What is science? And how do you define a scientist?
Anyone who has given these questions any serious thought will realise that these are not trivial questions and they continue to exercise the philosophers of science. It might then appear quite harsh to then criticise the UK Advertising Standards Authority who recently were asked to...
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As I reported in December, various homeopathy groups from the UK have held a conference, hosted by a PR firm, in order to develop a ‘single voice’ in the face of criticism of their trade.
One of the results of that conference was a ‘Media Code’, a set of rules designed to help homeopaths present...
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It would appear to be a common mistake in the regulation of alternative medicine to assume that those trained in the subject, and who practice it, can be considered experts in the subject. And that those experts can help formulate good regulatory practices.
The nature of expertise has plagued philosophers since the time of Plato,...
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This week, the Canadian consumer affairs programme Marketplace devoted its episode to looking at the claims, practices and regulation of homeopathy. It is a pretty damning account and the homeopaths are up in arms about it, as we shall see. This prime time programme is likely to do the homeopathy trade a lot of...
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Hat tip to the Quackometer on BBC Newsnight…
Before they reconsider their damning response. here it is… with annotations in red
Society of Homeopaths does not endorse “preventative” treatment in serious tropical diseases
The Society of Homeopaths, the UK’s largest register of homeopaths with 1,500 members, does not endorse the use of homeopathic remedies with a view...
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Imagine the not too distant future. You book an appointment with your GP, as you have had a persistent and bad headache for a while now, and before you talk to the doctor, you are encouraged to see a number of in-house ‘experts’ who take your pulse on your wrists and feet, examine the...
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How are we to understand the persistence of alternative medicine beliefs? Despite the absurdity of many of the claims of the various superstitious medicines, we see very entrenched positions amongst believers, hostility to criticism and an imperviousness to external mainstream views. Why do people fervently lock themselves into such positions?
Over the past few years,...
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The TED talks are a treat. TED runs a series of conferences around the world where interesting people are invited to speak about “ideas worth spreading”. You can view hundreds of these talks online from great thinkers, such as Richard Dawkins, the inspirational, such as Brian Cox, and the influential, such as Bill Clinton....
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Under the banner of One Vision, One Voice you can watch the conference as it used a PR Consultant to brainstorm a set of ‘themes’ for how homeopathy should tackle its problems. There is nice insight at the end to see how they think they can counter the threats to their trade that are...
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The Internet does not forget. This is, arguably, the single most important techno-sociological change that we, as individuals, corporations, celebrities and politicians, have had to learn over the past decade. And it is a lesson that appears not to have sunk in at all. Everything we do on the web, whether that be browsing,...
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It would appear to be important for homeopaths to show how the rich, blue blooded and famous are supporters of homeopathy. One might suggest that in lieu of meaningful scientific evidence for homeopathy, appeals to the beliefs of the influential and celebrities are all that are left.
Dana Ullman, America’s chief propagandist for homeopathy, takes...
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I have been sent an email where a recruitment consultant was looking for someone to train as a ‘drug worker’ using a technique called Neuro-Electric Therapy (NET) to work on a Scottish substance misuse programme. The idea appears to be that by passing small electrical currents though someone in a specific pattern you could...
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