Why do patients rarely complain about receiving bogus treatments? | Edzard Ernst

In the past, I have been involved in several court cases where patients had complained about mistreatment by charlatans. Similarly I have acted as an expert witness for the General Medical Council in similar circumstances.

So, it is true, quacks are sometimes being held to account by their victims. But, generally speaking, patients seem to complain very rarely when they fall in the hands of even the most incompetent of quacks.

Here is one telling reminder showing how long it can take until a complaint is finally filed...


Read on: Why do patients rarely complain about receiving bogus treatments?

Another wonderful comment from someone I highly respect | Edzard Ernst

The Science Media Centre (SMC) in London is a unit that aims to facilitate the interactions between scientists, journalists and the media. During the last 10 years or so, they have invited me several times to present my research to journalists, and Fiona Fox who heads the SMC became a trusted friend and ally. Her letter reproduced below (with her permission, of course) is deeply touching for me; if it were the only reaction to my new book that I ever received, it would have been worth the effort writing the memoire...

Read on: Another wonderful comment from someone I highly respect

Anti-vaxxers, the real welfare queens | The Skeptical OB

Oops, my bad!

Until recently I would have told you that welfare queens were a figment of the right wing (and often racist) imagination, but I’ve learned that they’re are real. They’re not women of color on welfare, though, they are white, relatively well off anti-vaxxers.

What is a welfare queen?

Read on: Anti-vaxxers, the real welfare queens | The Skeptical OB

Dlisted | Got A Vagina? Goopy Paltrow Thinks You Should Steam It

I know, Goopy Paltrow really should’ve steamed her Apple Maker™ before putting on that crooked labia jumpsuit, because her camel toe looks all wrinkly and disheveled. I mean, if you’re going to anoint your vagina the face of vagina cleaning, then your coochie should always look freshly pressed...

Read more of this gloriously NFSW skeptic takedown: Dlisted | Got A Vagina? Goopy Paltrow Thinks You Should Steam It

Read the homeopathy article that the Hindustan Times would not publish | The Simpsons and their Mathematical Secrets

Six months ago, the Hindustan Times (one of India’s biggest selling newspapers) asked me to write an article about homeopathy. I was busy and suggested delaying it to coincide with my trip to the Jaipur Literary Festival, which took place last week.

When I finally submitted the article to the Hindustan Times in early January, I was surprised that the person who commissioned the article was unhappy...

More here: Read the homeopathy article that the Hindustan Times would not publish | The Simpsons and their Mathematical Secrets

If you don’t stop telling lies about me, I might tell the truth about you | Edzard Ernst

Today, I had a great day: two wonderful book reviews, one in THE TIMES HIGHER EDUCATION and one in THE SPECTATOR. But then I did something that I shouldn’t have done – I looked whether someone had already written a review on the Amazon site. There were three reviews; the first was nice the last was very stupid and the third one almost made me angry. Here it is...

Read on: If you don’t stop telling lies about me, I might tell the truth about you

WDDTY: Proper Charlies

WDDTY are nothing if not predictable. The latest round in their relentless drive to prove to the world that they have no clue about free speech is to start what appears to be a series of personal attacks on those who, in their bubble world with its complete absence of self-awareness or self-criticism, they hold responsible for the backlash over the execrable content of their quackery apologia…

Read on: WDDTY: Proper Charlies by Guy Chapman appeared first on WWDDTYDTY

My comments angered colleagues – but are they really incorrect??? | Edzard Ernst

A recent article in the BMJ about my new book seems to have upset fellow researchers of alternative medicine. I am told that the offending passage is the following:

“Too much research on complementary therapies is done by people who have already made up their minds,” the first UK professor of complementary medicine has said. Edzard Ernst, who left his chair at Exeter University early after clashing with the Prince of Wales, told journalists at the Science Media Centre in London that,...

Read on: My comments angered colleagues – but are they really incorrect???

…and this is what chiropractors call ‘progress’ ? | Edzard Ernst

Much has been written on this blog about progress in the area of chiropractic practice and research. But where is the evidence for progress? I did a little search and one of the first sites I stumbled across was this one which is full to bursting with bogus claims. This cannot be what chiropractors call ‘progress’, I thought.

Determined to find real progress, I continued searching...

Read more …and this is what chiropractors call ‘progress’ ?

Homeopathy: a textbook example of wishful thinking masquerading as research | Edzard Ernst

Homeopathy has many critics who claim that there is no good evidence for this type of therapy. Homeopaths invariably find this most unfair and point to a plethora of studies that show an effect. They are, of course, correct! There are plenty of trials that suggest that homeopathic remedies do work. The question, however, is HOW RELIABLE ARE THESE STUDIES?

Here is a brand new one which might stand for dozens of others […]

Read on: Homeopathy: a textbook example of wishful thinking masquerading as research

Another day, another threat

What is it with people wanting to “out” the author(s) of this blog? Here’s a message I received on my personal Facebook account:

The author seems to be “Jackie Murphy”, who we encountered in the post about the autism blood test that has some of us seriously wondering what the company is thinking in marketing […]

Read more at: Another day, another threat by Reuben

A medical visionary working tirelessly for the benefit of us all | Edzard Ernst

Yesterday, The Hinckley Times published a report on Parliament’s foremost medical expert which I take the liberty of reproducing below in a slightly shortened version.

Alternative therapy proponent David Tredinnick has pitched in with the possibility of complementary practitioners being the solution to the current A&E crisis. The Tory MP for Bosworth raised the issue with the Department of Health saying: “To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential contribution of regulated complementary and alternative medical practitioners to reducing demands on the NHS.” The question came against the backdrop of the nation’s casualty departments being swamped with new cases since Christmas...

Read on: A medical visionary working tirelessly for the benefit of us all

New data on the risk of stroke due to chiropractic spinal manipulation | Edzard Ernst

Few subjects lead to such heated debate as the risk of stroke after chiropractic manipulations (if you think this is an exaggeration, look at the comment sections of previous posts on this subject). Almost invariably, one comes to the conclusion that more evidence would be helpful for arriving at firmer conclusions. Before this background, this […]

Read on: New data on the risk of stroke due to chiropractic spinal manipulation

WONDERLAND (1) | Edzard Ernst

During the next few weeks, I will post several short excerpts from my new book ‘A SCIENTIST IN WONDERLAND‘. Its subtitle already discloses much of what it is all about: ‘A MEMOIRE OF SEARCHING THE TRUTH AND FINDING TROUBLE’.

 Some of my critics are likely to claim that I engage in this form of ‘promotion’ because I want to maximise my income by enticing my readers to buy the book. This is partly true, of course: after having worked very hard on this book for about 5 years, I want it to be read (but, at the same time, my critics would be mistaken: I do not expect to get rich on my new book – I am not that naïve; this ‘memoire’ will never be found in any best-seller list, I am sure). So, I suggest (if you do not want me to profit in any way) that you read my memoire after you got it from your library (which obviously would not affect my cash-flow all that much).

Read more: WONDERLAND (1)

Another Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics who should know better

With the current outbreak of measles centered around Disneyland, we’ve been paying a lot of attention to what 2014’s Douchebag of the Year, Dr. Robert “Bob” Sears had to say about vaccines. As it turns out, it’s nothing but a bunch of whining and finger-pointing at us “stupid” people. We’ve also been watching “pediatrician to the stars” Dr. Jay Gordon, MD, FAAAAAAAAAAAAP. (Too many A’s?) He’s been more reserved in what he’s had to say about measles, but there are strong hints that he may or may not have believed BS Hooker’s horrible attempt at epidemiology. […]

Read more at: Another Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics who should know better by Reuben

Answers in Genes: The Fine Tuning Case AGAINST Theism

It has to be a set-up job. It can't have appeared this way by chance alone. The odds against it are 10^130 to one. If you vary just one of the initial constants of the Universe just a teensy little bit, stars, galaxies, planets, life and humans could not possibly have arisen. Therefore there must be an intelligent designer - a God - behind the whole thing. For these circumstances to have arisen without a designer stretches credibility to its breaking point. The most likely explanation of the exquisite degree of fine tuning we see in our vast universe is that God is real; (as philosophers rather quaintly put it) the Universe is more likely under Theism than under Naturalism...

 Read on: Answers in Genes: The Fine Tuning Case AGAINST Theism

A Scientist in Wonderland: a thoughtful comment on my new book | Edzard Ernst

Guest post by Louise Lubetkin

(A SCIENTIST IN WONDERLAND: A MEMOIRE OF SEARCHING FOR TRUTH AND FINDING TROUBLE has now been published. An apt opportunity perhaps to post a letter and comment from the person who helped me GREATLY in finishing it.)

People write memoirs for a variety of reasons but perhaps one of the strongest impelling forces is the need to make sense of one’s own experiences. It is not surprising that you, who spent your entire professional career searching for explanations, identifying associations and parsing correlations, found yourself looking at your own life with the same analytical curiosity. Memoir is in many respects a natural choice in this regard...

Read on: A Scientist in Wonderland: a thoughtful comment on my new book

My visit to the Anglo-European College of Chiropractic | Edzard Ernst

On 1/12/2014 I published a post in which I offered to give lectures to students of alternative medicine:

Getting good and experienced lecturers for courses is not easy. Having someone who has done more research than most working in the field and who is internationally known, might therefore be a thrill for students and an image-boosting experience of colleges. In the true Christmas spirit, I am today making the offer of being of assistance to the many struggling educational institutions of alternative medicine ...

Read on: My visit to the Anglo-European College of Chiropractic

Osteopathy = confused and confusing | Edzard Ernst

According to the ‘General Osteopathic Council’ (GOC), osteopathy is a primary care profession, focusing on the diagnosis, treatment, prevention and rehabilitation of musculoskeletal disorders, and the effects of these conditions on patients’ general health.

Using many of the diagnostic procedures applied in conventional medical assessment, osteopaths seek to restore the optimal functioning of the body, where possible without the use of drugs or surgery. Osteopathy is based on the principle that the body has the ability to heal, and osteopathic care focuses on strengthening the musculoskeletal systems to treat existing conditions and to prevent illness...

Read on : Osteopathy = confused and confusing

What is free speech? - WWDDTYDTY

“What is free speech?” asks Lynne McTaggart in her latest blog post. You may not be able to read this post: if you have commented on her blog in recent days, you may, like me, have had your IP address added to a block list to stop you finding out...

Read on: What is free speech? - WWDDTYDTY

Ami's Tumblr Place of Cat DOOOM • No good deed goes unpunished.

(Given the seriousness of this case, and the fact that it's far from isolated, the post has been reproduced in full.)

This is me:

Laurie Malyon

I’m the girl who got headbutted. You might recall this incident from a few years back with either a feeling of support and the urge to high-five me, or an intense dislike because I’m mad feminist, hell-bent on making up stories to demonise men. If you are not familiar with the story, I will give you the short version; I saw a man attacking his girlfriend and I stepped in to stop him, resulting in him headbutting me after a lengthly confrontation where he threatened to have me killed. The man was prosecuted. I made a post about it on my personal blog which had about two hundred followers. The post gained a monumental amount of attention, but a couple of months later, someone decided to ‘prove’ that I had made all of it up. I was the centre of an online witch hunt for months. I was threatened, bullied, laughed at and shot down whenever I tried to offer a rebuttal. I wasn’t too bothered, because the man had been sent to prison and I stayed in contact with the young girl who was very grateful that I had stepped in. It didn’t matter to me that a few thousand people thought I had made it up; I knew the truth, the police knew the truth and my friends and family knew the truth. I stopped using my blog and ignored all the mad comments.

But it continued. It snowballed dramatically. Before I go on, I can assure you that this happened. I promise. You can Google my name, Laurie Malyon, and you are one click away from finding numerous articles very clearly stating my attacker’s sentencing.

I’ve put up with comments and threats for almost two years now, and whilst everyone around me tells me to ignore it I can no longer sit back and watch people slander me on the Internet. I realise that I am utterly powerless in changing the opinions of 500, 000 people who are too lazy to spend five seconds doing some research on Google, but I’m going to give it one last go before I stop talking about this godforsaken controversy forever.

I did a good thing. I am proud to say that. I stepped in when many others would not have. It’s very easy to see something like that and pray that someone else stops it so you can remain a bystander, but there was no one else around to stop it when I saw it and I’ll be fucked if I’m ever going to sit by and watch somebody be harmed intentionally at the hands of someone else. I am still in contact with the girl. I see her perhaps once every two months, and she still thanks me every time she sees me. I helped her out of a situation that everyone was too scared to help me out of when I was her age. I stepped the fuck up.

The comments I have received about the situation make me very, very upset. I am a human with real feelings and I can read everything that people write. I’m put to shame on feminism blogs that read the ‘debunking’ post and didn’t think to research it. They say that I’m giving feminism a bad name by lying. They say that I’m an attention whore. They say that I’m an idiot for claiming to have stepped into a domestic situation because that can often make it worse. They ask if I’ve ever even heard of a domestic situation. They tell me I deserve to be in a domestic situation for lying. They say that I’m ugly. They say the amount of makeup I wear in my photos is silly and I look like a slag. Now forgive me if I’m wrong, but isn’t that absolutely negating the entire point of feminism? As a well educated and practising feminist, it is not the comments from men saying that they’ll ‘give me a real black eye’ that upset me, it’s the comments that are hateful and shaming from my fellow sisters.

A lot of people speculate (because I’m a loony feminist) whether or not I’d have stepped in if it were a woman beating a man. Of course I would have. Violence is violence and I completely agree that anyone attacking anyone should be stopped. Twisting it into this and challenging me on it creates even more diversion from the real issue. Why the hell are people trying to pick so many holes in my story? Was it really that difficult to believe that I was a normal girl, on her way to work, who simply stepped in when I saw someone in need? Why have I been questioned and scrutinised for two years? Surely the anger shouldn’t have been directed at me for posting about it, but towards the man who succeeded in assaulting two young women, entirely unprovoked?

I am not taking it any more. I am not remaining silent whilst people call me names and post about how I deserve to die. I am sick to the back teeth of being branded a ‘whore’ by feminists who aren’t really feminists if they’re using a word associated with slut shaming when nothing about my story even mentions anything sexual. I am fed up with being told by men that they’d rape me then give me a black eye with their dicks and how no one would believe me if I tried to get them arrested because I’m that mad man-hating feminist who lied about being headbutted.

I’m trying to undo all the unfair comments with this post. I’m speaking out to the 3.6 million of you who have read about the situation, whether I was portrayed as a do-gooder or a liar. I am asking you to share this so that I can attempt to clear my name. I understand that the post has spread like wildfire throughout the Internet in it’s entirety and that it’s unlikely I will get any kind of redemption from this, but even if this makes 100 people believe me I’ll feel a little happier about the whole situation.

I’d like to thank the masses of you who believed me and who have offered me your kindness and support from the start, and I’d also like to mention that the chap who ‘debunked’ my original post is on my side. He deleted his blog and apologised to me over a year ago. We went out for a burger to talk it over. We cool.

http://www.westerndailypress.co.uk/prison-man-headbutted-young-mum-broke-nose/story-17648167-detail/story.html
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/good-samaritan-mum-headbutted-by-thug-1495221
http://www.thewestonmercury.co.uk/news/court/man_sentenced_after_head_butting_stranger_1_1751023
There’s 3 newspapers about the incident.  Mind you, I’ve seen posts that don’t care even when confronted with this, claiming that newspapers lie anyway, and DID YOU SEE THE TUMBLR POST BY SOME RANDO!?
Some people are just never going to be convinced.  Proof that this is real will just be more evidence of the conspiracy.  This is just like 9/11 truthers or moon hoaxers. :(

I’m spreading this around because trying to fight back against the tidal wave in this case is something that resonates with me, because I’m a rape survivor, and watching how easily people are to believe “Sherlock Holmes” “debunking” of something that actually happened, scares me so much.  So much of that original post (now removed, because even the person who wrote it recognized he was wrong) came from the idea that everybody has to act the same way, that logical construction is more important than actual fact and truth. As long as it sounds logical, it must be logical, rather than logic having to be based on fact, and that your reasoning must incorporate new facts you learn.  And for a lot of people reading that debunk, they’re not doing it. :\  Even when SHOWN that it happened, they continue to insist it didn’t because a) they want to believe it didn’t b) the logic sounds so nice and sweet to them because they’ve been taught by TV & fiction that "conviction by contradiction" is how criminals are discovered.

Life is not a TV show, it’s not a children’s detective book.  In an Encyclopedia Brown book, somebody putting toppings on a hot dog in the wrong order means they’re guilty, in real life people eat their hot dogs with all sorts of weird toppings.  In that debunk, nobody would ever fold up a court summons.  In real life people fold up all sorts of important documents all the time, how else do you carry them home in your purse or pocket?  It’s really dangerous to use this sort of “everybody acts the same all the time” logic to decide whether things actually happened or whether people are lying.
As I said in an earlier post defending Laurie, after I was raped I made a blog post telling people what a good time I had at my rapist’s house.  Why?  Because I was in shock, I didn’t want to believe what happened, I had already told my friends I was excited to visit him, they were so excited and happy for me, I was ashamed, I didn’t want to let them down, he was someone I really loved, I didn’t want to let him down, I didn’t want to accept what happened. And yes, that doesn’t make sense, but that’s what I did.  By the “logic” of Encyclopedia Brown & Sherlock Holmes, obviously I’m lying about being raped.  Who does THAT!?  Why would somebody who was raped tell people afterwards that she had a good time?  CONTRADICTION. GUILTY.  Come Sally Watson, we will away!

Except, like Laurie, it happened.  It’s real.  All the internet logic in the world won’t make it not real.
Theory has to give way to reality.  If you think a bruise doesn’t work the way her photo looks, then you should change what you think you know about bruises once you find out that it happened (you should probably also actually research this rather than taking it on the word of some dude online), rather than doubling down and insisting the newspapers are lying.

Anyway, I want to boost this again because the debunk is still being passed around as truth.  It’s really sad to me how quick people are to believe it without fact checking, and also how they’re like ‘OBVIOUSLY THAT BRUISE IS FAKE, I CAN SEE THE MAKE UP’ after reading the debunk.  It really is The Emperor’s New Clothes. :(

Please reblog this, and also if you see the debunk pop into your dash, link them to the news articles showing it’s real (though for some nothing will ever change their minds. :\ )

Read the original post here: Ami's Tumblr Place of Cat DOOOM • No good deed goes unpunished.

Transcendental meditation (TM) for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease? | Edzard Ernst

If we go on the internet, we find no end of positive claims for TM. The official TM website, for instance, claims that more than 350 peer-reviewed research studies on the TM technique have been published in over 160 scientific journals. These studies were conducted at many US and international universities and research centers, including […]

Read on: Transcendental meditation (TM) for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease?

ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE: the ‘inside story’ | Edzard Ernst

Hard to believe but, in the last 35 years, I have written or edited a total of 49 books; about half of them on alternative medicine and the rest on various subjects related to clinical medicine and research. Each time a new one comes out, I am excited, of course, but this one is special:

• I have not written a book for several years. 
• I have worked on it much longer than on any book before. 
• Never before have I written a book with is so much about myself. 
• None of my previous book covered material that is as ‘sensitive’ as this one.

Read more: ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE: the ‘inside story’

SCENAR: Another dose of uncritical hype - WWDDTYDTY

WDDTY first pimped SCENAR in October 2008, in an article titled “Changing the body’s frequency” (by how much? From what, to what, in Hz, and to what demonstrable effect?). This issue also included credulous coverage of the Rife machine and other fraudulent devices...

Read on: SCENAR: Another dose of uncritical hype - WWDDTYDTY

It’s a small world after all!

When Andrew Jeremy Wakefield told us that it was his gut feeling that the MMR vaccine caused autism, I doubt that he had any idea of what he was about to unleash on the world. I really don’t think that he wanted to trigger outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases in places where vaccines had suppressed those […]

Read more at: It’s a small world after all! by Reuben

A blood test for prenatal autism? What could possibly go wrong?

Back in 2013, the UC Davis MIND institute put out some research into maternal antibodies and their association with autism: “UC Davis MIND Institute researchers have identified the specific antibodies that target fetal brain proteins in the blood of a subset of women whose children are diagnosed with autism. The finding is the first to […]

Read more at: A blood test for prenatal autism? What could possibly go wrong? by Reuben

Chronic low back pain: exercise is better than chiropractic/spinal manipulation | Edzard Ernst

Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is a condition which affects so many people that it represents a huge burden to individual patients’ suffering as well as to society in terms of loss of work time and increased economic cost. The number of therapies that have been claimed to be effective for CLBP can hardly be counted. Two of the most common treatments are spinal manipulation and exercise.

The purpose of this systematic review was to determine the effectiveness of spinal manipulation vs prescribed exercise for patients diagnosed with CLBP. Only RCTs that compared head-to-head spinal manipulation to an exercise group were included in this review...

Read more: Chronic low back pain: exercise is better than chiropractic/spinal manipulation

Duchess in the soup. Sarah Ferguson in quack diet scam

Sarah Ferguson, ex-wife of Prince Andrew, Duke of York, seems to need a lot of money. Some of her wheezes are listed in today’s Times . That’s behind a paywall, as is the version reproduced in The Australian (Murdoch connection presumably). You can read it (free) here, with more details below the article...


Read more at Duchess in the soup. Sarah Ferguson in quack diet scam by David Colquhoun

HealthWatch: an organisation you might want to join! | Edzard Ernst

Guest post by Nick Ross

If you’re a fan of Edzard Ernst – and who with a rational mind would not be – then you will be a fan of HealthWatch.

Edzard is a distinguished supporter. Do join us. I can’t promise much in return except that you will be part of a small and noble organisation that campaigns for treatments that work – in other words for evidence based medicine. Oh, and you get a regular Newsletter, which is actually rather good […]

Read on: HealthWatch: an organisation you might want to join!

Cruel and Unusual Pseudoscience #1 – Stanislaw Burzynski and the Burzynski Clinic - SKEPT!CAL blog

No list of Cruel and Unusual pseudoscience could ever be complete without giving special mention to Stanislaw Burzynski. While no single act or part of his operation is either cruel or unusual, the combination of many factors, makes him and his clinic near, if not at, the top of the list.

From patients being lied to about costs, being lied to about treatments, patients dying from sodium overdoses...

Read on Cruel and Unusual Pseudoscience #1 – Stanislaw Burzynski and the Burzynski Clinic - SKEPT!CAL blog

Rudolf Hess (Hitler’s deputy) on alternative medicine | Edzard Ernst

I would have never thought that someone would be able to identify the author of the text I quoted in the previous post:

It is known that not just novel therapies but also traditional ones, such as homeopathy, suffer opposition and rejection by some doctors without having ever been subjected to serious tests. The doctor is in charge of medical treatment; he is thus responsible foremost for making sure all knowledge and all methods are employed for the benefit of public health…I ask the medical profession to consider even previously excluded therapies with an open mind. It is necessary that an unbiased evaluation takes place, not just of the theories but also of the clinical effectiveness of alternative medicine...

Read on: Rudolf Hess (Hitler’s deputy) on alternative medicine

What’s with the fear of the flu vaccine?

We’re right smack in the middle of flu season. The number of reported cases, hospitalizations, and deaths from influenza this season seems to be at its peak, meaning that we have about 6-8 more weeks of heavy influenza activity before it all ends. Those are just the reported cases. Not all cases get reported, and deaths associated with influenza in adults are not as closely observed as deaths associated with influenza in children. Many get classified as deaths from natural causes because a flu test is not done, though, many times, the person may have been complaining of flu-like illness […]

Read more at: What’s with the fear of the flu vaccine? by Reuben

If you guess the author of this speech, I will send you a free copy of my new book | Edzard Ernst

Recently I came across an interesting speech on alternative medicine which impressed me for a number of reasons. It made me think of a little game: the first person who correctly guesses who its author is, and posts the right answer as a comment on this blog, will receive a free copy of my new book A SCIENTIST IN WONDERLAND.

Here are 2 paragraphs from the speech in question...

Read on: If you guess the author of this speech, I will send you a free copy of my new book

Lynne McTaggart: Vous n’êtes pas Charlie, vous êtes de la vermine

Sorry to harp on abut this, but McTaggart really has jumped the shark on this one. This is a Facebook status update from McTaggart. I think the term “self-indulgent, self-obsessed, self-serving drivel” is probably accurate, or at least as accurate as I can get without plumbing the depths of our rich Anglo-Saxon vernacular.

JE SUIS …

Continue reading: Lynne McTaggart: Vous n’êtes pas Charlie, vous êtes de la vermine by wwddtydty

Dealing with people who can’t take a joke

If you’ve noticed that more and more people are being named by name on this blog, you’re not seeing things. There was once a time when names were to be avoided as much as possible because there are people out there who seemingly have Google alerts for any mention of their name. Write their name on a blog or some place, and they send their legion of followers to attack. Drama is not as appetizing as it used to be...

Read more at: Dealing with people who can’t take a joke by Reuben

Yes, Lynne, it’s all about you

Charmless egomaniac Donald Trump led the charge in exploiting the Charlie Hebdo tragedy to boost a personal agenda, tweeting some obnoxious gun-nuttery.

Not to be outdone, the WDDTY editors chose to try to exploit the murder of cartoonists for mocking religion, by repeating their fraudulent claims of censorship of their own religion, the cult of fake “cures” for profit…

Continue reading: Yes, Lynne, it’s all about you by wwddtydty (appeared first on WWDDTYDTY)

Ditch dairy and wheat

WDDTY loves nothing more than a bandwagon, and if one bogus treatment won’t do there’s bound to be another along any minute.

If your vitamin levels check out but you are still depressed, think twice about dairy and wheat. Nutritionists have discovered morphine-like substances called ‘exorphins’ -derived from the incomplete digestion of proteins in cereal…

Continue reading: Ditch dairy and wheat by wwddtydty appeared first on WWDDTYDTY.

Banning B12

WDDTY has a bit of a downer on the medical establishment, especially since they struck off Andrew Wakefield on the ridiculously flimsy basis that he conducted unapproved invasive tests on vulnerable children, concealed conflicts of influence and published fraudulent research.

So it’s not a surprise to find them championing the cause of Dr. Joseph Chandy …

Continue reading: Banning B12 by wwddtydty appeared first on WWDDTYDTY.

Most cancers are just down to ‘bad luck’, say scientists - WWDDTYDTY

How could WDDTY resist this one? For once, they are not the most misleading story about this study, Variation in cancer risk among tissues can be explained by the number of stem cell divisions, Tomasetti & Vogelstein, Science 2 January 2015: Vol. 347 no. 6217 pp. 78-81.

The abstract states...

Read on: Most cancers are just down to ‘bad luck’, say scientists - WWDDTYDTY

Chiropractic neck manipulation can cause stroke | Edzard Ernst

The very first article on a subject related to alternative medicine with a 2015 date that I came across is a case-report. I am afraid it will not delight our chiropractic friends who tend to deny that their main therapy can cause serious problems.

In this paper, US doctors tell the story of a young woman who developed headache, vomiting, diplopia, dizziness, and ataxia following a neck manipulation by her chiropractor. A computed tomography scan of the head was ordered and it revealed an infarct in the inferior half of the left cerebellar hemisphere and compression of the fourth ventricle causing moderately severe, acute obstructive hydrocephalus...

Read on: Chiropractic neck manipulation can cause stroke

ACCC v Homeopathy Plus 21st November 2013 – Sheffield evidence. | mochuck's musings

This is Part 4 of a series of 4.

I must give a big shout out to Carolyn Bond for the notes from the last day’s proceedings. I was unable to attend and she stepped into the fray for me. I would also like to acknowledge Carolyn’s help in proof reading and editing my previous posts and her spouse for his legal advice and review. Follow her on Twitter for all things consumerish & some humour.

Ms Sheffield was cross examined in the witness stand on her written evidence by Ms Higgins for the ACCC...

Read on: ACCC v Homeopathy Plus 21st November 2013 – Sheffield evidence. | mochuck's musings

Detox? What a load of old goop! | Lee Turnpenny

... Now, I’m an admirer of Gwyneth Paltrow, based on her performances in a number of films. So, as Bingham’s article cites Paltrow’s ‘lifestyle website Goop [sic]‘, I perambulated over for a look. Well, it is certainly a very swanky looking place; very professionally maintained; very ‘convincing’ marketing (oh yes, marketing – there is plenty on sale there) pitched at the pre-convinced and the too-‘open-minded’ curious. With prominent announcement of ‘the annual GOOP DETOX’, replete with enticing colour photographs of… well, food...

Read the full post: Detox? What a load of old goop! | Lee Turnpenny

Look to your father, young man

Yesterday, I told you about Jacob Lawrence Crosby’s apparent love for calling Dr. Paul A. Offit a “vaccine industrialist.” Were I a betting man (if I am a man or a muppet), I’d place a bet that the kid thinks that this post and that last post constitutes harassment or even “cyberstalking.” It’s not. We are just playing the same game that the kid plays when it comes to attacking the credibility and integrity of people he doesn’t personally like. It’s a game about degrees of separation...

Read more at: Look to your father, young man by Reuben

Moxibustion: old, popular, exotic…but what for? | Edzard Ernst

Moxibustion is an ancient variation of acupuncture using moxa made from dried mugwort (Artemisia argyi). It has long played an important role in the traditional heath care systems of China and other Asian countries. More recently, it has become popular also in the West. Practitioners use moxa sticks indirectly to warm acupuncture needles, or burn it close to the patient’s skin. Essentially, moxibustion is a treatment where acupuncture points are stimulated mainly or exclusively by the heat of burning moxa...

Read on: Moxibustion: old, popular, exotic…but what for?

Proof that Jacob Lawrence Crosby doesn’t know what “industrialist” means

I got bored the other night, so I decided to tally up all the names that The Kid has used for Dr. Paul A. Offit. Two of our blog readers are playing a game to see how many inaccuracies The Kid shoots off on his blog. I’d like to play, but I thought we should start with this instead. So here are the many different ways in which The Kid refers to the pediatrician he stalks goes out of his way to ask questions of. You’ll be surprised at the variety of names he calls Dr. Offit, maybe.

Read more at: Proof that Jacob Lawrence Crosby doesn’t know what “industrialist” means by Reuben

WDDTY: the gift that keeps on giving

This article was written by Bryan Hubbard, whose style is similar to that of Lynne McTaggart but more outraged and even more credulous of the claims of woo-merchants, as you will see.

Is water good for us? Is there a link between food and cancer? Most of us would say so, but the UK’s …

Continue reading → WDDTY: the gift that keeps on giving by wwddtydty appeared first on WWDDTYDTY.

Evil ASA 7: WDDTY - WWDDTYDTY

This is the seventh of a short series on the examples highlighted in January 2015’s issue of WDDTY as “proof” that the ASA is fundamentally flawed, and as justification for replacing it by a body run by practitioners commercially vested in the claims under evaluation...

Read more: Evil ASA 7: WDDTY - WWDDTYDTY

Evil ASA 6: H:MC21 - WWDDTYDTY

This is the sixth of a short series on the examples highlighted in January 2015’s issue of WDDTY as “proof” that the ASA is fundamentally flawed, and as justification for replacing it by a body run by practitioners commercially vested in the claims under evaluation...

Read on: Evil ASA 6: H:MC21 - WWDDTYDTY

Evil ASA 5: Dr Vernon Coleman - WWDDTYDTY

This is the fifth of a short series on the examples highlighted in January 2015’s issue of WDDTY as “proof” that the ASA is fundamentally flawed, and as justification for replacing it by a body run by practitioners commercially vested in the claims under evaluation...

Read on: Evil ASA 5: Dr Vernon Coleman - WWDDTYDTY

Evil ASA 4: Zoë Harcombe

This is the fourth of a short series on the examples highlighted in January 2015’s issue of WDDTY as “proof” that the ASA is fundamentally flawed, and as justification for replacing it by a body run by practitioners commercially vested in the claims under evaluation.

Harcombe version. Mmmmm, steak.
NHS version. WHERE’S MY STEAK?



The post Evil ASA 4: Zoë Harcombe by wwddtydty appeared first on WWDDTYDTY.

Evil ASA 3: Quinton Water - WWDDTYDTY

This is the third of a short series on the examples highlighted in January 2015’s issue of WDDTY as “proof” that the ASA is fundamentally flawed, and as justification for replacing it by a body run by practitioners commercially vested in the claims under evaluation...

Read on: Evil ASA 3: Quinton Water - WWDDTYDTY

Evil ASA 2: Islington Homeopathy Clinic - WWDDTYDTY

This is the second of a short series on the examples highlighted in January 2015’s issue of WDDTY as “proof” that the ASA is fundamentally flawed, and as justification for replacing it by a body run by practitioners commercially vested in the claims under evaluation.

Islington Homeopathy Clinic...

Read more: Evil ASA 2: Islington Homeopathy Clinic - WWDDTYDTY

Evil ASA 1: Medical Thermal Imaging - WWDDTYDTY

This is one of a short series on the examples highlighted in January 2015’s issue of WDDTY as “proof” that the ASA is fundamentally flawed, and as justification for replacing it by a body run by practitioners commercially vested in the claims under evaluation...

Read the full story: Evil ASA 1: Medical Thermal Imaging - WWDDTYDTY

10 things that would improve alternative medicine in 2015 | Edzard Ernst

I know, it’s not really original to come up with the 10000th article on “10 things…” – but you will have to forgive me, I read so many of these articles over the holiday period that I can’t help but jump on the already over-crowded bandwagon and compose yet another one.

So, here are 10 things which could, if implemented, bring considerable improvement in 2015 to my field of inquiry, alternative medicine...

Read the rest here: 10 things that would improve alternative medicine in 2015

Are two thirds of cancers really due to bad luck? | The Stats Guy

A paper published in Science has been widely reported in the media today. According to media reports, such as this one, the paper showed that two thirds of cancers are simply due to bad luck, and only one third are due to environmental, lifestyle, or genetic risk factors.

The paper shows no such thing, of course...

Read the rest here: Are two thirds of cancers really due to bad luck? | The Stats Guy

The “One Study,” or why the anti-vaccine movement doesn’t really understand science � Red Wine & Apple Sauce

This post is the first in a Red Wine & Apple Sauce series called “Epidemiology 101.” While it does not explain a specific epidemiological concept, it makes clear how a mythical study often demanded by anti-vaccine propagandists would not be possible when abiding by the standards of quality epidemiological research.

Multiple studies in multiple countries using multiple research models and multiple research groups, with multiple funding sources, have found no link between vaccines and autism. They have also found no links between vaccines and a long list of other conditions, such as ADHD, asthma, diabetes and auto-immune disorders, that anti-vaccine propagandists attempt to link to vaccinations.

These studies have been dismissed by those anti-vaccine propagandists as having the wrong funding source, the wrong research design, the wrong focus, not separating out antigens from other vaccine ingredients, separating antigens from other vaccine ingredients inappropriately, not testing this or that, or some other reason that likely lacks validity.

Read the full post: The “One Study,” or why the anti-vaccine movement doesn’t really understand science � Red Wine & Apple Sauce

ACCC v Homeopathy Plus 20th November 2013 | mochuck's musings

I’ve just come across a copy of Professor Ken Harvey’s original complaint which also includes screenshots of the First Whooping Cough Article that were the basis of the complaint.

Read the rest here: ACCC v Homeopathy Plus 20th November 2013 | mochuck's musings

Part 3 of a 4-part series.

Are West Africans dying needlessly of Ebola for the sake of Pharma profits?

No. Thanks for reading. Oh, wait, what? Ah. Rob Verkerk wants to add his peerless insight. Let’s see how that goes. Advance notice: there is a word I am really struggling not to use here. It is a very short word, beginning with C and ending with -unt. Read on, and be prepared to be …

Continue reading Are West Africans dying needlessly of Ebola for the sake of Pharma profits? →

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