tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25805659Mon, 08 Feb 2010 22:52:23 +0000not this little black duck...<br> experiments and thoughts on the world of quackery, health fraud and pseudoscience.http://www.quackometer.net/blog/noreply@blogger.com (Le Canard Noir)Blogger309125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25805659.post-1232188887247407975Sun, 07 Feb 2010 19:39:00 +00002010-02-08T08:45:28.131Z Liverpool NHS Primary Care Trust funds a Department of Homeopathy, one the last four remaining publicly funded homeopathic hospitals in the UK. It publicises that the clinic in the Old Swan Health Centre can offer homeopathic treatments for everything from arthritis to depression and bowel disorders. There is no good evidence that this is an effective use of public money. Indeed, as was reportedhttp://www.quackometer.net/blog/2010/02/liverpool-nhs-pct-offering-quack.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Le Canard Noir)7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25805659.post-2811099787522498353Wed, 03 Feb 2010 23:07:00 +00002010-02-04T14:08:44.212Zhomeopathy10:23 campaignboots the chemist Let’s run with an idea and see where it goes. The 10:23 campaign has now had loads of publicity and Boots have failed to address any of the central concerns: mainly, that homeopathy is a daft pseudoscience. Moreover, the pharmacy profession and the drugs regulator have remained silent. In all likelihood, Boots will not withdraw their sugar pills and pharmacists will continue to take your moneyhttp://www.quackometer.net/blog/2010/02/dispensing-with-homeopathy-proposal.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Le Canard Noir)21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25805659.post-8108167043728381070Sat, 30 Jan 2010 20:22:00 +00002010-01-30T20:22:26.072Zhomeopathy10:23 campaign  Thanks to Stephen Law at the Centre of Inquiry for posting this video of myself and Simon Singh, just after our talks at Conway Hall. The day started with a mass overdose of homeopathic pills (see report in the Telegraph; it’s also on the front page of the BBC web site) , followed by talks on the evidence for alternative medicines and his legal battles (from Simon), the reasons why http://www.quackometer.net/blog/2010/01/we-would-be-sceptics-answer-to-jedward.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Le Canard Noir)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25805659.post-7393748232484391630Sat, 30 Jan 2010 10:23:00 +00002010-01-30T10:23:00.157Zhomeopathy10:23 campaign Right now, if the homeopaths are correct, I should have paralysed arms, be in severe pain, have convulsions, delirium, skin itching all over and be unable to stand. That is because I have taken a massive overdose of the homeopathic remedies, Belladonna 30C, Sulphur 30C and Lachesis 5MM. I wrote this post last night and set it to appear at 10:23 today, the moment I will also be taking a whole http://www.quackometer.net/blog/2010/01/1023-my-personal-homeopathic-overdose.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Le Canard Noir)20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25805659.post-563570789563402223Tue, 26 Jan 2010 18:30:00 +00002010-01-26T18:30:00.484Zhomeopathy10:23 campaignMHRA This Saturday, hundreds of people, in many cities,  will be demonstrating outside Boots the Chemists about their selling of homeopathic remedies. Each volunteer will be taking a homeopathic ‘overdose’ of a Boots homeopathy product to demonstrate that there is nothing in the tablets but sugar. Out of all the volunteer ‘overdosers’ and their supporters in the 10:23 campaign, there may well be http://www.quackometer.net/blog/2010/01/1023-homeopathy-and-shame-of-pharmacy.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Le Canard Noir)24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25805659.post-7420597946601914643Mon, 18 Jan 2010 19:30:00 +00002010-01-20T12:48:21.608Zapopheniafunhomeopathy10:23 campaign In the last few days, a new campaign has been launched with the aim of showing that homeopathy is an ‘absurd pseudoscience’ and that Boots the Chemists should not be selling these sugar pills to the public as if they were genuine medical products. The ‘10:23’ campaign, as it is known, has a very flashy web site (http://www.1023.org.uk) and states that it has been set up and organised by a group http://www.quackometer.net/blog/2010/01/meaning-of-1023-homeopathy-campaign.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Le Canard Noir)40tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25805659.post-1721976909087170820Fri, 15 Jan 2010 17:25:00 +00002010-01-20T18:40:27.997Zregulationhomeopathy10:23 campaignMHRA Further documents have been published after the House of Commons held its enquiry into the evidence base for government policy on homeopathy. There are some real treats in there, but I am most concerned about new evidence from the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (the MHRA) on how they test the public’s understanding of the labeling of homeopathic products. The new document http://www.quackometer.net/blog/2010/01/mhra-and-labelling-of-homeopathic.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Le Canard Noir)11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25805659.post-8587000523583716010Thu, 14 Jan 2010 21:00:00 +00002010-01-15T17:29:22.773Z Over the next few weeks, I will be taking the Quackometer on tour around the UK and giving talks exploring what factors allow pseudo-medicines to survive despite their lack of specific effects and scientific absurdity. Giving examples of quacks and cures from the 18th and 19th Century, I will be comparing them to similar practices today. My first talk was last week in Sheffield (and thanks to http://www.quackometer.net/blog/2010/01/trick-or-treatment-event.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Le Canard Noir)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25805659.post-6317282840546685138Sat, 09 Jan 2010 19:12:00 +00002010-01-11T10:55:04.550ZTim MinchinJulia SawalhaDounne Alexander Tim Minchin’s rather brilliant poem Storm is being made into a film. You can see the newly released trailer above. The full poem (available here) tells a rather familiar story for thinking people: how do you react when cornered by absurd ‘alternative’ thinking in a social situation? In Storm, Tim describes a North London dinner party situation where the eponymous guest starts spouting fluffyhttp://www.quackometer.net/blog/2010/01/storm-in-tea-cup.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Le Canard Noir)8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25805659.post-6146751196902777072Wed, 16 Dec 2009 21:14:00 +00002009-12-17T00:24:39.322Z James Randi is a hero to many rational people around the world. He has done more than, perhaps, any person alive to promote rational and clear thinking about claims of the paranormal and alternative medicine. His million dollar challenge acts as a marvelous foil to mountebanks and charlatans. He simply says to them, “demonstrate what you claim, under controlled conditions, and the prize is yourshttp://www.quackometer.net/blog/2009/12/james-randi-global-warming-and-nature.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Le Canard Noir)50tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25805659.post-288222420341930744Wed, 16 Dec 2009 18:40:00 +00002009-12-16T19:14:10.714Znutritionistdaily mailhomeopathy We have a conflicted relationship with the things that give us pleasure. We fear overindulgence may be harming us, and we desperately seek evidence that suggests our habits are beneficial, so that we can continue to enjoy them without guilt. This year appears to have been a good year for coffee in this contradictory quest. Over the past twelve months, the People’s Medical Journal, the Daily http://www.quackometer.net/blog/2009/12/to-coffee-cause-of-and-solution-to-all.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Le Canard Noir)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25805659.post-3480128514678482657Thu, 10 Dec 2009 22:46:00 +00002009-12-15T18:29:14.652ZPrince Charlesregulation The Eighteenth Century in England was the Golden Age of Quackery, with London being a world capital for mountebanks, charlatans and other practitioners of irregular medicine. Consumers in Georgian England had access to an unparalleled selection of medical entrepreneurship from regular doctors, lay quacks, foreigners with exotic elixirs, and even preachers such as John Wesley (as we saw a few http://www.quackometer.net/blog/2009/12/meddling-princes-medical-regulation-and.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Le Canard Noir)5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25805659.post-1289594365523730438Mon, 30 Nov 2009 08:55:00 +00002009-12-02T16:44:31.698ZregulationhomeopathySociety of Homeopaths In a recent submission to the House of Commons Evidence Committee on Homeopathy, the Society of Homeopaths proudly assert that, The Society has long been committed to the highest standards for homeopathy, having run a voluntary regulatory system for the last 30 years and a course recognition process for the last 15 years. Further, it was the first homeopathy organisation to institute a Code http://www.quackometer.net/blog/2009/11/can-we-trust-homeopaths-to-accredit.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Le Canard Noir)13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25805659.post-1023575897111234277Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:21:00 +00002009-11-20T21:22:52.479ZYes, like it or not, now is the time to start thinking about the perfect gift for the geek in your life. Last year we were treated to a slew of great books about quackery, many of them now available in paperback.  Nonetheless, there are still many great new books, not all just about alternative medicine, and I would love to tell you about a few of them here. John Grant has written a trio of http://www.quackometer.net/blog/2009/11/bogus-science-and-other-christmas-gifts.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Le Canard Noir)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25805659.post-303436877567405516Sat, 14 Nov 2009 20:32:00 +00002009-11-15T16:19:50.026Z Examine the discourse of any alternative medicine and you will encounter a surprisingly homogenous set of themes: that their methods are natural, simple, available to all, and are based on ancient and traditional knowledge. Cures for disease are freely available from nature and we do not need the intermediation of a medical elite to provide us with them. These cures have been known for http://www.quackometer.net/blog/2009/11/john-wesley-and-origins-of-natural.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Le Canard Noir)32tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25805659.post-5294667487419660747Fri, 30 Oct 2009 07:00:00 +00002009-11-14T23:31:26.438Zregulation Last week, a comment piece in the Guardian asked, “Should there be freedom to mislead?”. It is an interesting question. Should the State intervene and try to regulate scientific truth? In a free society, should people not be free to hold untrue beliefs? In the context of pseudomedical beliefs, what role should regulation play in preventing untruthful claims to be made about treatments and howhttp://www.quackometer.net/blog/2009/10/uncrc-demands-equal-access-to-quackery.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Le Canard Noir)10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25805659.post-5405160768656077767Tue, 20 Oct 2009 22:14:00 +00002009-10-21T22:38:05.624+01:00Luc Montagnierhomeopathydana ullman Luc Montagnier is an interesting and strange character. Last year he was a shared winner of the Nobel Prize for Medicine. A remarkable achievement. However, his latest research can only really be described as quite bizarre and some of his statements, are desperately and deadly worrying. So much so, that I think Montagnier ought to be the first recipient of both a Nobel and IgNobel prize. Let me http://www.quackometer.net/blog/2009/10/why-i-am-nominating-luc-montagnier-for.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Le Canard Noir)39tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25805659.post-8389814044346138871Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:46:00 +00002009-10-15T19:46:19.130+01:00 Yesterday, the House of Commons saw a debate on the funding of medical astrology. Yes. Medical Astrology. The Hansard Report of the debate has a seventeenth century feel to it. Tredinnick asserts that the phase of the moon influences the number of accidents and stops blood from clotting. He has tales of eastern lands that use astronomical signs to influence health care and governments that have http://www.quackometer.net/blog/2009/10/mp-david-tredinnick-calls-for-more.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Le Canard Noir)16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25805659.post-3745593129105378134Wed, 30 Sep 2009 23:18:00 +00002009-10-01T08:50:01.438+01:00newspapersPHA MediaAdrian Pengelly Just a few days after Psychic Cancer Healer, Adrian Pengelly, appeared on the BBC consumer affairs programme, Watchdog, he was the subject of a particularly glowing report in the Daily Mail. Pengelly had been accused of giving dangerous suggestions to people with cancer. Not only did he say on film that he had a 60-65% success rate with his healing hands, he also said that the chances were http://www.quackometer.net/blog/2009/10/pha-medias-cynical-spin-of-psychic.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Le Canard Noir)10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25805659.post-5341728231851297246Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:27:00 +00002009-09-29T15:56:56.814+01:00Complementary and Natural Healthcare CouncilSoHhomeopathySociety of HomeopathsofquackCNHCthe law As I write this, two married Australian homeopaths are spending their first nights in gaol as they begin prison sentences for six and four years respectively for the manslaughter of their baby daughter, Gloria.This is a tragic, not least for the convicted parents. A nine month old baby died unnecessarily in the most horrific way because of her parent’s belief in the superiority and power of http://www.quackometer.net/blog/2009/09/protecting-future-baby-glorias-from.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Le Canard Noir)16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25805659.post-7787423638338481029Fri, 25 Sep 2009 20:42:00 +00002009-09-27T21:48:05.811+01:00the lawAdrian Pengelly It cannot be a good week for Adrian Pengelly. He has been subject to quite a damning BBC Watchdog investigation about his business activities. Adrian claims to be a “Visionary Healer, Energy Worker, Teacher and Psychic” and declares that he is well known for his “work with terminal illnesses and cancer”. If a so called ‘Psychic Healer’ is giving some sort of emotional or spiritual support to http://www.quackometer.net/blog/2009/09/adrian-pengelly-psychic-healer-and.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Le Canard Noir)6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25805659.post-710920694567428447Thu, 24 Sep 2009 20:27:00 +00002009-09-24T21:27:14.049+01:00   October 5th, 2009 7pm – 8pm TAM London – The Amaz!ing Panel Conway Hall, Holborn   Sign Up Here   As part of the official fringe to the first ever London TAM, there will be a panel meeting about the Internet and Scepticism. I will be rushing back from a meeting and so I will not have time to don my usual sceptical wig (pictured above). However, I plan to answer all your questions http://www.quackometer.net/blog/2009/09/two-boiled-eggs-in-pinstripes-and-four.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Le Canard Noir)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25805659.post-5240489262681213222Sat, 19 Sep 2009 23:01:00 +00002009-09-20T00:21:38.354+01:00British Chiropractic Associationthe law This afternoon, Richard Dawkins will speak about the insidious nature of English Libel Laws as a guest speaker at the Liberal Democrats Conference in Bournemouth. Professor Dawkins (along with me, coughs) was one of the first signatories to the campaign to keep libel laws out of science. This campaign was inspired by the rather shocking story of how science writer Simon Singh is being sued by http://www.quackometer.net/blog/2009/09/richard-dawkins-to-speak-at-libdem.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Le Canard Noir)6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25805659.post-4144455376766307561Fri, 11 Sep 2009 23:46:00 +00002009-09-12T00:47:25.533+01:00homeopathyWorld Health organisationWHO   This video is starting to do the rounds about how wonderful homeopaths are helping people in Ghana in malarial areas. I hope as many people as possible watch this to better understand this irresponsible and murderous delusion. I have no doubt that the homeopath here is sincere. Adjoa Margaret Stack obviously believes she is doing good in Ghana with her Senya/Tamale Homeopathy Project but http://www.quackometer.net/blog/2009/09/homeopathy-warning-from-africa.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Le Canard Noir)17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25805659.post-1227578407220989825Wed, 02 Sep 2009 22:15:00 +00002009-09-18T14:18:54.353+01:00homeopathyMHRA The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) have been heavily criticised in recent years for abandoning their core mission by allowing homeopathic sugar pills to contain statements about what symptoms and illnesses they can be used for without having to provide evidence that this is true. The MHRA mission and values: Mission The MHRA’s mission is to enhance and http://www.quackometer.net/blog/2009/09/mhra-and-their-double-failure-over.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Le Canard Noir)24