An unexpected honour for ‘TRICK OR TREATMENT’

  This came a few days ago, completely out of the blue. To be honest, I did not even know what the BOOK AUTHORITY is. So, I looked them up; this is what they say about themselves: BookAuthority is the world’s leading site for nonfiction book recommendations, helping you find the best books on various […]

Read the rest here: An unexpected honour for ‘TRICK OR TREATMENT’

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.

American Loon #2261: Jane Skrovota

Jane Skrovota is hardly a big name in bigotry; indeed, she is just a Lincoln, Nebraska local lady whose only claim to notability is a graphic diatribe she delivered during a public hearing before the Lincoln city council in 2012 on a proposed ordinance to ban discrimination against gays and...

Read the full lunacy: #2261: Jane Skrovota Encyclopedia of American Loons

The UK Society of Homeopaths, a hub of anti-vaccination activists?

The Society of Homeopaths (SoH) is the UK’s professional organisation of lay-homeopaths, therapists who treat patients without having studies medicine. This is what they say about themselves: Everyone needs a healthcare professional they can trust – one who’s trained to rigorous standards, bound by a strict code of ethics, and subject to independent regulation. That’s […]

Read the rest here: The UK Society of Homeopaths, a hub of anti-vaccination activists?

American Loon #2260: Mark Sircus

Marc Sircus is a near-legendary crank and promoter of cancer woo, perhaps most familiar for his Transdermal Magnesium Therapy, which is not something you should get involved with under any circumstances. Sircus, like many quacks, are fond of adding meaningless alphabet soups to his name, and...

Read the full lunacy: #2260: Mark Sircus Encyclopedia of American Loons

A large-scale multisite effectiveness trial of Reiki

I have recently gone to the trouble of evaluating 150 different modalities from the realm of so-called alternative medicine (SCAM) in a book. This is what it tells you about Reiki: Reiki is a form of paranormal or energy healing popularised by Japanese Mikao Usui (1865-1926). Rei means universal spirit (sometimes thought of as a […]

Read the rest here: A large-scale multisite effectiveness trial of Reiki

So-called alternative medicine (SCAM) is a harmless little cottage industry – true or false?

So-called alternative medicine (SCAM) is compared to ‘Big Pharma’ a tiny and benign cottage industry – at least this is what we are often told and what many consumers believe. If you are one of them, this report might make you rethink your position. The global market for SCAM is expected to generate a revenue […]

Read the rest here: So-called alternative medicine (SCAM) is a harmless little cottage industry – true or false?

The scandal of Chinese acupuncture research and its publication in seemingly reputable journals

The medical literature is currently swamped with reviews of acupuncture (and other forms of TCM) trials originating from China. Here is the latest example (but, trust me, there are hundreds more of the same ilk). The aim of this review was to evaluate the effectiveness of scalp, tongue, and Jin’s 3-needle acupuncture for the improvement […]

Read the rest here: The scandal of Chinese acupuncture research and its publication in seemingly reputable journals

American Loon #2259: Matt Singleton et al.

Matt Singleton is a Baptist minister in Louisville who also runs an Internet talk-radio program. A staunch supporter of the nearby Ark Park, Singleton is a fierce critic of evolution, calling teachings on evolution a lie that have led to drug abuse, suicide and other social afflictions. His...

Read the full lunacy: #2259: Matt Singleton et al. Encyclopedia of American Loons

HOMEOPATHY = “the complete alternative to vaccination” ?!?!

The UK-based homeopathic pharmacy AINSWORTH has attracted my attention several times already. Amongst other things, Tony Pinkus, the director of the firm, once accused me of having faked my research and I suspected him of violating the basic principles of research ethics in his study of homeopathy for autism. Today, THE DAILY MAIL reports about […]

Read the rest here: HOMEOPATHY = “the complete alternative to vaccination” ?!?!

American Loon #2258: Stephen Sinatra

Though he is, indeed, a cardiologist, Stephen T. Sinatra is better known as one of the most prominent and comprehensively lunatic woo-meisters, or “integrative medicine” practitioners, working in the US at present. In addition to being a cardiologist, Sinatra is a “certified bioenergetic...

Read the full lunacy: #2258: Stephen Sinatra Encyclopedia of American Loons

Homeopathy can cause serious harm – and finally, the NHS England has realised it

I must have published well over two dozen articles in the peer-reviewed literature (and many more on this blog) warning of the indirect risks of homeopathy. The most obvious example of such risks is the advice many homeopaths give about vaccinations. Here is, for instance, a quote from an abstract I published in 1996: … […]

Read the rest here: Homeopathy can cause serious harm – and finally, the NHS England has realised it

More on chiropractic and opioid use

We have discussed the association between chiropractic an opioid use before. But the problem of causality remained unresolved. Perhaps this new paper can help? This retrospective cohort study with new onset back pain patients (2008-20013) examined the association of initial provider treatment with early and long-term opioid use in a national sample of patients with new-onset […]

Read the rest here: More on chiropractic and opioid use

American Loon #2257: James Simpson

Accuracy in Media is a wingnut “media watchdog” run by Don Irvine. It was founded with the expressed purpose of combatting “liberal media bias” but actually – and predictably – ended up combatting accuracy instead, in favor of promoting wingnut conspiracy theories. It’s a perfect fit for...

Read the full lunacy: #2257: James Simpson Encyclopedia of American Loons

Spinal epidural haematoma after neck manipulation

Spinal epidural haematoma is a potentially serious condition that can occur due to trauma, such as spinal manipulation, particularly in the presence of a blood clotting abnormality. A case has been published of a patient who, after performing self-neck manipulation, suffered spinal epidural haematoma and subsequent paralysis of all 4 limbs. A 63-year-old man presented […]

Read the rest here: Spinal epidural haematoma after neck manipulation