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Consumer Health Digest #10-13
April 1 2010
Consumer Health Digest is a free weekly e-mail newsletter edited by
Stephen Barrett, M.D., with help from William M. London, Ed.D. It
summarizes scientific reports; legislative developments; enforcement
actions; news reports; Web site evaluations; recommended and
nonrecommended books; and other information relevant to consumer
protection and consumer decision-making.
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Quackwatch and Dr. Barrett need your help in maintaining and
expanding their activities. If you haven't already done so, please
read
http://www.ncahf.org/digest09/09-45.html and send a contribution.
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Simon Singh wins appeal in libel suit.British science writer Simon Singh has won an appeal in the libel
suit filed against him by the British Chiropractic Association (BCA.
The case arose after Singh wrote in a newspaper column:
"The British Chiropractic Association claims that their members can
help treat children with colic, sleeping and feeding problems,
frequent ear infections, asthma and prolonged crying, even though
there is not a jot of evidence. This organization is the respectable
face of the chiropractic profession and yet it happily promotes bogus
treatments."
In ordinary English, this passage would be interpreted as Singh's
opinion that the treatment claims are false and that the BCA promotes
them anyway. It would not mean that the BCA believes they are false.
However, the trial judge ruled that the word "bogus" must be
interpreted as "deliberately dishonest," which would mean that
instead of examining the truth or falsity of the claims, the trial
would focus on whether or not the BCA believed them. In overturning
the ruling, the Court of Appeal concluded that Singh's statement was
an expression of opinion that he has a right to defend.
http://www.casewatch.org/foreign/singh/appeal.shtml The BCA can
appeal to a higher court, withdraw the suit, or proceed to a trial
that is likely to embarrass the chiropractic profession.
British libel laws are heavily weighted against writers because suits
are not easily dismissed and defense costs are so high that few
defendants can afford to make their case. A campaign to modify the
law has aroused considerable support from the press, legislative
leaders, and the general public. Interest in the case also appears to
have had an effect on chiropractic Web sites. Last year that hundreds
of chiropractic Web sites were taken down following questions by
bloggers and urgent instructions from chiropractic organizations to
avoid breaking the rules on medical claims for chiropractic services.
http://www.quackometer.net/blog/2009/06/chiropractors-told-to-take-down-their.html###
British university dumps "integrated medicine" course.The University of Buckingham has terminated its contract with the
providers of a course in "integrated medicine" after concluding that
it was "too high on quackery to be a credit to the university." The
course was advertised as a Diploma in Integrated Medicine taught by
the British College of Integrated Medicine, which subsequently
changed its name to "Faculty of Integrated Medicine," even though it
was not part of the University. The course leader, Rosy Daniel,
operates Health Creation, a program whose Web site has described her
as "the UK's leading cancer consultant" and claimed that an herbal
product called Carctol has cured terminal cancer patients. David
Colquhoun, who spearheaded the opposition, has posted a detailed
history of what happened. [Colquhoun D. University of Buckingham does
the right thing. The Faculty of Integrated Medicine has been fired.
DC's Improbable Science Web site, April 1, 2010]
http://www.dcscience.net/?p=2881###
Bizarre Wikipedia collections offered for sale. A company doing business as Alphascript Publishing and Betascript
Publishing is marketing collections of Wikipedia articles as prices
ranging from $46 to $189. Amazon Books lists more than 18,000 titles
from each of them. The books appear to have been assembled using a
computer that begins with one article and adds other articles linked
to that article. Some books are on topics that are related to each
other, whereas others include articles that are completely unrelated
to the main ones. One book, for example, includes articles about
Quackwatch and the War of 1812. Nearly all the reader reviews are
highly negative.
###
Another raw milk warning issued.The FDA and several state agencies are alerting consumers to an
outbreak of campylobacteriosis associated with drinking raw milk.
that originated from the Forest Grove Dairy in Middlebury, Indiana.
http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm206311.htm At least 12 confirmed cases were reported in Michigan. Raw milk is
unpasteurized milk from hoofed mammals, such as cows, sheep, or
goats. Since 1987, the FDA has required all milk packaged for human
consumption to be pasteurized before being delivered for introduction
into interstate commerce. Pasteurization heats milk to a specific
temperature for a set period of time and kills harmful bacteria, such
as listeriosis, salmonellosis, campylobacteriosis, typhoid fever,
tuberculosis, diphtheria and brucellosis. FDA's pasteurization
requirement also applies to other milk products, with the exception
of a few aged cheeses. From 1998 to 2008, 85 outbreaks of human
infections resulting from raw milk consumption were reported to the
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These outbreaks
included a total of 1,614 reported illnesses, 187 hospitalizations
and 2 deaths. Proponents often claim that raw milk is more nutritious
than pasteurized milk and is inherently antimicrobial, thus making
pasteurization unnecessary. These claims, however, are false.
[Barrett S. Why raw milk should be avoided. Quackwatch, Dec 22, 2003]
http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/rawmilk.html###
Please participate in the fight against the UK's libel lawsPlease help Simon Singh promote the repeal of the UK's Draconian
libel laws. More than 45,000 people worldwide have supported this so
far. Regardless of where you live, please sign the petition at
http://www.libelreform.org/sign, even if you signed the one posted
last year.
###
Other issues of the Digest are accessible through
http://www.ncahf.org/digest10/index.htmlIf you enjoy this newsletter, please recommend it to your friends.
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Stephen Barrett, M.D.
Consumer Advocate
Chatham Crossing, Suite 107/208
11312 U.S. 15 501 North
Chapel Hill, NC 27517
Telephone: (919) 533-6009
http://www.quackwatch.org (health fraud and quackery)
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