Help With Quackometer: Geek needed

27th August, 2011 3

At present, the ‘Am I a Quack?’ function is not working.http://www.quackometer.net/?page=quackometerPart of how this function works is by using a Yahoo Pipe. You can see the pipe here… http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/pipe.info?_id=a77fae13005513c4a… [read more…]

Jeremy Sherr: Daktari wa mchawi na dawa yake mbaya

24th August, 2011 32

The Society of Homeopaths in the UK has constantly refused to engage in any meaningful way about how western homeopaths are travelling to Africa and setting up clinics that use homeopathic sugar pills to treat and prevent dangerous diseases, such as TB, malaria and HIV. This is a murderous practice. People will die if they are told that homeopathy is a ‘side-effect free’ way of treating or preventing these diseases. [read more…]

Dr Peter Fisher and “Plausibility Bias”

15th August, 2011 33

In this season’s newsletter from the Homeopathy Research Institute, Dr Peter Fisher, Clinical Director of the NHS Hospital, the Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine, writes an essay on how homeopathy research may be being unfairly appraised due to the ‘plausibility bias’ of scientists. Fisher makes a case that “Negative plausibility bias obstructs a fair evaluation of the evidence around homeopathy”. That is, that views that homeopathy appears to be [read more…]

Margaret Coats to join Zombie Regulator, Ofquack.

9th August, 2011 8

I first wrote about Ofquack, or the Complementary and Natural Health Council, during its formation in early 2008. I predicted it would not survive – and I was wrong. Ofquack was set up by the now defunct quackery lobby group founded by Prince Charles, the Foundation for Integrated Health. The aim was to provide voluntary ‘regulation’ for practitioners of superstitious and pseudoscientific therapies. I predicted it would fail as such [read more…]

Quacks Denounce ASA as Incompetent and Threatening

3rd August, 2011 28

Last week I reported that a top quack delegation was visiting the Advertising Standards Authority to tell them that they were being very mean to quacks by asking them not to make unsubstantiated claims in their websites. Well, once more, a leaked email landed in my inbox. And we also have an ‘official’ press release. And it shows a profession, if I can call it that, that is immature, confused [read more…]

Foresight Preconception: Beware of Claims

29th July, 2011 26

It has come to my attention that, this autumn, I will become a father for the second time. We have been very fortunate in that we are not spring chickens and achieving this feat has been quite straightforward. A near 100% hit rate. For many couples, it is not so easy. Getting pregnant can take some time. Even if you are both healthy and you are managing to have regular [read more…]

The Advertising Standards Authority Seeks to Destroy Complementary Medicine–Apparently

27th July, 2011 27

This time, Jayney Goddard, who calls herself the President of The Complementary Medical Association, is calling on homeopaths and other quacks to provide evidence for her to take to the ASA that they are being very mean to them. She has been circulating an email asking for evidence that the ASA has really hurt the feelings of people who make livings from selling superstitious and pseudoscientific forms of treatments. And [read more…]

Ainsworths Pharmacy: Casual Disregard for the Law.

27th July, 2011 30

You might have thought by now that homeopaths would have understood that one of the main reasons they are constantly criticised is that they make claims that their sugar pills can treat or prevent life threatening illnesses when there is no sensible reason to think this is true. This puts lives at risk. If homeopaths were more circumspect in the claims they make, then they might have a quieter life. [read more…]

NHS “Any Qualified Provider” Initiative is a Bonanza for Quacks

20th July, 2011 22

As we were all watching the Tiswas Select Committee questioning the Murdochs, the government were letting out press releases saying they were to hand over a billion pounds of NHS services to private companies and charities. The announcements say that patients will be given a “wider choice of providers” for some services and that “the goal is to enable patients to choose from any qualified provider where this will result [read more…]

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