Infant Dies After Craniosacral Therapy: Therapist Gets Off Scot-Free

We reported earlier about the sad case of a a formerly healthy, three-month-old girl, who died in the Netherlands after manipulation of the neck and the vertebral column, called “holding,” by a – certified! – craniosacral therapist. Here’s an update.

Simon Singh and Edzard Ernst causing Trouble in Paradise for the British Chiropractic Association?

In Belgium you can call a quack for what he is: a quack.

In the United Kingdom however, you cannot.

British physicist and science writer Simon Singh wrote in The Guardian that there is not a jot of evidence for the claim of the chiropractics that their treatments are effective for  certain children’s ailments, but that this doesn’t stop them from ‘happily’ selling their ‘bogus’ treatments. Well, perhaps Singh had better not done this.

Alternative Medicine and Why It Seems To Work

Very rarely have alternative treatments or medication been able to show any therapeutic value. Yet countless people swear by it and are convinced they can’t do without.

The mysterious placebo effect has everything to do with this. But what is it and how does it work? Harriet Hall explains.

What you should know about chiropractic

This article was originally published in The New Scientist

For many people, chiropractic appears almost mainstream. Some chiropractors even call themselves “doctor”. In the UK, chiropractors are regulated by statute, and in the US they like to be seen as primary care physicians. It is therefore understandable if people hardly ever question the evidential basis on which this profession rests. 

Libel Petition to Support Simon Singh

After the ruling of the English High Court that Simon Singh’s use of the word “bogus” must be interpreted as “deliberately dishonest,” Sense About Science has started a campaign to change British libel laws.

The campaign includes a statement from British scientists that “it is inappropriate to use the English libel laws to silence critical discussion of medical practice and scientific evidence.”

You can help Simon Singh by endorsing this statement on the website. More than 1,000 people have already done so during the past week.

Switzerland to insert CAM in the constitution?

On 17 May 2009 the Swiss people voted in favour of a constitutional article for complementary medicine in a national vote. 67 percent of voters supported the new constitutional article. Switzerland is the first country in Europe to set out in the constitution, authority for the state and constituent states (cantons) to take complementary medicine into consideration in the public health service.

Infant Dies after “Craniosacral” Therapy

In the Dutch Medical Journal, authors from the University Hospital St. Radboud in Nijmegen, Netherlands, report a tragic case history of an infant dying after being treated by a craniosacral therapist.