Aussie chiropractor a pain in the neck
Recently, science writer Simon Singh was sued by the British Chiropractic Association for having the audacity of telling the truth in a newspaper article about chiropractic: while it may have some small efficacy when treating back problems, there is exactly zero good evidence that it can treat illnesses, and in fact can be very dangerous when people get their neck manipulated.
The Australian Skeptics posted Simon’s original article so that it would get more attention. And it worked, kinda: like a fly to honey, one chiropractor took offense at what was written, and decided to send them a nearly logic-free letter. That’s fine, and pretty much what I expect from a vocal alt-med devotée. As justified, Eran Segev, president of the Australian Skeptics, responded.
All well and good, until…
… two weeks after responding we received a letter from the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) indicating Mr Ierano [the chiropractor] has lodged a complaint against Australian Skeptics. The letter attached to the complaint was the same one that Australian Skeptics had received and responded to.
Well, that’s a bit odd! I mean, why go to the trouble to pursue legal action against someone responding to your claims when it should be easy to present a simple rebuttal based on the evidence that chiropractic works?
… oh, right.
What’s funny is that originally, the BCA (the group suing Simon in the UK) tried to defend their position, and presented a poorly-researched, off-topic press release that somehow managed to make them look worse. Apparently, that’s a theme amongst chiropractors trying to support some of their less reality-based claims.
And while I’m using a light-hearted tone here, I’ll note that this is a very serious issue: there are people out there trying to stifle free speech. It’s that simple. The UK libel laws are draconian and designed to shut up any protest, making scientific objections and investigations into potential and real quackery very difficult. As Eran says on the AS page:
Australian Skeptics sees this complaint as lacking any merit even if it did not include some factual errors (e.g. the claim that a British court ruled Simon’s article is biased). We have prepared a detailed response to the HCCC and will be defending our right to publish articles relating to any scientific issue, as long as they are backed by scientific evidence.
Good on ya, mate!
It would appear Skeptic’s (skepticism) are needed more than ever in Australia, as noted in this article (linked below). Which reminded me of the recent blog by Steve Novella and the Maher “debacle” and my reaction to the blog and what I’ve recognized happening the past few years, though here in the U.S.
http://www.theage.com.au/national/beyond-belief-20091010-grnn.html
From the article: “GOD is dead. Or is she? While church attendance is steadily declining and the number of confessed heathens steadily increasing, we’re not quite ready to give up the ghost. Instead, for every person abandoning Mass, it seems two more are having their horoscope cast, their aura cleansed or their past lives aligned.”
Very interesting.
Also very interesting that I have seen absolutely no publicity in the media on this in Australia, when Simon Singh made something of a splash in the UK.
FYI, Phil, the Los Angeles CFI Skeptics Book Club discussed a Singh book, the BCA, etc. last Wed evening, and will be discussing your book `Death from the Skies’ next Nov. 9 (Mon instead of our usual Wed due to its being on Veterans/Armistice Day – so far, unless there’s a last minute change). If you’re in the area, would you care to drop in for Q and A or…?
Checked with our CFI sponsor, and the Skeptics Book Club meeting to discuss your book is, actually, still going to be held on Nov. 11, 7PM. What a pleasant surprise it would be for this skeptical bunch to see you there…
I actually had a bit of debate with some chiro’s in sydney last sunday. They were spruiking on the street at some markets, selling the usual crap. I brought up simon singh and they didnt seem to know too much about the case except that ‘the chiro’s won’. I couldnt help but point out that a ‘win’ for the chiros simply meant that the chiros in question actually believe they can cure anything with chiro. I like to think i did a public service by tying these tools up in discussion for an hour, protecting other passers by.
The neck is one the sensitive part of our body one wrong move can be fatal. Chiropractic treatment needs more study and practice before performing it.
Peripheral artery disease (PAD) affects 5 million individuals in the U.S. and is the leading cause of limb amputations. Doctors have long considered exercise to be the single best therapy for PAD, and now a new study helps explain why. Led by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and published in this week’s Online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the findings demonstrate that a protein called PGC-1alpha plays a key role in the process.
“Exercise is a staple of healthy living,” notes senior author Zoltan Arany, MD, PhD, an investigator in BIDMC’s Cardiovascular Institute and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. “One of the many benefits of exercise, endurance exercise in particular, is the generation of new blood vessels in leg muscles.” Known as angiogenesis, this naturally occurring process comes to the rescue when an injury or artery blockage leaves normal tissue starved for blood.
Simon Singh was the most famous man on chiropractic world. He was the talk of the town. On internet, If you search for chiropractic, Simon Singh’s name will always be there.