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…]
Having just had a baby girl and moving house, I thought I would subscribe to Which? magazine as I knew I needed to make a few critical spends over the coming months. Which? is a consumer rights organisation that publishes reports and reviews into consumer issues. Online reviews of products and services can often be misleading as you do not know anything about the reviewers motives and depth of experiences. [read more…]
Just before Christmas, Lia Burkeman and Stephanie Kramer, wrote an article for Urban Times that asked the question, “Homeopathy: Can it be a Success Story?” To start, I would like to agree with the pair that indeed homeopathy is very successful. As a set of ideas, they have been around for about 200 years. Many thousands of people practice homeopathy based on the principles described by Lia and Stephanie. And undoubtedy, [read more…]
I first wrote about Ofquack, or the Complementary and Natural Health Council, during its formation in early 2008. I predicted it would not survive – and I was wrong. Ofquack was set up by the now defunct quackery lobby group founded by Prince Charles, the Foundation for Integrated Health. The aim was to provide voluntary ‘regulation’ for practitioners of superstitious and pseudoscientific therapies. I predicted it would fail as such [read more…]
You might have thought by now that homeopaths would have understood that one of the main reasons they are constantly criticised is that they make claims that their sugar pills can treat or prevent life threatening illnesses when there is no sensible reason to think this is true. This puts lives at risk. If homeopaths were more circumspect in the claims they make, then they might have a quieter life. [read more…]
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…]
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…]
There are a number of differences between the practices of medicine and the pseudo-medicines, such as homeopathy, acupuncture and herbalism. One of the most important is the practitioners attitude to a treatment’s safety and efficacy. Within the world of alternative medicine, efficacy and safety is axiomatic. That is, practitioners believe in the power of their treatments because it is doctrinal and not as a result of robust empirical and theoretical [read more…]
On the 28th of June, the British Medical Association will be meeting for their Annual Representative Meeting. Amongst a diverse range of business, the attendees will be asked to vote on a number of motions to stop or restrict the availability of NHS funded homeopathic treatment. A motion (301) [pdf] by the agenda committee reads “there should be no further commissioning of, nor funding for, homeopathic remedies or homeopathic hospitals [read more…]
The publication of the report of the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee Evidence Check into Homeopathy has resulted in a lot of misinformation about how much public money is spent on homeopathy. The report states that there are four homeopathic hospitals in the UK, based in London, Bristol, Liverpool and Glasgow. How much do these hospitals cost and what exactly is going on within these institutions? Various figures [read more…]
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