Orac recently lost his rag over JOHN WEEKS, editor of JCAM (see also here, here, here and here), and was less than appreciative of his recent comments on the Samueli-donation. Personally, I think that this was a bit harsh. To compensate the poor chap for such an injustice, I herewith offer John a place in my ‘Alt Med Hall of Fame’.
There he is in good company:
Deepak Chopra (US entrepreneur)
Cheryl Hawk (US chiropractor)
David Peters (osteopathy, homeopathy, UK)
Nicola Robinson (TCM, UK)
Peter Fisher (homeopathy, UK)
Simon Mills (herbal medicine, UK)
Gustav Dobos (various, Germany)
Claudia Witt (homeopathy, Germany and Switzerland)
George Lewith (acupuncture, UK)
John Licciardone (osteopathy, US)
have all been honoured in the same way.
But John is special!
I have mentioned him several times before (see here, here and here); what makes him special, in my view, is that he is such a shining example of an expert in ‘integrative medicine’. He calls himself a “a writer, speaker, chronicler and organizer whose work in the movement for integrative health” and proudly presents his lifetime achievement award (I urge you to read it – everyone who is anyone in the US quackery-cult pored a little praise over John – but be careful, you might feel acutely nauseous). Towards the end of this document, John adds some self-praise by summarising the many other ‘HONORS’ he has received:
- – For public education, American Association of Naturopathic Physicians (1988)
- – For role in historic regional accreditation of a college of natural health sciences, Bastyr College/now Bastyr University (1989)
- – Commencement speaker, Bastyr College (1989)
- – Honorary Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine, Bastyr University (1992)
- – For service, American Association of Naturopathic Physicians (1993)
- – For service, Washington Mental Health Counselors Association (1995)
- – Commencement speaker, Northwestern Health Sciences University (2010)
- – Honorary Doctor of Laws, National University of Health Sciences (2011)
- – Honorary Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine, Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine (2012)
- – Commencement speaker, New York Chiropractic College (2013)
- – Champion of Naturopathic Medicine, American Association of Naturopathic Physicians (2013)
So what? I hear you say, what is so special about that?
I will tell you what is special:
- John is not a doctor,
- John is not a practitioner,
- John is not a scientist,
- John has not published anything that we might call research,
- John has not studied any healthcare-related subject,
- John has, as far as I can see, no real university degree at all.
I find this remarkable and wonderful! It shows us like few other things what to think of the alternative medicine-cult. Not only can truly anyone become president in the US (as the last election has demonstrated); in the US anyone can become a celebrated and honoured champion of alternative medicine as well!
Welcome in my ‘Hall of Fame’ John!
11 Responses to John Weeks admitted to the ‘Alt Med Hall of Fame’
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Dr. Ernst, I think that your Blog has sunk to new depths by attacking John Weeks like this. You should feel ashamed of yourself. What kind of doctor are you? You seem to bear immense bitterness towards anyone who does not follow the dictates of Big Pharma medicine.
Conversely, it can (and would) be a considerable honour to be attacked by a notable naturopathic loon such as you.
What did Dr. Ernst say that isn’t true?
Don’t muddle him with the first listing on Google: ‘John Weeks is an economist. He is a Professor Emeritus of the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London.’ (Google)
Can you add Mehmet Oz to the list?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mehmet_Oz
The Encyclopedia of American loons! #1006: Mehmet Oz
http://americanloons.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/1006-mehmet-oz.html
See also:
https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Mehmet_Oz
http://skepdic.com/skeptimedia/skeptimedia5.html
His name will sit well on the list. His credentials as an oleaginous promoter of quackery are impeccable.
I would suggest to award Jim Jealous jamesjealous.com a membership in this hall of fame for his “researches”
Jamesbot stated:
James on Thursday 05 October 2017 at 10:30
You know, the alternative option is to allow all your lies, mistakes or misrepresentations to go unnoticed. I have not been programmed for that.
Jamesbot has not detected that the above citation re: John Weeks is from Wikipedia and not from Google
Jamesbot: please provide examples of what you are referring to by ‘all your lies’ (saying someone is mistaken is one thing, saying they are lying is another thing).
This lack of understanding suggests: you are a. clueless and .b belligerent twit.
Lie detector alert!
Greg stated on Tuesday 03 October 2017 at 09:14: Edzard is a Moron
I am sorry to have forgotten an important distinction… If you strongly believe in a lie, it’s not a lie to you anymore. But this does not make it not-a-lie with respect to reality.
So, yes, the word lie is not very straightforward. I should stick with misrepresentation.
Why did I recommend James (Jim) Jealous for the ‘Alt Med Hall of Fame’?
The last years thousands upon thousands of European Osteopathic Manipulators became pilgrims of US osteopathic physician James Jealous D.O. and his New Vitalism movement (named Biodynamic Osteopathy)
Here the prophet at it’s best:
http://jamesjealous.com/mission-statement/
“… Primary Respiration … Integrity demands that we speek undiluted truth … Within the Dynamic Stillnes we are healed without process or time … From the Breath of Life a new living matrix is created in each moment ..
The real and undiluted true message is: “Do nothing and get paid for audacity”
The page
International Physician Directory
http://jamesjealous.com/physician-directory/international-physician-directory/
contains almost without exception no physicians but a lot of Osteopathic Manipulators (in Germany most of them are physiotherapists or Heilpraktiker) as prophets for the “Do nothing is the best for healing”
The lunatic fringe of “Alt Med” is on it’s best way to become the new trojanic horse of quackery in
the academic world. You might receive even a B.Sc. (ost) or M.Sc. (ost) for such a prayer. Such a M.Sc. looks like a disaster under the light of science…
There is neither evidence of James Jealous’s “research results” for such a healing mechanism nor for any relevant effects in healing with his “wait and do nothing” and let the “Breath of Life do his work to heal” … the times of drugless healing have passed away a long time ago I guess … but eventually they didn’t ?
All of this should be enough to become a candidate for the ‘Alt Med Hall of Fame’ …