EBM
Donald Trump has nominated Dr. Mehmet Oz, a celebrity physician known for his US television show, to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Some 20 years ago, I had the pleasure to briefly meet Oz at a conference. I can honestly say that I rarely met anyone who was – in my view – oozing that much quackery as he was. Oz’s nomination has sparked (not just my but) widespread disbelief, mainly due to Oz’s long history of irresponsibly promoting even the worst forms of so-called alternative medicine (SCAM) for his own fame and fortune.
After being nominated, Oz posted a comment on X: “I am honored to be nominated by @realDonaldTrump to lead CMS. I look forward to serving my country to Make America Healthy Again under the leadership of HHS Secretary @RobertKennedyJr“
Personally, I am beginning to find Trump’s recent appointments too tiresome and ridiculous for further detailed comments. They seem to me like a deliberate provocation and an indication of the systematic destruction that Trump has in mind for his second term in office.
Instead of a comment, let me therefore show you some of the comments on the appointment that have appeared on X.
- Robert F. Kennedy Jr @RobertKennedyJr Very excited that my friend @DrOz has agreed to run CMS. Thank you @realDonaldTrump for this outstanding nomination. Welcome Dr. Oz to The Avengers. Let’s Make America Healthy Again!
- Elizabeth Warren @SenWarren Running Medicare and Medicaid for over 100 million Americans isn’t like hosting a daytime talk show. Dr. Oz is another rich guy who doesn’t care if your health care costs go up or an insurance company denies you coverage. These decisions have life and death consequences.
- Billboard Chris @BillboardChris Dr. Oz has been appointed to head Medicare and Medicaid. He needs to come out and publicly disavow this abhorrent garbage he pushed on his show about ‘transgender children.
- Michael Steele @MichaelSteele Robert F. Kennedy at HHS; now Dr. Mehmet Oz to run Medicare and Medicaid. And Republicans want to cut the social safety net to pay for renewing Trump’s tax cuts. Reality TV personalities for a Reality TV administration. Unfortunately, we live in a world where diseases are real, people are poor and reality hits many of us hard every day
- The Resistor Sister @the_resistor More like The Apprentice Administration NONE of them are qualified.
- seanmack @seanmack1025 When does Dr Doolittle get a job. I bet doctor Phil feels left out.
- Peter Morley @morethanmySLE Donald Trump’s CMS pick Dr. Mehmet Oz suggested in 2020 Lupus patients were IMMUNE to COVID if we took Hydroxychloroquine. FACT: I have Lupus & have been on this since medication since 2014 & I had Covid 3x. This man should NOT be overseeing Medicare & Medicaid!
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The bon mot that describes the situation best: If you put a clown in a palace, the clown does not become a king, but the palace turns into a circus.
Guest post by Catherine de Jong
Academic circles have reacted with surprise to the announcement on 12 November of the appointment of chiropractor Sidney Rubinstein as endowed professor at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. The website of the Dutch Chiropractors Association (NCA) states:
“On 1 August 2024, Mr. Sidney Rubinstein was appointed professor by special appointment at the chair “Optimizing Management of Musculoskeletal Health” at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. In addition to his work as a chiropractor in his own practice, Rubinstein has been working at the Vrije Universiteit for a long time. In addition to treating patients, he has always focused on research and development within chiropractic and musculoskeletal (MSK) disorders.”
Chiropractic is an alternative method of treatment. There is no scientific evidence for clinically relevant positive treatment outcomes. For that reason, chiropractic is not mentioned as a treatment option in the guidelines of general practitioners and medical specialists in the Netherlands. Both the profession and the education are not recognized in the Netherlands. On the website of the NVAO (Dutch-Flemish Academic Organization, www.nvao.net), chiropractic does not appear as an accredited program. There is now plenty of research, especially case reports, on the damage that treatment by a chiropractor can cause, such as cerebral infarctions due to arterial dissection of carotid arteries due to cracking of the neck by chiropractors.
On June 20, 2008, the website of Medisch Contact (magazine of KNMG, Dutch Society of Medical Doctors) stated: “First Dutch chiropractor gets his PhD: Sidney Rubinstein will be the first chiropractor in the Netherlands to obtain a PhD today. Rubinstein states that most of the side effects of chiropractic are harmless and temporary.”
This dissertation, for which Sidney Rubinstein obtained his doctorate at VU Amsterdam, was substandard and was criticized in a letter sent to the same journal. The subsequent correspondence with, among others, the supervisor can be read here. In short, a dissertation that VU Amsterdam cannot be proud of.
The Cochrane database contains two reviews published by Rubinstein on chiropractic, or Spinal Manipulative Therapy (SMT) for acute and chronic back pain, respectively. The conclusion was the same in both cases: In summary, SMT appears to be no better or worse than other existing therapies for patients with acute/chronic low‐back pain. In a 2013 update (Spinal manipulative therapy for acute low back pain: an update of the Cochrane review. Spine 2013; 38(3): E158-77), Rubinstein comes to the same conclusion: SMT is no more effective for acute low back pain than inert interventions, sham SMT or as adjunct therapy. SMT also seems to be no better than other recommended therapies. Rubinstein himself has concluded years ago that chiropractic or SMT has no greater effect than other treatments (like standard physiotherapy), but still it needs to be researched again and again?
At the end of the news item on the NCA’s website, the truth is revealed: the NCA subsidizes half of the chair! The members of this organization (there are now more than 500 chiropractors in the Netherlands) have diligently raised the money for this chair. Since its foundation in 1896 by the grocer/magnetizer D.D. Palmer, chiropractic has had every chance to prove its usefulness, but it has not succeeded. That Rubinstein can change that situation is, of course, extremely unlikely.
This appointment is therefore in fact a political publicity stunt for a still pointless alternative treatment. It will do both the practice of Sidney Rubinstein and that of other chiropractors a lot of good that there is now a professor of chiropractic in the Netherlands.
The other half of the chair is paid for by the university. This means that public money that could have been better spent is now going to be wasted on research into an alternative treatment that we already know is useless, by a researcher who has already shown that there is no added value of treatment by a chiropractor.
A substandard dissertation and a purchased chair, but Sidney Rubinstein can call himself a professor. With the appointment of chiropractor Sidney Rubinstein as endowed professor at VU Amsterdam, the university is jeopardizing its good name and contributing to the unjustified elevation of Sidney Rubenstein’s status and his pointless method of treatment, chiropractic.
Can this appointment really be reconciled with the scientific norms and values that VU Amsterdam wants to uphold?
While medical experts across the world have expressed dismay at Trump’s appointment of Robert Kennedy, the ‘International chiropractors Association’ has just published this remarkable note:
Donald J. Trump made it official that he was nominating Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to serve as the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Secretary-designee Kennedy has spent his entire career championing the health of the nation through education, advocacy, research and when needed litigation.
Among his many accomplishments are protecting the environment with Riverkeeper and the Natural Resources Defense Council His work at Riverkeeper succeeded in setting long-term environmental legal standards. Kennedy won legal battles against large corporate polluters. He became an adjunct professor of environmental law at Pace University School of Law in 1986 and founded the Pace’s Environmental Litigation Clinic which he co-directed for a decade.
It would be in the Pace Law Review that the landmark paper, “Unanswered Questions from the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program: A Review of Compensated Cases of Vaccine-Induced Brain Injury” (https://digitalcommons.pace.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1681&context=pelr) would be published in 2011.
Kennedy became laser focused on the autism epidemic while giving lectures on the dangers of mercury in fish, he was repeatedly approached by the mothers of children born healthy who regressed into autism after suffering adverse reactions from childhood vaccines, including their concern about the mercury-based preservative, thimerosal, being used in vaccines including the Hepatitis B vaccine given at birth. Kennedy’s approach to the issue was the same as it always, looking at the science. He assembled a team who gathered all the science and reviewed the issues with him. This resulted in the publication of the book, Thimerosal: Let the Science Speak
The Evidence Supporting the Immediate Removal of Mercury—a Known Neurotoxin—from Vaccines.
After establishing and leading the nonprofit Children’s Health Defense, last year Kennedy stepped back from the organization to throw his hat in the ring to be President. Becoming the embodiment of his uncle John F. Kennedy’s famous quote, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country!”, Kennedy reached out to President Trump to form an alliance to focus on the crisis of chronic disease in the United States, and suspended his campaign to focus on the Make American Healthy Again (MAHA) Initiative.
ICA President, Dr. Selina Sigafoose Jackson, who is currently in Brazil promoting the protection of chiropractic as a separate and distinct profession stated, “Many ICA members have been supporters of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s philanthropic activities and are all in on the MAHA Initiative. The Mission, Vision, and Values of the ICA align with the stated goals of the MAHA Initiative. We stand ready to provide policy proposals and experts to serve as advisors to the incoming Administration and to Secretary Kennedy upon his swearing in.”
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Perhaps I am permitted to contrast this with some health-related truths about Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. (my apologies, if the list is incomplete – please add to it by posting further important issues):
- Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has, since about 20 years, been a leading figure of the anti-vaccine movement.
- During the epidemic, he pushed the conspiracy theory that “the quarantine” was used as cover to install 5G cell phone networks.
- He claimed that “one out of every six American women has so much mercury in her womb that her children are at risk for a grim inventory of diseases, including autism, blindness, mental retardation and heart, liver and kidney disease.”
- He wrote that, “while people were dying at the rate of 10,000 patients a week, Dr. Fauci declared that hydroxychloroquine should only be used as part of a clinical trial. For the first time in American history, a government official was overruling the medical judgment of thousands of treating physicians, and ordering doctors to stop practicing medicine as they saw fit.”
- He pushed the conspiracy theory that COVID-19 had been “ethnically targeted” to spare Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people.”
- He claimed in a 2023 podcast interview that “There’s no vaccine that is safe and effective”.
- In a 2021 podcast, he urged people to “resist” CDC guidelines on when kids should get vaccines.
- He founded Children’s Health Defense’ that spreads fear and mistrust in science. One chiropractic group in California had donated $500,000 to this organisation.
- In 2019, he visited Samoa where he became partly responsible for an outbreak of measles, which made 5,700 people sick and killed 83 of them.
- He called mercury-containing vaccines aimed at children a holocaust. In 2015, he compared the horrors committed against Jews to the effects of vaccines on children. “They get the shot, that night they have a fever of a hundred and three, they go to sleep, and three months later their brain is gone. This is a holocaust, what this is doing to our country.”
- He repeatedly alleged that exposure to chemicals — “endocrine disruptors” — is causing gender dysphoria in children and contributing to a rise in LGBTQ-youth. According to him, endocrine disruptors are “chemicals that interfere with the body’s hormones and are commonly found in pesticides and plastic.”
- He stated “Telling people to “trust the experts” is either naive or manipulative—or both.”
- He plans to stop water fluoridation.
- He slammed the FDA’s “suppression” of raw milk.
- He said that a worm ate part of his brain which led to long-lasting “brain fog.”
- He has a 14-year-long history of abusing heroin from the age of 15. The police once arrested him for possession; he then faced up to two years in jail for the felony but was sentenced to two years probation after pleading guilty.
- He stated: “WiFi radiation … does all kinds of bad things, including causing cancer…cell phone tumors behind the ear.”
- He claimed that rates of autism have increased even though “there has been no change in diagnosis and no change in screening either.” Yet, both have changed significantly.
- He wrote: (Fauci’s) “obsequious subservience to the Big Ag, Big Food, and pharmaceutical companies has left our children drowning in a toxic soup of pesticide residues, corn syrup, and processed foods, while also serving as pincushions for 69 mandated vaccine doses by age 18—none of them properly safety tested.”
- He stated that cancer rates are skyrocketing in the young and the old – a statement that is evidently untrue.
- He authored a viral post on X: “FDA’s war on public health is about to end. This includes its aggressive suppression of psychedelics, peptides, stem cells, raw milk, hyperbaric therapies, chelating compounds, ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, vitamins, clean foods, sunshine, exercise, nutraceuticals and anything else that advances human health and can’t be patented by Pharma. If you work for the FDA and are part of this corrupt system, I have two messages for you: 1. Preserve your records, and 2. Pack your bags.”
- He has also aligned himself with special interests groups such as anti-vaccine chiropractors.
- He stated categorically: “You cannot trust medical advice from medical professionals.”
- He said he’s going to put a pause on infectious diseases research for 8 years.
- He promoted the unfounded theory that the CIA killed his uncle, former President John F. Kennedy.
- He linked school shootings to the increased prescription of antidepressants.
- An evaluation of verified Twitter accounts from 2021, found Kennedy’s personal Twitter account to be the top “superspreader” of vaccine misinformation on Twitter, responsible for 13% of all reshares of misinformation, more than three times the second most-retweeted account.
PS
Let me finish with a true statement: The World Health Organization has estimated that global immunization efforts have saved at least 154 million lives in the past 50 years.
The BMJ just published an article entitled “Disinformation enabled Donald Trump’s second term and is a crisis for democracies everywhere“. Please allow me to show you a few excerpts from this paper:
Donald Trump did not win the 2020 election, but asserting that he did became a prerequisite for Republicans standing for nomination to Congress or the Senate to win their primaries. An entire party became a vehicle for disinformation. Trump did win the 2024 presidential election, and key to that victory was building on the success of that lie. If you control enough of the information ecosystem, truth no longer matters…
… Readers of The BMJ will recall the huge amounts of misinformation (wrong or misleading content that is unknowingly shared) and disinformation (false content that is deliberately spread) during the covid-19 pandemic, some generated or amplified by politicians. This reduced vaccine uptake, promoted ineffective treatments, and encouraged attacks on health workers. In the past, factually incorrect statements might have had only local consequences, but a lie can now circle the world in seconds. Yet the speed in which disinformation can spread is only part of the problem…
… Part of Musk’s reason for buying Twitter was to influence the social discourse. And influence he did—by using his enormous platform (203 million followers) to endorse Trump, spread disinformation about voter fraud and deep fakes of Kamala Harris, and amplify conspiracy theories about everything from vaccines to race replacement theory to misogyny. Musk’s platform is effective: his endorsement of Trump coincided with Republican leaning posts being algorithmically favoured over Democrat leaning posts. A more mundane example: after Musk published three non-evidence based posts on X that favoured one medication over another, sales of the former rose by 18% while the other fell by 11%. …
The warning signs are clear for democracies around the world. Firstly, governments must regulate social media companies more rigorously. Brazil’s victorious dispute with X shows what is possible, and a major battle between the European Commission and Musk is under way. Beyond that, we must grapple with how to hold the world’s richest people to account when they directly interfere with national and international politics.
Secondly, public health agencies must create robust surveillance systems for infodemics just as they have for epidemics. They must monitor the emergence of disinformation and counter it or, ideally, anticipate and counter (pre-bunk) it among vulnerable audiences (and build population resilience). Independent organisations that are countering disinformation are already being deliberately targeted (https://counterhate.com/). And we must accelerate research on “inoculating” people against the algorithms and content that attempt to radicalise them.
Finally, politicians and the public health community must not be afraid of calling out disinformation, and we must all support and applaud them in doing so. And moving beyond responding to false rhetoric, we must also get on the front foot and create compelling counter narratives of a better politics that can support a kinder, more inclusive, and socially just world.
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I’d like to thank the authors (Martin McKee, professor of European public health, Christina Pagel, professor of operational research, and Kent Buse, co-founder of ‘Global Health) for their courage to speak out and stand up for the truth. I am in full agreement with them and encourage all my readers to study their excellent paper in full.
Spanish colleagues and I just published an article entitled “Is Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment Clinically Superior to Sham or Placebo for Patients with Neck or Low-Back Pain? A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis”. Here is its abstract:
The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to compare whether osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) for somatic dysfunctions was more effective than sham or placebo interventions in improving pain intensity, disability, and quality of life for patients with neck pain (NP) or low-back pain (LBP). Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis was carried out. Searches were conducted in PubMed, Physiotherapy Evidence Database, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science from inception to September 2024. Studies applying a pragmatic intervention based on the diagnosis of somatic dysfunctions in patients with NP or LBP were included. The methodological quality was assessed with the PEDro scale. The quantitative synthesis was performed using random-effect meta-analysis calculating the standardized mean difference (SMD) with RevMan 5.4. The certainty of evidence was evaluated using GRADEPro. Results: Nine studies were included in the qualitative synthesis, and most of them showed no superior effect of OMTs compared to sham or placebo in any clinical outcome. The quantitative synthesis reported no statistically significant differences for pain intensity (SMD = −0.15; −0.38, 0.08; seven studies; 1173 patients) or disability (SMD = −0.09; −0.25, 0.08; six studies; 1153 patients). The certainty of evidence was downgraded to moderate, low, or very low. Conclusions: The findings of this study reveal that OMT is not superior to sham or placebo for improving pain, disability, and quality of life in patients with NP or LBP.
As always, it seems important to stress that our review has several limitations. Firstly, the searches were conducted in the most relevant databases; however, some studies not indexed in these sources may have been missed. Secondly, the diverse NP and LBP diagnosis, as well as the lack of data reported by some studies, complicates the interpretation of the results and may weaken our conclusion. Thirdly, the primary studies pragmatically applied interventions based on diagnoses of various somatic dysfunctions, resulting in a high degree of heterogeneity among the treatments applied.
Despite these limitations, it is fair to say, I think, that OMT is not nearlly as solidly supported by reliable evidence as most osteopaths try to make us believe. In essence, this means that, if you suffer from NP or LBP, you best concult a proper doctor or physiotherapist.
This paper discussed the potential for collaboration of Rongoā Māori, the Indigenous healing practices of Māori, with New Zealand’s contemporary healthcare system. It aims to bridge the gap between Rongoā Māori and Western medicine by exploring the perspectives of practitioners from both fields, identifying barriers to integration, and highlighting potential areas for collaboration.
Qualitative interviews were conducted with both Rongoā practitioners and Western surgeons. The data collected were subjected to thematic analysis to extract key themes related to the integration process, challenges faced, and the potential for mutual recognition and respect between the two healing paradigms.
The study reveals a deep respect for Rongoā Māori among Western surgeons but identifies significant systemic barriers that impede its integration. These include bureaucratic challenges and the absence of clear referral pathways. Rongoā practitioners express concerns over being overlooked within the healthcare system and highlight a lack of awareness among healthcare professionals about their practices. Despite these challenges, there is a shared interest in collaborative approaches to healthcare that respect and incorporate Rongoā Māori.
The authors concluded that their findings underscore the need for systemic changes to facilitate the integration of Rongoā Māori into mainstream healthcare, including the development of clear referral pathways and initiatives to raise awareness among healthcare professionals. The study highlights the need for a more collaborative healthcare approach that values the contributions of Rongoā Māori, aiming to improve patient care through holistic practices.
The authors also stated that Rongoā Māori, the Indigenous healing system of Māori, encompasses a holistic approach to health that acknowledges the complex interplay of cultural values, connection to wairua, tinana, tikanga, whakaora, whānau, and whenua. Despite its comprehensive approach to health and well-being, Rongoā Māori remains largely marginalized within New Zealand’s mainstream healthcare system.
I beg to differ!
A ‘healing system’ – no matter what its origin or tradition might be – does not need to be adopted into current healthcare because it is ‘holistic’ or because it ‘acknowledges the complex interplay of cultural values’. It must be considered for integration once it has been shown to be effective and safe, i.e. if it demonstrably generates more good than harm.
And has Rongoā Māori been shown to fulfill these criteria?
No!
In this case, please do the research. Until compelling evidence is available, do me a favour and stop the BS!
It has been reported that King Charles is on a secret trip to Bengaluru, his first visit to India since being coronated as king of the United Kingdom on May 6, 2023, at Westminster Abbey, London. Charles arrived in Bengaluru on October 27 and will be at the Soukya International Holistic Health Centre (SIHHC) in Whitefield for wellness treatment till Wednesday (30/10) night, when he is expected to fly to London.
Sources privy to his secret visit said that King Charles arrived in Bengaluru directly from Samoa, where he attended the 2024 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting from October 21-26. His visit to Bengaluru was strictly kept under wraps, and he was directly taken to SIHHC, where he was also joined by his wife, Queen Camilla.
According to sources, the couple’s day begins with a morning yoga session, followed by breakfast and rejuvenation treatment before lunch. After a brief rest, a second round of therapies follows, ending with a meditation session before dinner and lights out by 9 pm. They have been enjoying long walks around the campus, visiting the organic farm and cattle shed. Considering the high-profile secret visit, a high-security ring was thrown around SIHHC.
The health centre, founded by Dr. Issac Mathai, is located in Samethanahalli, Whitefield, on Bengaluru’s outskirts. This integrative medical facility combines traditional systems of medicine, including Ayurveda, Homoeopathy, Yoga, and Naturopathy, along with over 30 complementary therapies like reflexology, acupuncture, and dietetics.
Although this is his first visit as a monarch, Charles has visited the centre on nine earlier occasions and celebrated Deepavali on three occasions there. The royal couple has earlier taken wellness treatments, including anti-ageing, detoxification and rejuvenation. On November 14, 2019, the couple celebrated the then Prince Charles’ 71st birthday at SIHHC, an event that attracted a lot of publicity, unlike this visit.
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The website of the SIHHC modestly claims to be “THE WORLD’S FIRST INTEGRATIVE HEALTH DESTINATION’
As I reported in 2022, at a press conference in Goa it was claimed, that Prince Charles had been cured of COVID-19 after seeking treatment from a Bengaluru-based alternative treatment resort, SOUKYA International Holistic Health Centre’ run by a doctor Isaac Mathai. The Palace later denied that this was true.
And what about Dr. Issac Mathai? This is what he writes about himself:
A journey that began from the hills of Wayanad (northern Kerala) in 1985, started to bloom in 1998, and today is an international destination for Holistic health and wellbeing. When Dr. Issac Mathai embarked on this journey influenced by his mother, a Homeopathy practitioner who “helped people get better”, little did he know that one day he would lead a team to redefine the essence of health and wellbeing.
As a confident youngster aspiring to be an ‘exceptional Homeopathic Doctor’, Dr. Mathai encountered two key turning points in life – one, an internationally well-received research paper on integrating Yoga with Homeopathy to cure respiratory disorders, and two, learning at the Hahnemann Postgraduate Institute of Homeopathy, London.
Later he was made a Consultant Physician at the Hale Clinic in London, where he treated a number of high-profile people. This helped him establish a reputation in the holistic healing community in quick time. SOUKYA, is today, a residential holistic centre comparable to any facility in the world.
In a world that is comfortable with the conventional practice of ‘popping pills’, the world at large practices a combination of self-medication based on preconceived notions about what is wrong with individuals. In such a scenario, Dr. Issac Mathai and his team of experienced practitioners from different streams have achieved an important goal – create awareness about the possibility of prevention of adverse health conditions, rather than just addressing the symptom.
Education:
M.D. (Homeopathy),
Hahnemann Post-Graduate Institute of Homeopathy, London M.R.C.H, London
Chinese Pulse Diagnosis and Acupuncture, WHO Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China
Trained (Mind-Body Medicine Programme) at Harvard Medical School, USA
Of the 3 institutions mentioned above, I could only find the last one: Harvard CME | Mind Body Medicine.
And under MD (Homeopathy), I found this: MD in Homoeopathy is a 3-year long postgraduate course in medicine including a year of house job, and remaining 2 years of research and study.
So, should we be concerned about the health of our King?
What do you think?
I was recently invited to give a lecture to the local medical association in Graz Austria. It was a pleasure to be in Austria again and a delight to visit the beautiful town of Graz. They had given me the following subject:
Mythen in der sogenannten Alternativmedizin [Myths of so-called alternative medicine (SCAM)]
In my lecture, I thought it prudent to relate to the situation of SCAM in Austria which is rather special:
- The seem to Austrians love the SAM; the 1-year prevalence of use is 36%!
- In Austria, SCAM is only allowed to be practised by doctors.
- Often SCAM is paid for by patients out of their own pocket.
- For many, SCAM is a question of belief.
- SCAM is being promoted by VIPs and loved by journalists; one politician even sells his own brand of dietary supplements!
- In Austria, SCAM is heavily promoted by the Austrian Medical Association who currently runs courses and issues several SCAM diplomas.
The Austrian newspaper DER STANDARD then decided to interview me on these issues. The interview has been published today, and I thought I might take the liberty of translating the central part for you:
Q: In Austria, the Medical Association offers diplomas in various alternative methods. Why is this problematic?
A: I am aware of no less than 11 such diplomas offered by the Austrian Medical Association. While in England, France or Germany, for example, homeopathy has been considerably restricted by the medical profession due to the largely negative evidence, in Austria it continues to be promoted by the medical associations. This makes Austrian medicine the laughing stock of the rest of the world. More importantly, it violates the principles of evidence-based medicine. And even more importantly, it seems to me that the Austrian Medical Association is neglecting its ethical duty towards patients for purely pecuniary reasons.
Q: But the Medical Association is only complying with the regulations.
A: The Medical Association boasts that the quality of medical care and patient safety are at the centre of its work. In view of these diplomas, this mission almost sounds like a bad joke. They claim that the diplomas comply with the regulations. But firstly, this is a question of interpretation and secondly, regulations can – I would say must – be changed if they run counter to the quality of medical care. Finally, according to its own statements, the Association is obliged to adapt the Austrian healthcare system to changing conditions. This means nothing other than that it must take account of changing evidence – for example in the field of homeopathy.
Q: And what do the many doctors who use homeopathy say?
A: They often claim that they are only following the wishes of their patients when they prescribe homeopathic remedies. This may be true, but it is certainly not a valid argument. It ignores the fact that it is a doctor’s damned duty to provide patients with evidence-based information and to treat them accordingly. After all, medicine is not a supermarket where customers can simply choose whatever they happen to like.
It should also be emphasised that the practitioners of homeopathy also earn a good living from it. The fact that there is resistance from them when it comes to prioritising evidence rather than earnings in this area is thus hardly surprising.
But of course there are also a few doctors who use homeopathy primarily because they are fully convinced of its effectiveness. I think that these colleagues should consider self-critically whether they are not violating their ethical duty to be at the cutting edge of current knowledge and to act accordingly.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, my lecture prompted a lively discussion. Those doctors in the audience who spoke were unanimously in favour of my arguments. I was later told that many of those people who are responsible for the 11 diplomas were in the audience. Sadly, none of them felt like discussing any of the issues with me.
Perhaps the interview succeeds in starting a critical discussion about SCAM in Austria?
‘Yes to Life’ is a UK cancer charity that promotes so-called alternative medicine (SCAM). It has featured before on my blog:
Uncharitable charities? The example of ‘YES TO LIFE’
‘Yes to Life’ also runs a radio show:
The Yes to Life Show is presented by Robin Daly, Founder and Chairman of the UK registered charity Yes to Life. Robin set up Yes to Life nearly two decades ago, following the experience of supporting his youngest daughter Bryony through cancer three times. The extraordinary difficulties he found that faced people in finding and obtaining the help they wanted, spurred him into creating a charity to make a difference to this tragic predicament.
Although very familiar with the territory, Robin is not a cancer specialist or any kind of health expert. In presenting the show, he is always looking for a ‘layman’s’ understanding of the complexities of cancer and the issues surrounding it that is accessible to all…
… As we rapidly approach the point where half of us will get cancer, there are some pretty stark questions facing us that the show attempts to throw light on:
- What are we doing wrong?
- Why has the colossal investment in research produced so few answers?
- What are we missing?
- And crucially to all the above – What is cancer?
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The website of Yes to Life Show offers a wide range of previous broadcasts, many featuring individuals who are also familiar to this blog such as Michael Dixon or Elizabeth Thompson. I listened to sections of Elizabeth’s recordings:
I find this recording and many others recordings available on the Yes to Life Show (please do make the effort and listen to some of them!) concerning and at times outright irresponsible and dangerous – no wonder that the Yes to Life Show includes this ‘Disclaimer’:
Please note that all information and content on the UK Health Radio Network and all its radio broadcasts and all its publications and all its websites are provided by the authors, producers, presenters and companies themselves and is only intended as additional information to your general knowledge. As a service to our listeners/readers our programs/content are for general information and entertainment only. The UK Health Radio Network does not recommend, endorse, or object to the views, products or topics expressed or discussed by show hosts or their guests, authors and interviewees. We suggest you always consult with your own professional – personal, medical, financial or legal advisor. So please do not delay or disregard any professional – personal, medical, financial or legal advice received due to something you have heard or read on the UK Health Radio Network.
The UK Health Radio Network makes no warranties or representations of any kind that the services provided on the radio broadcasts or web sites will be uninterrupted, error-free or that the radio broadcasts or web sites, or the servers that hosts the radio broadcasts or web sites are free from viruses or other forms of harmful computer codes. In no event will the UK Health Radio Network, its employees, distributors, advertisers, syndicators or agents be liable for any direct, indirect or consequential damages resulting from the use of this web site. This exclusion and limitation only applies to the extent permitted by law.
So, the show is “for entertainment only”. I can easily see why:
as advice for cancer patients (or carers), it would be outright dangerous!
Chiropractic is a complementary medicine that has been growing increasingly in different countries over recent decades. It addresses the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of the neuromusculoskeletal system disorders and their effects on the whole body health.
This review aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of chiropractic in the treatment of different diseases. To gather data, scientific electronic databases, such as Cochrane, Medline, Google Scholar, and Scirus were searched and all systematic reviews in the field of chiropractic were obtained. Reviews were included if they were specifically concerned with the effectiveness of chiropractic treatment, included evidence from at least one clinical trial, included randomized studies and focused on a specific disease. The articles were excluded if:
- – they were concerned with a combination of chiropractic and other treatments (not specifically chiropractic treatment);
- – they lacked at least one clinical trial;
- – they lacked at least one randomized study;
- – and they studied chiropractic in the treatment of multiple diseases.
The research data including the article’s first author’s name, type of disease, intervention type, number and types of research used, meta-analysis, number of participants, and overall results of the study, were extracted, studied and analyzed.
Totally, 23 chiropractic systematic reviews were found, and 11 articles met the defined criteria. The results showed the influence of chiropractic on improvement of neck pain, shoulder and neck trigger points, and sport injuries. In the cases of asthma, infant colic, autism spectrum disorder, gastrointestinal problems, fibromyalgia, back pain and carpal tunnel syndrome, there was no conclusive scientific evidence. There is heterogeneity in some of the studies and also limited number of clinical trials in the assessed systematic reviews. Thus, conducting comprehensive studies based on more reliable study designs are highly recommended.
The authors stressed that three points should be emphasized. Firstly, there is a discrepancy between the development of chiropractic in different countries of the world and the quality and quantity of studies regarding the effectiveness and safety of chiropractic in treatment of diseases. Secondly, some of the systematic reviews regarding the effectiveness of chiropractic in treatment of diseases had a minimum quality of research methodology and were not useful for evaluation. Some of the excluded articles are examples of this problem. Finally, a limited number of studies (11 systematic review articles and 10 diseases) had the required criteria and were assessed in the study.
Assessment and analysis of the studies showed the impact of chiropractic on improvement of some upper extremity conditions including shoulder and neck trigger points, neck pain and sport injuries. In the case of asthma, infant colic and other studied diseases, further clinical trials with larger sample sizes and high quality research methodology are recommended.
So, is chiroprctic of proven effectiveness for any disease?
The conditions for which there is tentatively positive evidence (btw: most rely on my research!!!) are arguably not diseases but symptoms of undelying conditions. Therefore, the answer to my question above is:
NO.
