OfCom Rule on Jeni Barnett's MMR Show

... by Martin
Back in January, London-based LBC Radio broadcast a show hosted by Jeni Barnett that has become infamous. In an hour long segment, all sorts of wild claims were made about MMR by the host, covering the full spectrum from the vaguely reasonable to the nonsensical....
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The MHRA's Approach to Homeopathy

... by Martin
The Science and Technology Select Committee have published two new documents submitted by the MHRA as part of their homeopathy 'evidence check'; a public consultation from 2005 which the MHRA used to argue that there was "widespread support for the introduction of...
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alternative medicine

The Litmus Test: Science policy at the general election

Mon, 04/26/2010 - 21:51

All this week, I'll be running a series of six articles and a podcast at The Guardian examining the science policies of the various parties contesting the imminent General Election. We've put a series of questions to eight of the parties, and we'll be reviewing their answers as well as posting them in full on our special microsite:

The Litmus Test: Science policy at the general election

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The 130th Skeptics Circle

Thu, 02/11/2010 - 15:40

Welcome, stranger, to the 130th edition of the Skeptics Circle, the blog carnival that is to blog carnivals what the Morris Minor is to Japan.

As a bit of a change, and to make things nice and concise so that you can get straight to the lovely juicy meat of the articles without having to read lots of tedious waffle by me first, I'm going to do a special "quotes" edition. Each quote links to an article containing that quote. For extra fun, you can try guessing what the article is about from the quote!

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The MHRA's Approach to Homeopathy

Fri, 01/15/2010 - 22:17

The Science and Technology Select Committee have published two new documents submitted by the MHRA as part of their homeopathy 'evidence check'; a public consultation from 2005 which the MHRA used to argue that there was "widespread support for the introduction of national rules for the authorisation of homeopathic medicinal products"; and a document describing how labels for the homeopathic remedy 'Arnica 30C' was tested.

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Right For All The Wrong Reasons

Wed, 12/09/2009 - 16:42


Nursing Times has an article by Fiona Mantle warning of the dual dangers of consumer magazines giving advice on complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and of self-diagnosis.

But all is not as it seems.

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Alt Med - an Industry Like Any Other

Tue, 10/20/2009 - 21:23

There seems to be a perception among some that the alternative medicine industry is somehow warm and cuddly in comparison to everyone's favourite baddie, 'Big Pharma'. I'm sorry to say that 'Big Altie' is every bit as bad as Big Pharma. These are not charities - they are businesses like any other. Their responsibilities are to their shareholders, not to the public.

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OfQuack: Insights from the Latest CNHC Board Meeting

Wed, 09/09/2009 - 13:58

The CNHC have released the minutes of their July board meeting, and the contents provide a fascinating insight into the actions of the alternative medicine regulation company dubbed 'OfQuack' by critics. In this post I'll trawl through a wealth of titbits concerning their response to criticism, openness, and the activities of Mandate, the PR company they're spending public money to hire.

Transparency:

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OfCom Rule on Jeni Barnett's MMR Show

Mon, 06/22/2009 - 14:25

Back in January, London-based LBC Radio broadcast a show hosted by Jeni Barnett that has become infamous. In an hour long segment, all sorts of wild claims were made about MMR by the host, covering the full spectrum from the vaguely reasonable to the nonsensical. Health professionals who phoned-in to the show were shouted down, while a homeopath caller was given free rein to make a range of wild accusations. In short, it was a travesty, so much so that a complaint was made to OfCom, who have today issued their ruling.

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Misunderstanding Acupuncture Studies

Sun, 05/24/2009 - 20:07

In recent weeks myself and a few others have engaged with some CAM practitioners via Twitter, and one of the things that keeps coming up is a version of the following argument:

CAM Dude: "This study supports my therapy!"
Scientists: "No it doesn't!"
CAM Dude: "Yes it does!"

And so on ad infinitum. The problem seems to come down to a lack of understanding of methodology, so in this post I'm going to walk through a study cited by "drmike001" as supporting acupuncture, and describe what they can and can't show, and what would have to be done to really support the conclusions that he wants to arrive at.

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Grisi Siknis: An Illness only Alt-Med can Cure?

Wed, 05/06/2009 - 12:50

When is a disease not a disease? Among the Miskito People of eastern Central America, the condition known as "Grisi Siknis" has afflicted dozens, spreading like an epidemic through the population - especially the young. But no medical cause can be established, and no medical treatment has been demonstrated to work reliably. Indeed, the only people who can successfully treat the disease are Miskito herbalists and witch-doctors.

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Factors Behind the Relentless Spread of the Alt-Med Meme

Mon, 04/20/2009 - 14:25
ResearchBlogging.org

[bpsdb] You won't hear practitioners say it - it would spoil their underdog, anti-establishment vibe - but alternative medicine is big business, pulling in over US$60billion a year. In many countries, alt med is primary healthcare. Unsurprisingly, those tend not to be the healthiest countries. The thing is, as Tim Minchin astutely observes in his poem 'Storm': "By definition, alternative medicine has either not been proved to work, or been proved not to work. Do you know what they call alternative medicine that's been proved to work? ... Medicine" So why do such lousy treatments remain so popular? The authors of a recent PLoS paper, "From Traditional Medicine to Witchcraft: Why Medical Treatments Are Not Always Efficacious," have one intriguing idea [1].

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