Do skeptics get things wrong about …. homeopathy?

As we all know, skeptics are completely and utterly infallible and never ever make any mistakes. Every single utterance articulated by every single skeptic is “truth” and must never be questioned … right? (If the above just tripped your “twat” alarm, then well done, it is in full working order). Edzard Ernst – 7 Common … Read more

The John Maddox Prize – given for taking a bold scientific stance

You might perhaps have never heard about the John Maddox Prize, and so you might be inclined to think … “The What?”. This however is special. First, lets run over the background to it all. Sense about science is a British charity that promotes the public understanding of science, and they, amongst others, are folks who promote the … Read more

Befuddling and blinding with meaningless gibberish

Edzard Ernst, has pointed out a rather “interesting” paper that has been written by a German child/adolescent psychiatrist and homeopathic physician, Michael Hartmann. Prof Ernst points it out, not because he thinks it is good, but because despite having a string of letters after his name (MD, PhD, FMedSci, FSB, FRCP, FRCPEd), he does not understand a word … Read more

The Detox myth busted

There is a really really good article over on the UK’s Guardian by Dara Mohammadi. For background, he is a Health and Science writer at the Guardian, also presents the Lancet’s news podcast, and is a senior assistant editor at the Lancet. “Detox” is one of those extra special words that if encountered should trigger … Read more

Alternative medicines can’t escape the long arm of the law

Edzard Ernst is an impressive chap, not only is he a prize-winning physician, but he is also the founder of two medical journals. And if that is not enough, he was also the first chair in complementary medicine at the University of Exeter and is also the co-author of “Trick or Treatment? Alternative Medicine on … Read more