Andy L – Page 13 – The Quackometer Blog

Is Biodynamic Farming Vegan?

20th July, 2012 54

Biodynamic farming is seen as the ‘more organic than organic’ method of sustainable farming. It is not. Biodynamics is the method of farming proposed by occultist Rudolf Steiner, who created the crypto-religious movement of Anthroposophy based his clairvoyant visions and a racist view of human development, reincarnation, karma, astrology, homeopathy and gnomes. People who want to get into progressive farming these days are driven by concerns of health, taste, animal [read more…]

German Homeopathy Companies Pay Journalist who Smears UK Academic

16th July, 2012 136

A consortium of pharmaceutical companies in Germany have been paying a journalist €43,000 to run a set of web sites that denigrates an academic who has published research into their products. These companies, who make homeopathic sugar pills, were exposed in the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung in an article, Schmutzige Methoden der sanften Medizin (The Dirty Tricks of Alternative Medicine.) This story has not appeared in the UK media. And it [read more…]

The Insidious Pervasiveness of the Cult of Rudolf Steiner

5th July, 2012 164

This morning, we discovered that pharmaceutical companies in Germany that manufacture homeopathic remedies, had being paying shills to discredit critics of alternative medicine. One of the organsiations was Weleda, an anthroposophical health care company founded by Rudolf Steiner. Yesterday, on my blog post on the Steinerist Triodos Bank, a pro-Steiner commenter tried to discredit my interpretation of Steiner’s views on race and geology by calling an academic who had researched [read more…]

The Bank that likes to say ‘Quack’: Triodos

2nd July, 2012 69

With the news of banking scandals over the past few days, there are many people reconsidering where they bank. Is it possible to bank with an organisation that has solid ethical credentials and will not use its money to reward reckless investment bankers’ bonuses or finance questionable businesses? A web site came on to my twitter timeline today called Move Your Money that aims to help people chose their banking [read more…]

The Society of Homeopaths Intend to Ignore the Law.

28th June, 2012 43

As we saw a few days ago, the medicines regulator have written a robust response to the current panic campaign by homeopaths to try to create new legislation that would let them practice legally. It is slowly dawning on homeopaths that their business model is illegal. And with current plans to simplify medicines legislation, that illegality has been exposed. The Society of Homeopaths look like they have been lobbying ministers. [read more…]

The End of Homeopathy

26th June, 2012 205

Homeopaths have been in a panic over the MHRA’s activities in cleaning up existing medicines’ law. MPs have been bombarded with desperate,but misleading claims,that the law isbeing changed and that they will be put out of business. The law is not being changed. But they may well indeed be out of business soon. The MHRA has issued its own response to this campaign. They say, UK medicines legislation (including for homeopathy) [read more…]

(False) Hope 4 Cancer

23rd June, 2012 258

Richard Branson has apparently intervened to fly a desperately poorly girl from Mexico who was undergoing last ditch cancer treatment to save her life. The treatment did not work and seven-year-old Olivia Downie found herself in a different hospital in a ‘critical condition’ and too ill to fly home. Appeals appeared in the Daily Mail and the Sun saying the parents were trying to raise £140,000 to charter a special [read more…]

Homeopathy and Sports Injuries.

14th June, 2012 39

The Society of Homeopaths have been proudly kicking off their Homeopathy Awareness Week. This year, their focus is on how homeopathy can help with sports injuries. Their press release ties into the Summer of sports we are going to have, obviously crowned with the Olympics in London. They say, As the country goes sporting mad this summer, homeopathy will be called on as a holistic way to sprint back [read more…]

Can You Dish Out Sugar Pills for £50,000?

10th June, 2012 26

The University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is looking for a grade 8b pharmacist to dish out sugar pills at the The Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine (formerly known as the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital before it all got a bit too embarrassing.) At a time when the NHS is under increasing financial and organisational pressure, the RLHIM thinks it is acceptable to pay someone to dispense homeopathic [read more…]

An Evening With the TQ9ers

29th May, 2012 42

As you enter the Devon town of Totnes you will greeted with the ‘Welcome to Totnes’ sign under which an insightful wag has sprayed, ‘Twinned with Narnia’. The town has a reputation for embracing all things alternative. It has countless alternative medicine practitioners. The Society of Homeopaths have their ‘education’ centre here. There is the Schumacher College that offers an MSc in ‘Holistic Science’. It has a Steiner School. Only [read more…]