as wholes, not merely as a collection of parts. The term "holism" was coined by Jan Smuts in his 1926 book '' Holism and Evolution''."holism, n." OED On ...

and compassionate care for his patients."

Publications

* ''Alternative Answers to Arthritis and Rheumatism'', 1999 * Numerous articles on homeopathy, including: ** ** ** **

References and notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fisher, Peter 20th-century English medical doctors 1950 births 2018 deaths Cycling road incident deaths Road incident deaths in London Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians People educated at Tonbridge School British homeopaths Academic journal editors