Quack Treatments – Page 9 – The Quackometer Blog

Is Chiropractic X-raying Illegal?

29th January, 2009 24

Chiropractors have achieved a status amongst practitioners of alternative medicine that is almost unrivalled. In the UK, they have achieved a level of mainstream acceptance, regulation and recognition that must be the envy of homeopaths and herbalists. Such is their standing that I suspect that many people would not even consider them as part of the alternative medicine scene. Chiropractors, like their close cousins the Osteopaths, are statutorily regulated in [read more…]

Mistletoe and Cancer

24th December, 2008 7

Merry Christmas! Last Christmas, we looked at the quackery surrounding myrrh. This year, it is time for me to have little whine about mistletoe. Christmas would not be the same without a little cheeky kiss under this herb – usually with someone you really ought not to. But, its role at Christmas undoubtedly stretches back in time to more paganistic practices. According to Pliny the Elder, it was central to [read more…]

The Society of Homeopaths: The Failure of Self Regulation

14th October, 2008 73

The Adverting Standards Authority has today found that a homeopath advertised their asthma clinic for kids by making untruthful, unsubstantiated and irresponsible claims. Archway House Natural Health Centre holds an Asthma and Eczema clinic for children, run by Julia Wilson, a member of the Society of Homeopaths. Inasmuch, this is not news. The ASA make judgments like this every week. Their weekly published list today contains all sorts of findings [read more…]

Triamazon Man Convicted

10th September, 2008 24

You may remember in January that I reported how dawn raids had been conducted on the house of a man selling a quack remedy called Triamazon. Well, today the BBC report that Andrew Harris of Sale, near Manchester, was ‘convicted under the Cancer Act of 1939 of taking part in the publication of adverts offering to treat people for cancer.’ Triamazon appeared to be a fairly mundane herbal remedy, ordinarily costing [read more…]

Neal’s Yard Ethical Bullshit Remedy

28th April, 2008 252

Neal’s Yard Remedies has announced that it is withdrawing is Malaria Officinalis 30C homeopathic remedy from sale. This is the absolute minimum it could have done given that its Exeter Branch was recently caught out by the BBC South West programme Inside Out selling this remedy as protection against malaria. (I wrote about this staggering event recently.) What reason do Neal’s Yard give? Let’s look at their press release in [read more…]

Neal’s Yard Remedies Offers Lethal Homeopathic Malaria Advice

13th April, 2008 28

Unbelievably, nearly two years after BBC Newsnight exposed ten homeopaths offering dangerous advice to travellers about malaria protection, the BBC have found high street chain Neal’s Yard Remedies offering sugar pills as protection against malaria. The BBC, in a press release, said, The presenter of [BBC] Inside Out South West Janine Jansen was sold homeopathic remedies by the manager of Neal’s Yard in Exeter and was advised that she could [read more…]

Hopi Ear Candling – Removing the Grey Goo Between Your Ears

27th March, 2008 183

Quacks like to tell us that their healing arts are thousands of years old and based on ancient principles that have withstood the test of time. Like most things in their advertising spiel, it is a canard and does not bear any resemblance to the truth. Reiki, Reflexology, Osteopathy and Chiropractic are around a hundred years old. Homeopathy is about 200 years old and even acupuncture as we know it [read more…]

The Society of Homeopaths: One Year On

20th March, 2008 1

Here are the stated aims of the Society of Homeopaths for 2007 and set out at the start of the year… The Society of Homeopaths’ Aims and Objectives for 2007 By the 1st January 2008, it is envisaged that The Society will have passed on its regulatory function to an independent new regulatory and registration body, to be known as the Council of Registered Homeopaths (CoRH). This will allow The [read more…]

Should Cochrane Call for More Research Into Homeopathy?

1st March, 2008 14

The Cochrane Collaboration is an independent network of volunteers, funded only by donations, that collate systematic reviews of the evidence base for healthcare interventions. You can go online and view for yourself the current best thinking on how effective various treatments are. It is an important resource. (And you can help making it free throughout the EU by signing here.)Cochrane does not just cover conventional treatments, but also reviews alternative [read more…]

Homeopathy Research Institute – The Highest Scientific Standards…

16th February, 2008 19

The Homeopathy Research Institute (HRI) has been set up by homeopaths Alex Tournier (who apparently works for Cancer Research UK) and Clare Relton (who is based at the University of Sheffield). The Alliance of Registered Homeopaths in one of their rare press statements have made much of it. They say, The aim of the Homeopathy Research Institute is to promote and facilitate high-quality scientific research in the field of homeopathy. [read more…]