IPAN – Questionable Treatments for ‘PreAutistic’ Children

2nd February, 2012 20

According to the Sun and Daily Mail today, celebrity Melanie Sykes has won £50,000 on the TV game show The Cube and will be donating the money to the charity International Pre-Autistic Network (IPAN). In doing so, the reports say she revealed that that her own son was autistic. She wants to raise awareness of autism and hoped the charity, which she is a patron of, would use the money [read more…]

Burzynski Supporting Charity Loses Funding

19th January, 2012 13

Discussing the problems posed by unconventional clinics, such as the Burzynski Clinic in Texas, has been a frustrating business. Leaving aside the direct threats from the clinic, it appears that such ventures attract followers with a religious zeal about what they do. It also is clear that the media cannot discuss the issue without framing it around a dying child with all the distortions that is bound to create. So, [read more…]

The False Hope of the Burzynski Clinic

21st November, 2011 184

Yesterday’s Observer contained a full page, heart breaking story of a 4-year old girl, Billie Bainbridge, who has a inoperable and rare form of brain cancer, Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma. The only option for this aggressive cancer on the NHS is radiotherapy which may reduce symptoms for a few months. Two year survival is less than 10%. It is difficult to think of anything more devastating for a young family. [read more…]

Foresight Preconception: Beware of Claims

29th July, 2011 26

It has come to my attention that, this autumn, I will become a father for the second time. We have been very fortunate in that we are not spring chickens and achieving this feat has been quite straightforward. A near 100% hit rate. For many couples, it is not so easy. Getting pregnant can take some time. Even if you are both healthy and you are managing to have regular [read more…]

Quack Aid – The Sunflower Jam

8th July, 2011 13

This evening, a gathering of aging rockers, are performing for a fundraising event aimed at helping children with cancer. The Sunflower Jam is an annual event that is being held this year at the Royal Albert Hall as the Superjam 2011. Live on stage will be rock legends such as Rick Wakeman and Deep Purple. Newton Faulkner will also be playing. The evening, costing £178 for some good seats, will [read more…]

Doses of Expedience

22nd May, 2011 13

Last week, we saw the “first national conference” of the College of Medicine – the organisation that has arisen from the ashes of Prince Charles’ Foundation for Integrated Health. The Foundation closed last year after it failed to provide its accounts after an employee ran off with all the money. The College of Medicine appears to have perfected the art of ‘bait and switch’ within the world of quackery. Practitioners [read more…]

Abha Light Foundation: Funded through Violent Cult.

3rd May, 2011 13

So, today has seen a thorough investigation by the Independent into the Abha Light homeopathy clinics in Africa where HIV positive people are told to forgo life saving medicines in favour of superstitious homeopathic sugar pills. What is more, the investigation found that this quack clinic is being funded through NGOs by UK charities. Who are the people that are funding this shocking enterprise? The answer to that question is [read more…]

Abha Light Must Close

1st May, 2011 17

Kenyan leading newspaper, The Standard on Sunday, has reported that an undercover investigator has exposed how a homeopathic clinic, claiming to treat people with HIV, is advising clients to stop taking life saving anti-retroviral drugs. (See Update below: The Independent has now covered this story in detail with article, leader comment and columnist’s reaction.) The paper also reveals that the Abha Light clinic has been receiving funds from UK homeopathy [read more…]

The Curious Last Quack of the Prince’s Foundation for Integrated Health

30th July, 2010 9

Last April, I predicted that Prince Charles quackery promoting charity, the Foundation for Integrated Health faced imminent closure due to non submission of accounts to the Charity Commission. Ten days later, the Foundation announced its intention to close amid arrests for fraud and money laundering. In a statement, the charity claimed that it had always intended to close as its aims had been met. This claim was met with derision: [read more…]

Prince of Wales Charity Faces Imminent Closure

20th April, 2010 7

The Prince’s Foundation for Integrated Health has just a few more days to submit its accounts for 2008 before it risks the near certainty of delisting as a charity. According to the Charity Commission web site, the accounts are now 171 days overdue. Charities have ten months to submit their Annual Return. After this time, they are given warnings and reminders for four months. Failing submission after this grace period, [read more…]

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