More on Louise Hay & some general statements about Alternative Medicine

Another commenter on my earlier post about Louise Hay’s cancer quackery has raised some issues concerning alternative medicine. I responded  to her criticisms (or lack of them as the case may be) over on that thread, but I’ll also take the opportunity here to gather a few points about the way proponents of alternative medicine deal with criticism in general.

Responses usually seem to follow a formula: a mix of smokescreen, personal attack and insistence on an entire worldview or ideology — an ideology that is opposed to “western” medicine and must be swallowed whole to be understood. None of this involves the idea of small incremental gains in knowledge or rejection of failed hypotheses. It’s all or nothing, because, well it has to be. There are a whole lot of modalities and treatments for which there is little or no evidence, which must be bolstered by an ideological armoring in order to survive. Criticizing one aspect of it can bring down the whole modality. So any criticism meets an ideological counter-attack on multiple fronts, none of which address the original criticism.

For evidence of this, read the entire comment thread on that post.

This is an attempt to deal with some aspects of that kind of multiple front ideological attack.

Homeopathy: PR & Politicking vs. Science & Education

The multi-billion dollar homeopathy industry has recognised it is facing a crisis, partly brought about by the improved communication and accessibility of information, made possible by the internet.

Of course, had they been more honest about their product in the past, they would not be facing their current difficulties. In fact they wouldn’t be facing any difficulties at all, because their disgraceful scam of an industry wouldn’t exist. Homeopaths would have long since quit and either got a proper job or found a safer scam.

As I’ve highlighted before here, they regularly claim homeopathy has been validated by scientific studies, while simultaneously lobbying national governments and the EU for exemption from normal scientific testing because they fail every properly conducted test.

Such stunning hypocrisy demonstrates the ruthless and deceitful nature of their scam and should in itself be enough to end any discussion of its efficacy or worth. Unfortunately homeopathy has sunk its claws deeply enough into society for it to benefit from the default credibility that goes along with that.

Nevertheless, thanks largely to the internet, they are more frequently being confronted with reality and called to account for the deaths, suffering, deliberate endangering of lives and health, false advertising, fake studies, deceitful claims and general stupidity that their industry is based upon.

Now they are hitting back. Rather than engaging in any self-reflection or reality checks, they have devised a PR plan for the next few years.

German Homeopathy: deadly, stupid, and supported by me

Medical insurance here in Germany is compulsory, which is probably not such a bad idea. It costs 15% of your income, unless you happen to be poor or have an irregular income, in which case it can cost more than 100% of your income, which can itself lead to health problems. But piteous whining is not the purpose of this post, as I have already done that in an earlier post on this topic.

How Not to Argue Like a Complete Fool

Dedicated to cancer quack, Andreas Moritz

You may be aware that WordPress had blocked a science blog after a spurious threat of libel action from the even more spurious cancer quack, Andreas Moritz.

(See earlier story here, Cancer Quack v. WordPress #1)

Well, I am happy to note that WordPress have now seen the light, and reinstated the blog.

Andreas Moritz: Backdoor Man

There are plenty of negative and judgmental things being said about Andreas Moritz on the net at the moment, and I don’t want to add to that. Instead, I want to give hope to those fans of Andreas who are prowling the internet and cutting and pasting testimonials all over the place.

Yes indeed trolls, just because you’ve just ordered that nice enema board you saw advertised by Skeptico, and have read up a bit and realised you’ve blown your cash, don’t worry! There is light at the end of the…um…tunnel. Here’s how to get  the best value from your unusual rectal activities…And remember folks, you read it here first, free of charge.

Cancer Quack v. WordPress #1

Cancer Quack 1 : WordPress 0

Cancer quack Andreas Moritz seems to have threatened WordPress with a “hefty lawsuit” for hosting a blogpost criticial of naturopathy. Like most woos, he sees any criticism as a personal attack, rather than an opportunity for assessment, refelection and reasoned response.

Updated 22 Feb, 23 Feb….