In the UK, honours for so-called alternative medicine (SCAM) are relatively rare and unsurprisingly controversial. Recently, I reported that Robin Daly, has been awarded an MBE in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the field of integrative cancer care and his tireless work through ‘Yes to Life’.
Since the 2026 New Year’s honours list is just out, I thought it would be interesting to see who else has been given a ‘gong’.
There seems to be nobody in the current list – so, let’s see who in the realm of SCAM has been honoured previously. Here is what I found:
Christina Cunliffe received an OBE in the 2025 ‘King’s Birthday Honours List’ for her 25-year career in developing chiropractic education in the UK and internationally.
Richard Brown got an MBE in 2021 for services to disability and a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2025 for his global impact on the chiropractic profession.
The late George Lewith was given a CBE in 2017 for “Services to Health Research and Complementary Medicine.”
Michael Dixon was honoured twice (2015 and 2024) for his personal service to the Royal Family and his work with the College of Medicine promoting holistic care.
Peter Fisher received an CVO in 2018 for personal service to the Queen as her homeopathic physician.
Christopher Hedley received an MBE in 2015 for services to the profession of herbalists and herbal education.
Simon Fielding was awarded his OBE in the 1998 for his services to osteopathy.
As we see several of these people have also received another honour: they are in my ‘ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE HALL OF FAME’!
Coincidence?
Who knows?!
The above list is surprisingly short, and I am almost certain that it is woefully incomplete. Since it would be nice to have a more complete list, I ask my readers to name other SCAM professionals who have received a gong in the past.
5 Responses to Practitioners of so-called alternative medicine who have been in UK honours lists
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June Whitfield received her damehood for services to drama and entertainment.
THANKS!
I stand corrected and changed my post accordingly.
When Christina Cunliffe was made a Fellow of the Society of Biology, as a member I complained to the appointments secretary. Their response was to stop publishing citations for new fellowships. They did say that the award wasn’t for teaching chiropractic, it was for other achievements, but they refused to say what they were.
interesting!
Les Rose wrote: “When Christina Cunliffe was made a Fellow of the Society of Biology, as a member I complained to the appointments secretary. Their response was to stop publishing citations for new fellowships. They did say that the award wasn’t for teaching chiropractic, it was for other achievements, but they refused to say what they were.”
Don’t forget that the Founder of McTimoney Chiropractic, John McTimoney, appears on the virtual ‘Wall of Honour’ of The Royal Society of Medicine (RSM). His appearance was made possible by members, officials, and friends of the McTimoney Chiropractic Association making a donation of £2,500. Not surprisingly, as donors are invited to “honour someone who works (or worked) in the healthcare and the medical sector”, it wasn’t without controversy. Indeed, in 2010, the RSM ended up issuing a statement in which it confirmed that the acceptance of the £2,500 donation “does not mean that the Society endorses the work of John McTimoney”. See here https://tinyurl.com/4h5r2kfp
The entire saga is recorded here: https://tinyurl.com/26294xck
Meanwhile, on 13th January 2026, Professor Christina Cunliffe, Principal of the McTimoney College of Chiropractic, received her OBE “for outstanding services to healthcare education” during an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle. She said: “This is a great honour for me personally, but also a recognition of the chiropractic profession as it establishes itself within mainstream healthcare”. Ref https://tinyurl.com/jwjbshh7
It is an utter nonsense. Worse, she must surely know it. IMO, it’s an OBE for obfuscation. As Simon Singh and Professor Edzard proposed on p.285 of their book ‘Trick or Treatment? Alternative Medicine on Trial, all chiropractors should be compelled by law to disclose to their patients [and the public] the following about chiropractic therapy:
Quote:
“WARNING: This treatment carries the risk of stroke or death if spinal manipulation is applied to the neck. Elsewhere on the spine, chiropractic therapy is relatively safe. It has shown some evidence of benefit in the treatment of back pain, but conventional treatments are usually equally effective and much cheaper. In the treatment of all other conditions, chiropractic therapy is ineffective except that it might act as a placebo.”
So, essentially, much ado about nothing and more about having friends in high places?
Here’s what Christina Cunliffe would almost certainly not want you to know: https://tinyurl.com/bdcwaf4m
Read and weep.