“I’ve also noticed that there’s a “fifth column” within medicine itself. RNs, midwives, and other non-MD “health professionals” seem to have a weak spot for quackery. It was nurses who fell for and promoted the whole “therapeutic touch” nonsense. And as a personal note, there was a pretty obvious anti-physician tone to a lot of the presentations in the childbirth class my wife and I took back in the 1990s — a strong strain of “what’s natural is better.” The high point was a 15-minute video of Peruvian women delivering babies in the squatting position, accompanied by Andean flute music.

Comment by Cambias — December 15, 2008 @ 8:19 am ”

I can’t deny that I have noted a large number of nurses in my hospital who practiced or promoted Therapeutic Touch, Reiki and other CAM. Indeed they was promoted by our hospital a few years ago but appear to have fallen by the wayside more recently. We still have a large percentage of staff that believe in and promote herbal medicine, and cold remedies invented by second grade school teachers ??!! I have offered my opinion and my coworkers know where I stand but am always outnumbered so I say less lest I be thought of as a “Quack” Their arguments being- “herbs have been used in Europe and China for hundreds of years!” My thought being that they didn’t have anything else – it was a “cure em or kill em” and who was keeping records or doing resaerch back then anyway? I don’t disagree that there might be some CAM that is helpful but advocate caution and research. As for Theraputic Touch- I believe that was handed down to nurses a few years ago when Nursing Educators started including that in classes that nurses could take for credit and Nursing Administators were promoting it and everyone was jumping on the CAM bandwagon. (Except most of our Doctors ,bless them ) Even today you will find full page ads in newspapers advertising a Major Hospials’ Health Fair with classes (for a fee) for Massage and Reika,Aromotherapy and Meditation listed right along side classes for “Diabetics,monitoring your Blood Sugar” and “Controlling Hypertension” Makes me want to pull my hair out. How can the public believe Health Care about from health professionals on Diabetes and Heart Disease et al-when we are also promoting “woo woo” On a further note on TT see this-

“Therapeutic Touch is also heavily funded. In 1992, $200,000 was granted to the D’Youville Nursing Center in Buffalo, New York, by the Division of Nursing, US Department of Health and Human Services, to treat patients and train students in the technique. In 1994, a Department of Defense grant of $355,000 was given to a team of nurses at the University of Alabama, Birmingham, to study the effects of Therapeutic Touch on burn patients.

In the practice of Therapeutic Touch, no actual physical touch occurs. Therapeutic Touch is based on the assumption that the physical body is surrounded by an aura (energy not visible to normal vision) and is penetrated and kept alive by a universal energy called prana (a Sanskrit word meaning vital force) that flows through the body and is transformed by chakras or nonphysical vortices. Energy imbalance supposedly results in illness, which can be intuitively assessed in a form of psychic diagnosis, and then treated by means of the hands (The Personal Aura, pp. 32-55).”

Actually I left my postion a few months ago as I was moving to another area and as I was leaving a Nursing Tech (Nursing Aide) was showing another Tech a chart on Refexology which she pracised outside of the hospital. “Why” she moaned to me-”Don’t Doctors give this a chance?” I just prayed she didn’t start going around telling the patients about it. Years ago I walked in on a RN giving a group (this is a mental health unit) on energy fields and holding her hands over a patients body to demonsrate. This was a group on Coping Skills ?! Please please keep up the good work on Skepicblog. Although I was at another Skepticsite today where an article was virually dismissing all psychiatric illnesses and meds and promoting Behavioral Analysis (sigh)

Addendum- In my 28 years of Psych Nursing I have seen some pretty strange/cruel behavior from a *few* Drs. as well. Would you believe I wittnessed a Dr. proceed to tell a pt. he “knew things about her such as she owned a small dog”,etc. He was holing her chart in his hand with the chart closed and his hand on top of it telling her “he was psychic” ha! Another Dr. used to steal the patients cigarettes from the drawer at the nursing station, give orders in foreign languages at night or garble when called or order meds that the nurses would refuse to give as we feared it would kill the pt. Then there was the Dr. who gave every new admit he had a spinal tap then made them walk to their room and refused to let the nurses take them to their room on a cart-though wee begged. They always had a massive headace that lasted 5 days. On the fifth day when they reported they “felt better” he used this as grounds to discharge them! All 3 of these docs were ran out on a rail after a period of time and evidence. We had some truely great great docs as well. My point being-there are incredibly bad examples in every profession. In some of these cases almost every single one of the nurses was working hard helping to supply evidence to give these particular Dr’s the boot and refusing to carry out orders that would harm pts-as is our pledge. Whew! There- I feel better.

Perhaps they just don’t yet realize it yet. Or they don’t like the implications over issues they personally support

By promoting skepticism, all issues come under scrutiny, not just the obviously wacky ones. Doctors themselves are the easiest of targets. Studies by prominent people in prominent journals document that they kill close to a quarter million people a year.

Of course doctors also help people, and in many ways the whole medical system is overburdened, with doctors on the front line. However, they are also perceived as front men for the big drug cartels, pushing a pill on most patients for every ailment from depression from a relationship breakup to “restless leg syndrome” that is so well documented in drug adds on TV.

And the latest depression medications appear to be quite deadly indeed.

I applaud Mr Novella and the other creators of this website for promoting healthy skepticism. Along with the vast internet access to information untainted in many cases by large financial interests, the public, perhaps for the first time in history, is in a position to make informed decisions about a large number of issues that were previously the exclusive domain of professionals and large financial interests.

I don’t think Mr Novella likes where this going in terms of the battle between doctors and alternative medicine. Nonetheless, I applaud him for his efforts

However I felt that you left out one of the major reasons that “alternative medicine” has been gaining ground in the United States. It is those headline articles that come out every so often describing a specific drug as dangerous or ineffective. For those who aren’t doctors, it can seem like these drugs only do more harm than good. Also the side effect of some of these potent drugs can make those suffering more vulnerable to advertisements of no side effect alternative medicine.

At that time there was legitimate research being done on several CAM-type topics, including the effects of taking vitamin supplements. Rather than wait for the outcome of this research, outspoken Skeptics were often quick to denounce such notions as quackery. As it turned out, the Skeptics were largely right, even about (most) vitamins. But the strident tone, the name calling, and the eagerness to denounce hypotheses that were still under investigation by legitimate researchers undermined Skeptics’ claim to be a source of objective information.

In my opinion, this impression was reinforced by articles that appeared in some Skeptics’ publications of the time. All too often, prominent Skeptics were allowed to write about their own exploits in glowing terms, with no apparent attempt to ensure accuracy or fairness. Articles didn’t necessarily offer evidence to support statements of “fact” and “facts” were often mixed up with opinion, with no attempt made to distinguish one from the other. “Logical” arguments sometimes were based on obvious logical fallacies. All in all, the impression created was that Skeptics are not interested in presenting information objectively.

At least, this is how it seemed to me at the time. If I’m right, tragically Skepticism threw away an opportunity to seize the high ground. We could have demonstrated that we are interested in the pursuit of truth no matter where it leads. And some Skeptics tried to do exactly that! But their efforts were drowned out by more strident, angry voices within the movement, and Skepticism lost credibility with the public. As a result, as the author of this post has noted, the high ground was ceded to the proponents of CAM. Through clever marketing, THEY became the public representatives of open-minded inquiry, a position they hold to this day.

I considered myself a Skeptic 20 years ago (and still do), but I ended up disassociating myself from Skepticism as a movement because I concluded that Skeptics were not applying the same standards of evidence and objectivity to their own pronouncements that they were applying to others. I’m not a fan of irrationalism, but hypocrisy bothers me even more.

I apologize if this seems harsh, but I am simply trying to record why someone who was biased toward Skepticism at that time essentially turned away from it. I’ve started reading about Skepticism again because, a., a lot of time has passed and I’m hoping the movement has matured and, b., I am very concerned about the spread of CAM and of scientific illiteracy, both of which seem to be growing exponentially, at least among the people I meet.

I do hope that Skepticism has matured into a movement that earn credibility with the public. But it’s not going to be easy. I believe that it would take, among other things, a willingness for Skeptics to criticize their own if self-designated Skeptics make statements that cannot be supported by evidence. It would also take an effort to abide by commonly accepted standards for what constitutes civil discourse. It means adhering to the highest standards of evidence and logic. If we do that, and do it consistently, we might have a chance to win back the allegiance of at least some of those who have gone over to CAM. If we don’t, it’s time for us all to become practicing “shruggies”.

Take a closer look at the Prozac family of “antidepressants”, which are widely prescribed by doctors. They were invented, at least in part, to replace the previous generation of antidepressants whose patents have expired.

Technically they are called SSRIs, or Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. They include:

* citalopram (Celexa, Cipramil, Dalsan, Recital, Emocal, Sepram, Seropram, Citox)
* escitalopram (Lexapro, Cipralex, Esertia)
* fluoxetine (Prozac, Fontex, Seromex, Seronil, Sarafem, Fluctin, Fluox, Depress, Lovan)
* fluvoxamine (Luvox, Fevarin, Faverin, Dumyrox, Favoxil, Movox)
* paroxetine (Paxil, Seroxat, Sereupin, Aropax, Deroxat, Rexetin, Xetanor, Paroxat)
* sertraline (Zoloft, Lustral, Serlain)
* zimelidine (Zelmid, Normud)

SSRIs act by inhibiting the re-uptake of serotonin, a key brain neurotransmitter.

___________

The list of side effects for these new inventions are long and nasty. Way too many to list here. Wikipedia lists most of them:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_serotonin_reuptake_inhibitor#Adverse_effects

SSRIs also have a long list of adverse drug interactions:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_serotonin_reuptake_inhibitor#Contraindications_and_drug_interaction

————-

Given that Steven Novella has painted alternative medicine as “snake oil, fraud, folk medicine, and quackery”, perhaps it would be intersting to look at a snippet of research into these drugs:

“A 2004 Food and Drug Administration (FDA) analysis of clinical trials on children with major depressive disorder found statistically significant increases of the risks of “possible suicidal ideation and suicidal behavior” by about 80%, and of agitation and hostility by about 130%. An additional analysis by the FDA also indicated 1.5-fold increase of suicidality in the 18–24 age group.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_serotonin_reuptake_inhibitor#Suicidality_and_aggression

An “antidepressant” that increases agitation and hostility by 130% and with a 1.5-fold increase of suicidality….???

AND

“A study in the New England Journal of Medicine on a possible publication bias regarding the efficacy of SSRI medications in the treatment of depression suggests that their effectiveness and risk-benefit ratios may be greatly exaggerated. Of 74 studies registered with the United States FDA, 37 with positive results were published in academic journals, while 22 studies with negative results were not published and 11 with negative results were published in a way that conveyed a positive outcome. Overall, 94% of studies actually published were positive outcomes; when published and unpublished studies were included for analysis, the percentage of positive outcomes was 51%.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_serotonin_reuptake_inhibitor#Criticism

—————————

So with a positive outcome of 51%, that means there is a negative outcome of 49%.

Basically any doctor prescribing these drugs is flipping a coin. Even ignoring all the nasty side effects, they only work half the time, and the other half of the time the patient gets worse.

Clearly, we have an elaborate corporate created, doctor supported, government approved case of “snake oil, fraud, and quackery”.

Then we have this:

“Dr. Malcolm Bowers of Yale University states that eight percent of all psychiatric hospital admissions in 1994 were due to SSRI induced psychosis.”
http://www.drugawareness.org/ssris-under-fire.html

It goes on and on, and in fact appears to be one of the biggest hoaxes foisted onto the unsuspecting public in a long long time, with doctors on the front line pushing this stuff onto people with legitimate problems.

—————————–

It is no wonder that the public seeks out alternative medicine. And it is no wonder that doctors feel increasingly threatened, when this is what they have to offer the public.

—————————–

If you have read this far, you might be interested to read the information as it written on the label insert for Prozac in 1988:

Body as a Whole—Frequent: chills; Infrequent: chills and fever, face edema, intentional overdose, malaise, pelvic pain, suicide attempt: Rare: abdominal syndrome acute, hypothermia: intentional injury, neuroleptic malignant syndrome, photosensitivity reaction.

Cardiovascular System —Frequent: hemorrhage, hypertension: Infrequent: angina pectoris, arrhythmia, congestive heart failure, hypotension, migraine, myocardial infarct, postural hypotension, syncope, tachycardia, vascular headache: Rare: atrial fibrillation, bradycardia, cerebral embolism, cerebral ischemia, cerebrovascular accident, extrasystoles, heart arrest, heart block, pallor, peripheral vascular disorder, phlebitis, shock, thrombophlebitis, thrombosis, vasospasm, ventricular arrhythmia, ventricular extrasystoles, ventricular fibrillation.

Digestive System—Frequent: increased appetite, nausea and vomiting: Infrequent: aphthous stomatitis, cholelithiasis, colitis, dysphagia, eructation, esophagitis, gastritis, gastroenteritis, glossitis, gum hemorrhage, hyperchlorhydia, increased salivation, liver function tests abnormal, melena, mouth ulceration, nausea/vomiting/diarrhea, stomach ulcer, stomatitis, thirst: Rare: biliary pain, bloody diarrhea, cholecystitis, duodenal ulcer, enteritis, esophageal ulcer, fecal incontinence, gastrointestinal hemorrhage, hematemesis, hemorrhage of colon, hepatitis, intestinal obstruction, liver fatty deposit, pancreatitis, peptic ulcer, rectal hemorrhage, salivary gland enlargement, stomach ulcer hemorrhage, tongue edema.

Endocrine System—Infrequent: hypothyroidism: Rare: diabetic acidosis, diabetes mellitus.

Hemic and Lymphatic system—Infrequent: anemia and ecchytmosis: Rare: blood dyscrasia, hypochromic anemia, leukopenia, lymphedema, lymphocytosis, petechia, purpura, thrombocythemia, thrombocytopenia.

Metabolic and Nutritional—Frequent: weight gain; Infrequent: dehydration, generalized edema, gout, hypercholesteremia, hyperlipemia, hypokalemia, peripheral edema; Rare: alcohol intolerance, alkaline phosphatase increased, BUN increased, creatine phosphokinase increased, hyperkaltemia, hyperuricemia, hypocalcemia, iron deficiency anemia, SGPT increased.

Musculoskeletal System—Infrequent: arthritis, bone pain, bursitis, leg cramps, tenosynovitis: Rare: arthrosis, chondrodystrophy, myasthenia, myopathy, myositis, osteomyelitis, osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis.

Nervous System—Frequent: agitation, amnesia, confusion, emotional lability, sleep disorder; Infrequent: abnormal gait; acute brain syndrome, akathisia, apathy, ataxia, buccoglossal syndrome, CNS depression, CNS stimulation, depersonalization, euphoria, hallucinations, hostility, hyperkinesia, hypertonia, hypesthesia, incoordination, libido increased, myoclonus, neuralgia, neuropathy, neurosis, paranoid reaction, personality disorder*, psychosis, vertigo; Rare: abnormal electroencephalogram, antisocial reaction, circumoral paresthesia, coma, delusion, dysarthria, dystonia, extrapyramidal syndrome, foot drop, hyperesthesia, neuritis, paralysis, reflexes decreased, reflexes increased, stupor.

Respiratory System—Infrequent: asthma, epistaxis, hiccup hyperventilation: Rare: apnea, atelectasis, cough decreased, emphysema, hemoptysis, hypoventilation, hypoxia, larynx edema, lung edema, pneumothorax, stridor.

Skin and Appendages—Infrequent: acne, alopecia, contact dermatitis, eczema, maculopapular rash, skin discoloration, skin ulcer, vesiculobullous rash; Rare: furunculosis, herpes zoster, hirsutism, petechial rash, psoriasis, purpuric rash, pustular rash, seborrhea.

Special Senses—Frequent: ear pain, taste perversion, tinnitus; Infrequent: conjunctivitis, dry eyes, hydriasis, photophobia; Rare: blepharitis, deafness, diplopia, exophthalmos, eye homorrhage, glaucoma, hyperacusis, iritis, parosmia, scleritis, strabismus, taste loss, visual field defect.

Urogenital System–Frequency: urinary frequency; Infrequent: abortion, albuminuria, amenorrhea, anorgasmia, breast enlargement, breast pain, cystitis, dysuria, female lactation, fibrocystic breast, hematuria, leukorrhea, menorrhagia, metorrhagia, nocturia, polyuria, urinary incontinence, urinary retention, urinaryurgency, vaginal hemmorrhagia, Rare: breast engorgement, glycosuria, hypomenorrhea, kidney pain, oliguria, priapism, uterine hemmorrhage, uterine fibroids enlarged.

The above from: http://www.drugawareness.org/adverse-ssri-reactions.html

http://www.mayoclinic.org/news2006-rst/3495.html
“The results of the study convince me there is something more than the placebo effect to acupuncture,” says David Martin, M.D., Ph.D., lead author of the acupuncture article and a Mayo Clinic anesthesiologist. “It affirms a lot of clinical impressions that this complementary medical technique is helpful for patients.”

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/11/041123212055.htm
“Acupuncture, as a complementary therapy to drug treatment for osteoarthritis of the knee, is more effective than drug treatment alone, find researchers from Spain in this week’s BMJ.”

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/547251
“Patients with chronic pain due to OA of the knee or the hip who were treated with acupuncture in addition to routine care showed significant improvements in symptoms and quality of life compared with patients who received routine care alone,” the authors state.

Would it be OK with you?

“It was nurses who fell for and promoted the whole “therapeutic touch” nonsense.”

It was the late Jef Raskin (designer of the original Macintosh computer) who first identified therapeutic touch as a cult. Here’s his paper: http://jef.raskincenter.org/published/NursingTheoryForSite.html

Julian,

“Gets to be a real pain when you try to explain to them why ‘A doctor told me I needed [insert treatment] and it would cost a lot but after [insert crap] I was all better and still am’ isn’t a valid argument and they say ‘I don’t care.’”

This is how cultists react to things they don’t agree with – like the Borg – think of followers of David Koresh, The People’s Temple, or Heaven’s Gate: do you think merely reasoning with them could talk them out of their beliefs?

Max,

“Should CAM be outlawed or what? Should vitamins be regulated like drugs? Throw accupuncturists in jail?”

Yes, yes, and yes – that is The Macho Response.

Daniel Loxton,

“Just as it’s unethical to sell unsafe boilers, experimental seatbelts, or fake insurance policies, it’s unethical to sell fake, unsafe, or experimental drugs. Where such dangerous products are sold, it is unethical for authorities (or skeptics!) to stand by and do nothing.

It’s wrong to blame the victim. If someone deliberately persuades your grandmother to buy bogus medicine (or, for that matter, a new car transmission she doesn’t need), that doesn’t make her an idiot.”

You are, both, right and wrong here: this is unethical, from top to bottom, for all involved. But, though (you’re right) this isn’t an intelligence test, that doesn’t eliminate the ethical violation – even for the supposed “victims.”

Everyone – listen to BB Wolfe:

“I wonder what the avowed Skeptics think of the medical profession’s favorite cancer “treatment” – chemotherapy.”

BB Wolfe is a person to be shunned and hounded out of existence. I feel the same way as Dr. Browdy. This is war, and it’s you guys or them. Take a lesson from Israel: dig them out of their tunnels and don’t finish until you’re sure the job is complete.

Max,

“Yeah, stupid patients with their imaginary “illnesses”. Wait, maybe this attitude is the problem.”

No, it isn’t. I am a back patient who, recently, had to insist my doctor give me an MRI against his wishes. But I knew more about my long-standing injury than he did: it wasn’t some mysterious self-limiting pain, which is what “alternative” medical practitioners deal with. Don’t stop being doctors, y’all. That’s your strength. There’s no excuse for what these parasites do and you owe no one any excuses for what doctors do.