Skeptic News

It’s not as though I haven’t been critical of the CBC. Its promotion of alternative and complimentary medicine, especially on the National News, is blatantly anti-science and puts people at risk.

If I am going to be critical of irresponsible behavior, I am obligated to acknowledge a job well done. That describes the recent broadcast of CBC’s Marketplace program: Homeopathy: Cure or Con? I’ll save you some time, the answer is Con. At one point, reporter Erica Johnson described homeopathy as: flawed science and goofy thinking. That’s being kind. Read the rest of this entry »

A 1998 paper linking autism to the MMR vaccine (measles, mumps and rubella) set off something close to a global panic concerning childhood vaccination. It was a small paper, consisting of only 12 case studies. At the time of publication, strong concerns were expressed by medical scientists about Dr. Wakefield’s paper and the public cautioned against reading too much into a very small study that ran contrary to existing evidence about the effectiveness and safety of the MMR vaccine.

No matter.  Hyped by Hollywood stars such as Jim Carrey and Jenny McCarthy, and promoted by media heavyweights such as Oprah, Larry King and in Canada, CBC’s The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos, the public predictably overreacted. (Jenny McCarthy looks way better on television than Ben Goldacre as does Jim Carrey.)  Parents withheld permission for child vaccinations  and in Europe, some MMR vaccination programs were canceled. The results – rates of autism didn’t change but the number of children becoming sick and dying from these diseases skyrocketed. The website: Jenny McCarthy Body Count estimates the number of deaths in the United States alone at 624 as of January 1, 2011. Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s How and Why Calgarian’s Never Heard About It

On December 23, 2010 news broke concerning the results of a study conducted at  the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, Australia.  Using data from 2001 to 2003, the study team investigated incidents of adverse reactions to complimentary and alternative medicine (CAM) in children.  In all, 39 separate incidents in children up to the age of 16 were identified. Four died.

You would think this would be worthy of news coverage. Not in Calgary though. The Calgary Herald made no mention of it. Neither did CBC Television or Radio. Both the Herald and the CBC, of course, are far too busy actively promoting alternative medicine quackery to bother reporting on the dangers of CAM. Besides, as CAM promoters, reporting on this new study detailing the dangers of CAM, would reflect badly on both organizations. If the media is truly concerned with the facts, providing balance, and the protecting well-being of their audience, why ignore the study? Why hide the results from the public? Read the rest of this entry »

I spend a good deal of my time criticizing the media and particularly The Calgary Herald in this blog.  However, every so often, The Herald throws me a curve ball and actually prints a responsible article. Such is the case with the Sunday, July 11, 2010 edition.

In Lessons from my brush with polio, former Calgary Herald writer Catherine Ford gets it right in describing the advances in modern medicine and the snake-oil salesman of the alternative medicine industry. Some highlights of note: Read the rest of this entry »

The medical establishment and politicians must do more to crack down on alternative medicine, argues a senior scientist on the British Medical Journal website.  Thank goodness some medical associations are looking in the mirror and taking on the complimentary and alternative medicine crackpots. <read more ScienceDaily>