Chinese Whispers – MMR and the Press

July 9, 2007
By Le Canard Noir
Chinese Whispers – MMR and the Press

Just a few days before Andrew Wakefield appears before the GMC disciplinary body on charges of misconduct, a front page article in the Observer makes fresh claims of links between the MMR vaccine and autism. In a separate interview in the same newspaper, Dr Wakefield says that he ‘told the truth all along’. He rather...
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Quack Word #20: ‘Iatrogenic’

July 3, 2007
By Le Canard Noir
Quack Word #20: ‘Iatrogenic’

Iatrogenesis is not a concept that is confined to quackery, but like most of the words in my Quack Words series it tends to show up more often than not on quack web sites and so can be a good quackometer word. Iatrogenic illness covers the concept of harm having been done by the healer....
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Lethal Trust

July 1, 2007
By Le Canard Noir
Lethal Trust

If you were to believe the Society of Homeopaths, the quacks that were handing out lethal advice to Newsnight investigators about malaria prevention, were just a few rogue and unregistered practitioners and unrepresentative of the profession. Peter Fisher , the Director of the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital (currently funded by the NHS) told the programme...
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Powerwatch is not Scaremongering and Profiteering (anymore)

June 22, 2007
By Le Canard Noir
Powerwatch is not Scaremongering and Profiteering (anymore)

A few weeks ago, I pointed out that some of the science on the Powerwatch site appeared to be significantly less than convincing about the link between mobiles, WiFi and ill health. I also pointed out that Powerwatch had a very close relationship with another company called EMFields.org. Basically, both companies domains were...
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Homeopathy Don’t Kill People, Homeopaths do.

June 21, 2007
By Le Canard Noir
Homeopathy Don’t Kill People, Homeopaths do.

Right, let’s get serious. It’s the end of Homeopathy Awareness Week and enough of the jokes. You might be surprised, but actually, I don’t have too big a thing against homeopathy. If people want to pop into Boots the Quack and buy a tub of sugar pills and give one to little Timmy when...
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Preview Quackery Web Sites

June 21, 2007
By Le Canard Noir

I have just installed a new tool on this site called Snap Shots that enhances links with visual previews of the destination site. There is no need to leave the quackometer to see the web sites I am talking about. You can see excerpts of Wikipedia articles, if I can’t find real references for...
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Begging the Question for Homeopathy

June 19, 2007
By Le Canard Noir
Begging the Question for Homeopathy

As my own personal tribute to Homeopathy Awareness Week, and as promised in my last post, I would like to critique a paper that has appeared in this Summer’s edition of the journal, Homeopathy in Practice. The article is entitled “Hormesis, epitaxy, the structure of liquid water, and the science of homeopathy” and is by...
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Sue the Blogger: Homeopathic Thinking

June 18, 2007
By Le Canard Noir
Sue the Blogger: Homeopathic Thinking

Sue Young, homeopath, writer, historian, mother and a daughter, had a bit of a shock last week when a ‘murder’ of quack-busters descended on what used to be her quiet blog about her homeopathy practice. The reason was that she had written a rather topsy turvy piece about how nasty old scientist David Colquhoun...
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Self-Awareness in Homeopathy Awareness Week

June 15, 2007
By Le Canard Noir
Self-Awareness in Homeopathy Awareness Week

Originally posted for World Homeopathy Awareness Week, I thought this would be worth bumping up for Homeopathy Awareness Week 2007 (14-21st June), organised by the Society of Homeopaths. So much awareness! You would have thought someone has actually proved there was something in it. Anyway… This blog entry is really for all you homeopathists taking part...
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Announcement: Subscribe to the blog via email

June 14, 2007
By Le Canard Noir

As promised, the first of a number of small improvements to the site. If you are one of those few people that actually read my musings in the blog, you can now subscribe to an email alert. You will receive an email when something is updated on the blog. Better than watching girls squabble on...
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Dr Ann Walker and Her Neanderthal Theories

June 12, 2007
By Le Canard Noir
Dr Ann Walker and Her Neanderthal Theories

In this story, a supplement industry spokesperson resorts to Creationist ‘Science’ for their evidence to support the ‘crucial’ nature of supplement pills, shows how we should eat like Inuits, without the messy business of catching fish (or dying young), and has a pop at one of the UK’s most respected academics when he dares...
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Welcome to the New Look Quackometer

June 11, 2007
By Le Canard Noir
Welcome to the New Look Quackometer

As you can see, the Quackometer has had a makeover. This is the first in a series of improvements I hope to make in the next few months. Please bear with me as I iron out the problems. I do not have access to hoards of testing monkeys to get this site right. Don’t hesitate...
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