I have more than ordinary respect for Mr Frank Muscat, since I have met him, and have no desire to enter into a protracted polemic with him.

However, I am not against alternative medicine; in the same way that I am not against Buddhism but prefer my own religion. What I insist on is that we should not mix up one with the other. Conventional scientific medicine is based on scientific evidence and attempts to understand and provide effective therapies for particular diseases. Alternative medicine (CAM) is a different type of medicine based on anecdotal evidence.

To try to mix up the two is an affront to reason, and not a sign of being up to date. In case of doubt one might refer to what Professor Richard Dawkins of New College, Oxford, had to say recently to the practitioners of homeopathy:

"I say to doctors who use homeopathy: if you can identify this (molecule) you'd have discovered a whole new force in physics. Either there is no effect, in which case you should not be charging people money, or there is an effect, in which case you should prove it and win the Nobel Prize." Professor Dawkins may be considered confrontational, but he is certainly no out-of-date, old fogey.

I have toiled at the science and craft of surgery throughout my working life and am not given to the practice of sophistry and prevarication. Surgeons are, on the whole, "plain blunt men" and such is my approach to the question.

In 1988 I was involved in the introduction of palliative medicine into Malta as a specialty in its own right and was one of the co-founders of the Hospice Movement. So you can rest assured I am quite aware of the comforting effect that complementary medicine can bring to the victim of advanced cancer.

As to the Medical Council Malta, yes, as Mr Muscat states, I have lately written much on the council's constitution and operation, and am glad to say that some radical changes have taken place since the introduction of the Health Care Professions Act (2003), notably the presence of two lay members on the council. And there is more that needs to be done to make it more representative.

The question he asks me as to whether I think a professional, qualified in more than one discipline, should or should not be allowed to practise those healthcare professionals concurrently, is now being reviewed (Medical Council Annual Report 2006). I am surprised Mr Muscat quotes the Annual Report 2005. My view is that each case is best judged on its own merits by the Medical Council.

Finally, Mr Muscat asks whether I think a PET scanner is a useful enough piece of equipment to warrant a recommendation for its provision.

Medical specialists never look a gift horse in the mouth whenever a new, sophisticated apparatus can be provided for them. However, as he himself admits towards the end of his full page article: "investing in a PET scanner and in a breast MRI is a political not a medical decision".

As I have never had any political ambitions or aspirations, I shall leave the honest reply to my friends, the politicians.