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 […]

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American Loon #2001: Barbara Mikulski

Barbara Mikulski served as Senator (D-Maryland) for some thirty years between 1987 and 2017 – and was ten years in the House of Representatives before that – and is currently a professor of public policy at John Hopkins University. For our purposes, Mikulski is notable for her support of...

Read the full lunacy: #2001: Barbara Mikulski Encyclopedia of American Loons

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

The most preposterous piece of pseudoscientific piffle of the year

Several national organisations of sceptics give annual awards to people and institutions who do outstanding work and those who do the opposite. Later this week, I will travel to Vienna, for instance, to give away one of this year’s ‘GOLDENES BRETT’, a negative prize for the most outrageous BS of 2017. Such things are good […]

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A $ 200 million donation to medical research is a good thing… or isn’t it?

It has been announced that Susan and Henry Samueli have given US$ 200 million to medical research at the University of California, Irvine (UCI). Surely this is a generous and most laudable gift! How could anyone doubt it?

As with any gift, one ought to ask what precisely it is for. If someone made a […]

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Osteopathy making a mockery of academia and evidence-based healthcare

The TIMES HIGHER EDUCATION (THE) reported yesterday that the British School of Osteopathy (BSO) has won university college title, meaning that it could be on the road towards full university status. University college title, awarded by the Privy Council on the advice of the Department for Education (DfE) and the Higher Education Funding Council for England, is usually seen as a step towards full university status. The London-based BSO already secured degree-awarding powers and access to Hefce public teaching and research funding in 2015. The BSO will be known, from September, as the University College of Osteopathy...

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American Loon #1889: Lane Lester

... Lane Lester is a Professor of Biology at Emmanuel Missionary College (or, as it is currently known, Andrew University), Georgia – a small, extremist, Pentecostal college that offers non-accredited “education” – and Regional Representative of the Institute for Creation Research. Lester calls himself a “creationist geneticist”...

Read the full lunacy: #1889: Lane Lester Encyclopedia of American Loons

Friends of Science in Homeopathy - Plague of Mice

Our old friend Nancy Malik decided to name her blog Science-based Homeopathy, presumably in a fit of childish pique at the existence of Science-Based Medicine, which regularly laughs homeopathy to scorn, and rightly so. Then she realised that there is an Australian-based network called Friends of Science in Medicine, so of course nothing would do unless she had one called Friends of Science in Homeopathy...

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Quackademia down under

Quackademia is an apt term for the teaching or promotion of quackery in universities. Sadly, this is a serious problem, and we have therefore discussed it already several times (see here, here and here). If you have read my memoir, you know that I had my fair share of quackademia ‘hands-on’, so to speak. This article from Australia has more on the subject […]

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Gunpowder 30C – works like a bomb for any infection! But also blows a Vice Chancellor’s smokescreen, of standing up for science, to bits.

The BlueBoxTM homeopathic remedy kit, produced by Pegasus Homeopathics, contains 28 easy-to-use remedies for the treatment of just about everything, and therefore; “The BlueBox™ is a must have for every home”. Their marketing strategy is focussed on children and on the ease-of-mind of their parents, with Pegasus telling us that it: “Treats the whole family […]

Read the rest here: Gunpowder 30C – works like a bomb for any infection! But also blows a Vice Chancellor’s smokescreen, of standing up for science, to bits.

Details about a homeopathy-course at one of Germany’s leading medical schools | Edzard Ernst

I have been alerted to the fact that my former medical school in Munich at one of Germany’s highest-ranked universities is currently running an elective course in homeopathy. For those who do not read German (the original announcement [apparently posted all over Munich university hospitals] is copied below), it teaches the use of homeopathy in/for:

• INTERNAL MEDICINE 
• NEONATOLOGY 
• SINUSITIS […]

Read on: Details about a homeopathy-course at one of Germany’s leading medical schools

Data fabrication in China is an ‘open secret’ | Edzard Ernst

I have warned you before to be sceptical about Chinese studies. This is what I posted on this blog more than 2 years ago, for instance:
Imagine an area of therapeutics where 100% of all findings of hypothesis-testing research are positive, i.e. come to the conclusion that the treatment in question is effective. Theoretically, this could mean […]

Read on: Data fabrication in China is an ‘open secret’

Unacceptable pseudo-science from the NIH | Edzard Ernst

In alternative medicine, good evidence is like gold dust and good evidence showing that alternative therapies are efficacious is even rarer. Therefore, I was delighted to come across a brand-new article from an institution that should stand for reliable information: the NHI, no less.

According to its authors, this new article “examines the clinical trial […]

Read on: Unacceptable pseudo-science from the NIH

The only accredited Integrative Medicine diploma currently available in the UK | Edzard Ernst

Would you like to see a much broader range of approaches such as nutrition, mindfulness, complementary therapies and connecting people to green spaces become part of mainstream healthcare? No? Well, let me tell you about this exciting new venture anyway! It is being promoted by Dr Dixon’s ‘College of Medicine’ and claims to be “the […]

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Middlesex University supports dangerous quackery | Edzard Ernst

On the website of THE CENTRE FOR HOMEOPATHIC EDUCATION (CHE), an organisation which claims to operate ‘in partnership with’ the MIDDLESEX UNIVERSITY LONDON, we find the most amazing promotion of quackery. Under the title of ’10 Top Homeopathic Remedies for your First Aid Kit’ they state that “we wanted to give you some top tips to put […]

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Writing systematic reviews of TCM has just become a whole lot easier | Edzard Ernst

Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against systematic reviews. Quite to the contrary, I am sure they are an important source of information for patients, doctors, scientists, policy makers and others – after all, I have published more than 300 of such papers!

Having said that, I do dislike a certain type of systematic review, […]

Read on: Writing systematic reviews of TCM has just become a whole lot easier

Homeopathy in Bristol: from bad to dismal | Edzard Ernst

On the website of the Bristol University Hospital, it was just revealed that UK homeopathy seems to have suffered another blow:
“Homeopathic medicine has been available in Bristol since 1852, when Dr Black first started dispensing from premises in the Triangle. During the next 69 years the service developed and expanded culminating in the commissioning […]

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University of Toronto adds homeopathy to health benefits, dilutes care | Dr. Jen Gunter

While universal health care in Canada covers doctors fees and hospital stays a lot of care is fee for service. Out of pocket costs can add up for dental care, prescriptions, mental health care, glasses/contacts, and in some provinces (like Ontario, home of the University of Toronto) physical therapy. Many places of employment offer supplemental health plans in their benefit packages to help defray these costs. The University of Toronto, like many employers, offers such a supplemental plan.

This year (2015-2016) they ADDED homeopathy...

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Some alternative medicine journals should be de-listed | Edzard Ernst

For ‘my’ journal FACT, I review all the new articles that have emerged on the subject of alternative medicine on a monthly basis. Here are a few impressions and concerns that this activity have generated:

• The number of papers on alternative medicine has increased beyond belief: between the year 2000 and 2010, there was a slow, linear […]

Read on: Some alternative medicine journals should be de-listed

Integrative oncology = paradise for pseudoscience and quacks? | Edzard Ernst

A new study has shed light on how cancer patients’ attitudes and beliefs drive the use of complementary and alternative medicine. Published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the findings may help hospitals develop more effective and accessible integrative oncology services for patients […]

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