Desperate Remedies

2nd August, 2008 26

Homeopathy on the NHS has nearly vanished. We see prescriptions have halved in the past two years and one of the last five hospitals has been confirmed to close. This is as it should be. The last vestigial remnants of nineteenth century quackery in the state health care system are being dropped from the tax payers burden. There is nothing unsurprising here. It is the natural result of an increasing [read more…]

Qu-Chi Coup at the Telegraph

29th July, 2008 11

In a shocking move the Daily Telegraph has got rid of its Business Editor, and subsequently the other Financial and City columnists have left. In the future, its business coverage will be written by their sports, arts and news desk staff and will not undergo thorough and knowledgeable editing. Actually, this is not true. There would be riots on the 0720 commuter train from Surbiton. What is true, is that [read more…]

That’s It for Tunbridge Wells Homeopathic Hospital

29th July, 2008 26

Reported today in Pulse, Campaigners look to have lost their fight to save a leading homeopathic hospital, in a landmark case that accelerates the treatment’s deepening crisis over NHS funding.West Kent PCT decided there was ‘not enough evidence of clinical effectiveness’ to justify funding routine homeopathic consultations and treatments at the Tunbridge Wells Homeopathic Hospital, a decision which may force its closure. Amazingly, most patients and GP’s did not want [read more…]

Healing the Wounds of Alternative Medicine

28th July, 2008 7

It has not been a good few weeks to be a supporter of alternative medicine. We have seen reports that GP prescriptions of homeopathic remedies are in terminal collapse. A Nutritional therapist has had to get their insurers to fork out hundreds of thousands of pounds after a patient was left brain damaged. And of course, genocidal maniacs appear to be able to shift their talents quite easily into becoming [read more…]

Vanessa Feltz and Other Mangy Foxes

11th July, 2008 19

This morning on Vanessa Feltz’s BBC Radio London show, the discussion was about London’s urban foxes. Nothing is more likely to split opinions in the UK. For city dwellers, foxes are a common sight for early rising suburban commuters, occasionally upturning bins, but mostly tolerated and even enjoyed. For us country folk, they are vermin. They need to be destroyed along with rats, rabbits, otters, red kites, swans and unwanted [read more…]

Alleged Victim of Oxford Nutritionist ‘Detox Diet’ wins £810,000

7th July, 2008 49

Barbara Nash is a nutritionist based near Oxford. Dawn Page was overweight and sought the advice of Nash. It is alleged she was put on a ‘detox diet’ which included drinking lots of water and consuming no salt. If true, the result was very predictable. Mrs Page suffered ‘uncontrolled vomiting and a fit’ and was rushed to intensive care. The Oxford Mail now reports she has brain damage. Her husband [read more…]

The “New Fundamentalism”: Why Lionel Milgrom is Plain Wrong (Again)

5th July, 2008 48

Bafflegab – the multiloquence characterized by consummate interfusion of circumlocution or periphrasis, inscrutability, and other familiar manifestations of abstruse expatiation – is word that ought to be familiar to Lionel Milgrom. Milgrom is a champion apologist for homeopathic ‘science’. As a former director of the Society of Homeopaths, he delights the homeopathic community with his musings on quantum theory, entanglement and its hypothesised role in ‘patient-practitioner interactions’. Since quantum theory [read more…]

What’s Behind the Green Door? More Unorthodox Thoughts from Glastonbury

30th June, 2008 5

It’s Sunday, day three at Glastonbury, the world’s greatest rap music festival, and the seagulls are now circling the farm in their thousands. Maybe, it is some Sheldrakean morphic resonance animal text-message vibe that sends them here. Or, it could be just the emerging smell engulfing the 900 acre site – redolent of municipal tip. There comes a time in every festival goer’s experience when they have to contemplate the [read more…]

Dispatches from the Sceptic Fields

28th June, 2008 8

It’s Shakin’ Stevens o’clock here at Glastonbury. Lunchtime. Saturday, as we emerge from the first full day of hard core mud action. It’s not my first time here. I am not wearing flip flops and I did not bring a suitcase. My first visit was in the (coughs) mid eighties. Many things have changed. Gone are the rows of blackboards advertising various alternative pharmaceuticals. No more communal showers. There are [read more…]

£10,000 if you can show homeopathy works

18th June, 2008 29

Edzard Ernst and Simon Singh have issued a challenge to homeopaths: show the world your evidence that homeopathy is effective for any single condition. After recently publishing a book on the merits of various alternative medicines, there has been a near universally negative response from alternative medicine practitioners, particularly the homeopaths, who would prefer to try to smear the Professor than engage in argument. The most common claim from homeopaths [read more…]

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