Quack Treatments – Page 3 – The Quackometer Blog

The Society of Homeopaths Have Achieved PSA Accreditation

12th September, 2014 39

Our health care regulators cannot differentiate between a health care profession and a pseudo-medical cargo cult. The Professional Standards Authority has accredited the Society of Homeopaths as a holder of a approved voluntary register of health-care practitioners. The PSA have announced in a press release that, Patients and the public can have confidence in the Society of Homeopaths’ voluntary register which has been vetted and approved by the Professional Standards [read more…]

Tredinnick at Glastonbury – Homeopathy and Astrology

25th July, 2014 59

It’s the same each time with progress. First they ignore you, then they say you’re mad, then dangerous, then there’s a pause and then you can’t find anyone who disagrees with you. – Tony Benn In front of a large banner bearing the above quote, the MP for Bosworth, David Tredinnick appealed to the Glastonbury crowds* to follow him on his campaign to fight for homeopathy on the NHS. It’s been a few [read more…]

By Keiko Oikawa (it was sent to me personally) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Ottolenghi and the Quack HIV Homeopaths in Africa

21st July, 2014 10

This blog has been a long term critic of the Society of Homeopaths, and other British Homeopathic organisations, who support their members who practice homeopathy in Africa on people with life threatening conditions such as malaria, HIV and TB. Indeed, the Society of Homeopaths threatened to sue me and my web hosts for pointing out that the Society did nothing to stop these dangerous practices, despite their Code of Ethics suggesting [read more…]

Ten Reasons why the Society of Homeopaths Should not Receive PSA Accreditation

6th January, 2014 101

The Society of Homeopaths are applying to become accredited as a voluntary professional register with the Professional Standards Authority. Should the PSA approve their application, it will mean that the PSA, rather than ensuring standards in health care, has become a direct threat to public health. The PSA are calling for feedback by the 17th of January on the Society of Homeopaths before they approve them. Perhaps you might want to [read more…]

William Alderson Hung Out to Dry by Homeopaths

3rd June, 2013 18

The desire for homeopaths to obtain state-recognised legitimacy has been tearing the trade apart for a decade or more. On one side are those with ambitions to be seen as mainstream and respectable. On the other side, those that want to remain ‘alternative’, anti-establishment and to be able to make whatever claims they like about homeopathy. The latest instalment concerns homeopathy lobby group, HMC21. They plan to hold a demonstration outside the [read more…]

Society of Homeopaths Seeks Accreditation from the Professional Standards Authority

8th May, 2013 27

Health regulators do an important thing: protect the public from the potential risks that health care providers and their practices pose to their clients. Risks cannot be avoided in health care. For any treatment that will have effects, there is the risk that there will be detrimental effects which may outweigh any benefit. If a patient is informed of these risks and benefits, good decisions can be made. Alternative medicine [read more…]

2013 Will See the End of NHS Homeopathy Hospitals in England.

27th December, 2012 98

On the 7th of January 2013, the Cotham Hill site of the Bristol Homeopathic Hospital will close and the staff will move to a new NHS development, the South Bristol Community Hospital. A report into the move states that the homeopathy service has been in rapid decline over the past few years with the current levels of patient referrals being insufficient to support their own premises. In 2009/2010 there were 898 new [read more…]

Solal Technologies Sues South African Sceptic

12th October, 2012 6

Solal Technologies, a South African company that sells a wide range of vitamin and food supplements with associated questionable claims, is suing the writer Kevin Charleston for saying that their claims are pseudoscientific. In their summons, Solal claim Charleston owes them R350,000 (about £25,000) for claiming that Solal are engaged in misleading business practices and are bullies. Charleston wrote a blog article that stated that a glossy magazine called Health Intelligence (see [read more…]

Spinning Acupuncture

17th September, 2012 42

How should we read a scientific paper? A new study, published last week1, would suggest that it is a very bad idea to simply read the abstract and conclusions. Worse, it can be very misleading to rely on reports derived from press releases about the research. The study looked at how press releases included ‘spin’ about the results of a medical paper. The results were rather alarming. The authors defined [read more…]

Chekhov, Homeopathy and the Placebo Effect

4th September, 2012 233

What can Anton Chekhov tell us about the placebo effect? Chekhov is best known as a great writer of short stories. But he was also a doctor and wrote many tales of medicine and doctors in everyday life. But recently, again, I have seen homeopaths claim that Chekhov “used [homeopathy] and swore by its curative effects”. No doubt, the source for such claims come from the American homeopathy entrepreneur, Dana Ullman. [read more…]