Prince Charles is a strong advocate for alternative medicine and is proud to be “the enemy of the Enlightenment.” For the first time, Edzard Ernst tells the full story of Charles’ ignorance and folly. Prince Charles, proud to be the Enemy of the Enlightenment. Edzard Ernst has a new book… read more "Prince Charles and Alternative Medicine"
Alternative Medicine: Placebos for Pets
A skeptical veterinarian reviews the evidence for alternative medicine for pets, and concludes it’s mostly placebos. She thinks she’s adjusting the horse’s subluxations. She isn’t; she’s practicing placebo medicine.Alternative medicine is accepted by many humans, but we may forget that it is also imposed on their pets. Veterinarian Brennen McKenzie… read more "Alternative Medicine: Placebos for Pets"
Homeopath Quits Homeopathy but Thinks the Homeopathic Approach Has Value
A former homeopath shows that there’s nothing scientific about homeopathy; in fact, it contradicts all known scientific principles. Nevertheless she finds value in the homeopathic approach to the patient and thinks all providers can learn from it. Natalie Grams is a German MD who was an enthusiastic practitioner of classical… read more "Homeopath Quits Homeopathy but Thinks the Homeopathic Approach Has Value"
Announcing: Video Lecture Course on Science-Based Medicine
A couple of years ago, the James Randi Educational Foundation commissioned me to develop a series of 10 video lectures on Science-Based Medicine. After a lot of work and many vicissitudes, it is now available. The lecture titles are: Science-Based Medicine vs. Evidence-Based Medicine What Is CAM? Chiropractic Acupuncture Homeopathy Naturopathy and… read more "Announcing: Video Lecture Course on Science-Based Medicine"
The Last Word on Homeopathy
No one will ever need to write about homeopathy again. Edzard Ernst has said it all in his new book Homeopathy: The Undiluted Facts. Far too many trees have died in the service of praising or debunking homeopathy in the two centuries since Hahnemann invented it. The forests can celebrate, because this… read more "The Last Word on Homeopathy"
The “Incoherent Mess” That Is Homeopathy: Old and New Insights
Back in 1943 a Dutch physician, David Karel de Jongh, wrote a PhD dissertation on homeopathy. It was based on his experience working in a homeopathic hospital and on all the published information he could find, and was highly critical of homeopathy. It was an impressive opus, with over 200,000… read more "The “Incoherent Mess” That Is Homeopathy: Old and New Insights"
Is Homeopathy Unethical?
“A gentle ethical defence of homeopathy” by Levy et al. was recently published in an ethics journal. A full-text preprint is available online. They say: Utilitarian critiques of homeopathy that are founded on unsophisticated notions of evidence, that adopt narrow perspectives on healthcare assessment, and that overstate the personal, social and ontological… read more "Is Homeopathy Unethical?"
Homeopathy and the UK’s National Health Service
Homeopathy is arguably the silliest form of alternative medicine: the published studies show no evidence of anything beyond nonspecific contextual effects, and the underlying premise is incompatible with the existing body of scientific knowledge. Homeopathy has increasingly been questioned or denounced by organizations in several countries, most recently in FDA hearings in… read more "Homeopathy and the UK’s National Health Service"
Homeopathy First Aid Kits
I don’t know how I missed them, but somehow homeopathic first aid kits had not registered on my radar. They’re readily available. Even Amazon.com sells them, for $54.99. They contain 18 vials of tiny sugar pills, all with potencies of 200C, guaranteed by Avogadro not to contain a single molecule… read more "Homeopathy First Aid Kits"
Update: Homeopathy in Brazilian Scientific American
Last week I wrote about a regrettable piece on homeopathy that was published in Scientific American Brasil. There have been gratifying developments. Within hours, the editor in chief of Scientific American, Mariette DiChristina, appeared in the Comments. She said that Scientific American does not condone the pseudoscience of homeopathy, that the… read more "Update: Homeopathy in Brazilian Scientific American"