Homeopaths offer to rebrand products as 'confectionery' | Martin Robbins | Science | The Guardian

Skeptics have been explaining that lactose or sucrose pilules are sweeties, not medicine, so it's nice to see the homeopaths in agreement with reality for once:

Faced with an MHRA crackdown on unlicensed medicines, one of Britain's leading manufacturers of homeopathic remedies has indicated it would be prepared to relabel its products 'confectionery' to circumvent regulation

Read the full report: Homeopaths offer to rebrand products as 'confectionery' | Martin Robbins | Science | The Guardian

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Please note: we can no longer recommend Quackometer as a skeptic blog, due to its espousal of anti-LGBT propaganda. However, there are plenty of good skeptic blogs out there, starting with the lovely (and amazingly polite, given the aggro & ignorance she regularly encounters) Jo Brodie's Stuff That Occurs to Me.

Another child has died because of homeopathy

Homeopathy is harmless; after all, the typical homeopathic remedy contains no active ingredient! Such claims can be seen abundantly. Sadly, however, they are not true. The remedies might be mostly (but, depending on potency and proper quality control, not totally) risk-free, yet homeopathy can and does kill patients. There is a depressingly long list of […]

Read the rest here: Another child has died because of homeopathy

A fatal case of homeopathic liver disease?

Indian doctors have just published the case of a 38-year old man with cirrhosis of the liver due to compensated non-alcoholic fatty-liver-disease. He presented with acute worsening of his chronic liver disease. The acute event was not discernible even after extensive work up. Eventually, a transjugular liver biopsy revealed features suggestive of severe alcoholic hepatitis. […]

Read the rest here: A fatal case of homeopathic liver disease?

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The BMJ Case Report this post refers to is here: Homeopathy-medicine induced severe alcoholic hepatitis.

Walmart is being sued for selling homeopathic products

The Center for Inquiry (CFI) is a non-profit educational, advocacy, and research organization headquartered based in the US. It is also home to the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason & Science, the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, and the Council for Secular Humanism. The Center for Inquiry strives to foster a secular society based on reason, […]

Read the rest here: Walmart is being sued for selling homeopathic products

Vienna 2019: the end of quackademia

My former institution, the medical school of Vienna, had invited me to give the key-note for a conference entitled ‘Esoterik in der Medizin’ (22/5/2019). The event was to celebrate the success of a new course for medical students which was initiated after Prof Frass’ lectures on homeopathy had been discontinued. Remarkably, this move had been […]

Read the rest here: Vienna 2019: the end of quackademia

And now Belgium: ‘It is unacceptable that homeopathic products are sold as medicines’

A pro-homeopathy site (to be taken with a pinch of salt) claims that today 300 homeopathic MDs belong to the “Unio Homoeopathica Belgica” and 4,000 MDs (about 10% of all doctors) are prescribing homeopathics at least occasionally. One-fourth of the Belgian population uses homeopathy. As of 1998, only MDs can legally practice homeopathy. But now it […]

Read the rest here: And now Belgium: ‘It is unacceptable that homeopathic products are sold as medicines’

American Loon #2189: Amy Rothenberg

“I love being able to look at new approaches that may come along and to ask myself, ‘Is this within the bounds of the philosophy I so embrace?’ And if not, to let it go,” – Amy Rothenberg, Not a Doctor. (We hope we don’t have to explain to readers why whether something fits my...

Read the full lunacy: #2189: Amy Rothenberg Encyclopedia of American Loons

American Loon #2185: Lawrence Rosen

Lawrence Rosen is an “integrative” pediatrician and chair-elect of the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Complementary and Integrative Medicine, Clinical Assistant Professor in Pediatrics at UMDNJ/New Jersey Medical School, and Chief of Pediatric Integrative Medicine at the Joseph M....

Read the full lunacy: #2185: Lawrence Rosen Encyclopedia of American Loons

American Loon #2034: Richard Moskowitz

Richard Moskowitz is a homeopath and antivaccine advocate. Apparently Moskowitz was trained as an MD some 50 years ago, but his more recent activities show in the strongest possible way that you should turn elsewhere for medical advice. As an antivaccine activist (given his background he did...

Read the full lunacy: #2034: Richard Moskowitz Encyclopedia of American Loons

On Ros(s)ing

That homeopathy zealot Roslyn Ross is conforming to type in the comment thread below a recent article entitled, ‘Are homeopathic ‘remedies’ helpful or harmful?’, by Jennifer Gunter. I’ve observed and encountered much of the activity of this irritating snark a number of times in recent years and have previously commented on the fervid activity of this apologist and propagandist for homeopathy. Indeed, so predictable, so tedious is her fallacy-laden modus operandus that I figured it deserved its own fallacy name:

                       Ros(s)ing


[Read more... ]

Is the Queen’s homeopath, Dr Peter Fisher, erring or lying?

In the current issue of the Faculty of Homeopathy‘s Simile publication, Dr Peter Fisher, the Queen’s homeopath, re-visits the old story of the ‘Smallwood Report’. To my big surprise, I found the following two paragraphs in his editorial:

A prepublication draft [of the Smallwood report] was circulated for comment with prominent warnings that it was confidential […]

Read the rest here: Is the Queen’s homeopath, Dr Peter Fisher, erring or lying?

Homeopathy is so much safer than conventional medicine … Oh really?

Some commentators on this blog and elsewhere keep on claiming that conventional medicine is dangerous, certainly more dangerous than homeopathy (or other alternative therapies). To test the validity of this assumption, I invite you to a little thought experiment:

Imagine 100 patients suffering from each of the conditions listed below.

• cancer 
• AIDS 
• Ebola 
• sepsis 
• TB […]

Read the rest here: Homeopathy is so much safer than conventional medicine … Oh really?

A pseudo-prize for pseudo-research into pseudo-medicine

An announcement (it’s in German, I’m afraid) proudly declaring that ‘homeopathy fulfils the criteria of evidence-based medicine‘ caught my attention.

Here is the story:
In 2016, Dr. Melanie Wölk, did a ‘Master of Science’* at the ‘Donau University in Krems, Austria investigating the question whether homeopathy follows the rules of evidence-based medicine (EBM). She arrived […]

Read the rest here: A pseudo-prize for pseudo-research into pseudo-medicine

Exaggerations and untruths in the promotion of homeopathy

There seem to be plenty of myths and misunderstandings about homeopathy in India.

Homeopathy was first introduced to India by a German doctor from Siebenbuergen, Martin Honigberger (1795 – 1869). He first came to India in 1829 as a conventionally trained physician and treated amongst other personalities the Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Punjab. In 1834, he returned to Europe, met Hahnemann, and became a convert of homeopathy. Subsequently he returned to India, in 1839, and brought homeopathy to this country. Initially, homeopathy was practised mainly by lay practitioners. Mahendra Lal Sircar is said to have been the first Indian who became a homeopathic physician, and he is often called the ‘Hering of India’... Exaggerations and untruths in the promotion of homeopathy

A new RCT of homeopathy … and, guess what, it reports a positive result (but are we being misled or not?)

Homeopathy works!

At least this is what the authors of this new study want us to believe.

But are they right?

This RCT is entitled ‘Efficacy and tolerability of a complex homeopathic drug in children suffering from dry cough-A double-blind, placebo- controlled, clinical trial’. It recruited children suffering from acute dry cough to assess the […]

Read the rest here: A new RCT of homeopathy … and, guess what, it reports a positive result (but are we being misled or not?)

Prof Frass’ criticism of the Lancet meta-analysis of homeopathy: a rebuttal of a rebuttal

by Norbert Aust  as ‘guest blogger’ and Edzard Ernst 

Professor Frass has repeatedly stated that his published criticism of the Lancet meta-analysis has never been refuted, and therefore homeopathy is a valid therapy. The last time we heard him say this was during a TV discussion (May 2018) where he stated that, if one succeeded […]

Read the rest here: Prof Frass’ criticism of the Lancet meta-analysis of homeopathy: a rebuttal of a rebuttal

I smell a rat: something extremely odd about the ‘positive’ studies of homeopathy

As I often said, I find it regrettable that sceptics often say THERE IS NOT A SINGLE STUDY THAT SHOWS HOMEOPATHY TO BE EFFECTIVE (or something to that extend). This is quite simply not true, and it gives homeopathy-fans the occasion to suggest sceptics wrong. The truth is that THE TOTALITY OF THE MOST RELIABLE EVIDENCE FAILS TO SUGGEST THAT HIGHLY DILUTED HOMEOPATHIC REMEDIES ARE EFFECTIVE BEYOND PLACEBO. As a message for consumers, this is a little more complex, but I believe that it’s worth being well-informed and truthful […]

Read the rest here: I smell a rat: something extremely odd about the ‘positive’ studies of homeopathy

The pathetic arguments of the British Homeopathic Association in defence of homeopathy on the NHS

The British Homeopathic Association (BHA) is a registered charity founded in 1902 which aims to promote and develop the study and practice of homeopathy and to advance education and research in the theory and practice of homeopathy. The British Homeopathic Association’s overall priority is to ensure that homeopathy is available to all…

One does not need […]

Read the rest here: The pathetic arguments of the British Homeopathic Association in defence of homeopathy on the NHS

Homeopathy for cancer: Dr Wurster and the ‘Clinica Sta Croce’ in Switzerland

A few days ago, the German TV ‘FACT’ broadcast a film (it is in German, the bit on homeopathy starts at ~min 20) about a young woman who had her breast cancer first operated but then decided to forfeit subsequent conventional treatments. Instead she chose homeopathy which she received from Dr Jens Wurster at the […]

Read the rest here: Homeopathy for cancer: Dr Wurster and the ‘Clinica Sta Croce’ in Switzerland

Fraud and greed can cause enormous harm

We have repeatedly discussed the journal ‘Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine’ (see for instance here and here). The journal has recently done something remarkable and seemingly laudable: it retracted an article titled “Psorinum Therapy in Treating Stomach, Gall Bladder, Pancreatic, and Liver Cancers: A Prospective Clinical Study” due to concerns about the ethics, authorship, quality […]

Read the rest here: Fraud and greed can cause enormous harm