Adverse events of (chiropractic) spinal manipulations: the unethical behaviour persists

How often have I pointed out that most studies of chiropractic (and other alternative therapies) are overtly unethical because they fail to report adverse events? And if you think this is merely my opinion, you are mistaken. This new analysis by a team of chiropractors aimed to describe the extent of adverse events reporting in published RCTs of […]

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Aromatherapy: pleasant enough, but what are the risks? | Edzard Ernst

AROMATHERAPY is one of the most popular alternative therapies. The experience is usually pleasant enough, but what are the risks? None!!! At least this is what the therapists would claim. But is this true? Perhaps not. According to a recent press-release, the risks might be considerable.

Officials with the Tennessee Poison Control Center (TPC) are warning that they are seeing an […]

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Adverse effects of yoga | Edzard Ernst

Yoga is a popular form of alternative medicine. Evidence for its effectiveness is scarce and generally far from convincing. But at least it is safe! At least this is what yoga enthusiasts would claim. Unfortunately, this is not entirely true; adverse events have also been reported with some regularity. Their frequency is, however, not known.

A new study was aimed at filling this […]

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blogorrhea: Did an Antidepressant Bring Down an Airliner?

Now that antidepressants have reportedly been found at the home of pilot Andreas Lubitz, we're finally getting to the true cause of the crash.

But will investigators be willing or able to put the pieces together? Or will they be oblivious to the power of certain drugs to completely alter human behavior?

I have written about this before. I know of very few things that can cause (and I do mean cause) an otherwise rational person to become homicidal more or less instantly, other than psychoactive drugs of a type that can (in susceptible individuals) elicit what has been called an akathisia reaction. I'm talking about antipsychotics and antidepressants...

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Chiropractic and other manipulative therapies can also harm children | Edzard Ernst

Few subjects make chiropractors more uneasy than a discussion of the safety of their spinal manipulations. Many chiropractors flatly deny that there are any risks at all. However, the evidence seems to tell a different story.

The purpose of a new review was to summarise the literature for cases of adverse events in infants and children treated by chiropractors or other manual therapists, identifying treatment type and if a preexisting pathology was present. English language, peer-reviewed journals and non-peer-reviewed case reports discussing adverse events (ranging from minor to serious) were systematically searched from inception of the relevant searchable bibliographic databases through March 2014. Articles not referring to infants or children were excluded...

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Finally a piece of meaningful chiropractic research: compensation claims against chiropractors | Edzard Ernst

Adverse events have been reported extensively following chiropractic. About 50% of patients suffer side-effects after seeing a chiropractor. The majority of these events are mild, transitory and self-limiting. However, chiropractic spinal manipulations, particularly those of the upper spine, have also been associated with very serious complications; several hundred such cases have been reported in the medical literature and, as there is no monitoring system to record these instances, this figure is almost certainly just the tip of a much larger iceberg...

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