It never ceases to amaze me how utterly incapable some people are in admitting defeat. A few days ago, we recorded a bonus show reporting that a group of skeptics in Britain had staged a “mass suicide” at one of the largest pharmacy chain in the country. They consumed entire bottles of homeopathic “medicine” to demonstrate that they are no better than a placebo, arguing that Boots has no business selling what is essentially water as real medicine. Recently the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians responded by posting this up, and it’s worth a read if you want to have a good laugh:

Do these “skeptics” really think the public cares about Avogadro’s number [referring to the limit of how much substance is present in diluted form] when homeopathy has just significantly improved their toddler’s autism or offered help with any of a vast range of diseases which respond so well to homeopathic (and often not to conventional) treatment?

This is just another tantrum by the clueless wing of the scientific/medical community that can’t understand why the people don’t praise them for their ideological purity and courage, even when the fruits of their scientific labors rot like a brown banana. Note to protestors: maybe they’re just not that into you.

In other words, skeptics are big meanies who like to try and use science to ruin everyone’s good time. Don’t they know that people ignorant of the scientific method have continued to enjoy their products and attributed their body’s natural healing process to solutions that contain no trace amount of medicine at all? Who cares about intellectual integrity when you have “good feelings”?

Sad, just sad…
(props to James for the find)

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Remember the article on naturopathy I put up a few days ago? Well, the National Post let one of these deluded idiots write a response, and as you might have guessed, it’s pretty weaksause:

While it would be easy to dismiss Mr. Gavura’s opinions as alarmist, there’s something to be learned from it: Many Canadians aren’t aware of how safe, scientific and effective naturopathic medicine is…Naturopathic doctors are likely to undertake additional diagnostic testing to understand what else might be going on, and take the time to talk to patients about lifestyle and environmental factors, all in the interest of identifying the potential underlying causes of a patient’s complaints.

The only reason naturopathy can be considered safe is that it literally has no discernible effect. And how exactly do you and your deluded ilk perform your “diagnostic testing”? It’s not revealed in the article, but a simple visit over at the Vancouver Naturopathic Clinic gives us a a glimpse into their methods:

Electrodermal Testing: Electrodermal testing combines Traditional Acupuncture theory and Classical Homeopathic theory. It enables an experienced practicioner to quickly obtain information about many of these stress factors that come from the enviroment and which are not usually considered in normal medical testing but which can be responsible for many conditions. Unexplainable conditions, conditions in which conventional testing finds nothing wrong, vague or unusual symptoms and failure to respond to treatment. Electrodermal testing is usefull in assessing the following:

• Food sensitivities and intolerances
• Enviromental insensitivities and intolerances
• Organ weaknesses
• Mineral deficiencies
• Vitamin deficiencies
• Potential harmful reaction from medications

Ok, now you might be wondering what the hell “Electrodermal testing” is (I’m curious about “organ weakness”), since even the site doesn’t go into much detail about it. It’s a device similar to Scientology’s e-meter;  it measures the skin galvanic response (in other words, how conductive it is). They claim these devices can be used to test for allergies, and are more effective than regular skin prick tests (which I presume look less exciting). Man, wouldn’t it be great if someone had done a scientific study to see the efficacy of Electrodermal testing…oh wait, someone already has!

Results: …The results of the electrodermal tests did not correlate with those of the skin prick tests. Electrodermal testing could not distinguish between atopic and non-atopic participants. No operator of the Vegatest device was better than any other, and no single participant’s atopic status was consistently correctly diagnosed.

Conclusion: Electrodermal testing cannot be used to diagnose environmental allergies.

See, this is the essential problem with bullshit treatments; the people practicing them are convinced that they are effective, despite the best scientific evidence that shows quite clearly that they aren’t. This is precisely why they are  likened to magic or other superstitious nonsense. If their diagnostic tools fails to detect something as basic as an allergy (which is quite easy for real doctors to test), then what the fuck is the point?

You might recall that these are the same douchebags that undermine current accepted medical treatments. Naturopaths are against vaccination, and this is no joke folks; in many countries around the world, previously eradicated diseases like the measles are back with a vengeance because of consorted efforts of snake oil salesmen to question the validity of vaccines while simultaneously espousing their nonsense. What guys like Scott Maniquet don’t understand is that we’re sick and tired of their stupid bullshit, and we aren’t afraid to get in their faces. Fuck your bullshit therapy, and fuck you for trying to pass your quackery off as real medicine. When you’re sick and tired of being a living joke, you’re more than welcome to come to the grown-up table where we use the scientific method to treat illness rather than magic.

By the way, if you still don’t think there’s any harm in this shit, check out this guy’s site.

(props to James again for being such a good little bloodhound)

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I hate quackery. There’s something so depressingly stupid about alternative medicine, and this insanity is compounded by the fact that so many people believe in its efficacy. Of course, these are the same folks that probably also think an invisible man in the sky can grant them wishes, so it’s a testament to human gullibility.

According to this article in the National Post, Ontario is about to pass a bill that would include naturopaths as primary care givers. These deluded idiots believe that they can raise the body’s natural ability to heal itself with the manipulation of energies, the imbibing of homeopathic “remedies”, chiropractic adjustments, etc… Basically they are a one stop shop for bullshit.

This bill would allow them the same rights that BC naturopaths enjoy; the right to prescribe drugs. You might as well give a bunch of monkeys with rabies prescription pads; this is quite literally one of the most irresponsible things I’ve ever heard. Who in their right minds would give these clowns any rights other than the right to go fuck themselves?

I urge everyone living in Ontario to do something about this. Also if you’re Canadian and you’re a skeptic, have you heard of Skeptic North (until about 15 minutes ago, neither did I, so go check them out)? As for letting your representatives know that you think this naturopath business is entirely unacceptable, here are some emails for you to lambaste them. Deb Matthews (Ontario Minister of Health) Dalton McGuinty (Premier of Ontario)

(props to James for the find)

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