Homeopathy: Put Up Or Shut Up

James Randi has a challenge:

James Randi launched a bold challenge Saturday that aims to debunk so-called homeopathic drugs. The fraud-busting magician even offered $1 million to any manufacturer who could prove they work as directed.

Read more: James Randi's challenge and the search for science in homeopathy

Let's see if they'll do as Sylvia Brown has been doing for years: "I would take the challenge, but I can't seem to figure out how to get in touch with James Randi."
I would not bet they are even going to try.

Ph.D. In Magic

Nice... now, you can get your Ph.D. in magic... water magic that is, as in homeopathy:

The American Medical College of Homeopathy's (AMCofH) new four-year doctoral program is the first of its kind in the country and will provide the most comprehensive homeopathic medical training in North America.

Read the whole: Homeopathy College: Now You Can Get a Doctorate in Homeopathic Medicine

While it's not a big deal when one crank gives another crank a stamp of approval, adding letters after your name makes it look legit to some people, especially when those letters resemble real, scientific titles.
How does a regular person, during a regular conversation, distinguish between someone who went to a real college, got a real graduate and post-graduate degree, and can be (to some extend) trusted as an expert is his or her field, from someone who get a degree from this place:

AMCofH first opened its doors in 1998 as the Desert Institute of Classical Homeopathy. It achieved non-profit status in 1999, first obtained Arizona State licensure in 2000, and changed its name to the American Medical College of Homeopathy in 2006. AMCofH first obtained Arizona State licensure for its full-time program in 2007, and its new four-year doctoral program is provisionally licensed by the Arizona State Board for Private Postsecondary Education.

Even worse, when you get somebody with letters "Ph.D" after their name on TV, nobody will be able to tell the difference. Instantly, as their "graduates" go out into the world, we'll get some "experts" who specialize in magic. The future is bright indeed... oops, it actually green:

There are a number of contemporary homeopathic medical colleges and hospitals in various countries around the world, including Canada, India, the United Kingdom, and other European countries. Although the U.S. lags behind this trend toward embracing greener forms of medical training and practice, it is very encouraging to see headway being made on this front.

It's good to see we are following the "best" out there.

Good Going Mr. Gates

It's nice to see more and more of the truth coming out. Especially that when someone like Bill Gates says it, the world takes notice:

Well, Dr. Wakefield has been shown to have used absolutely fraudulent data. He had a financial interest in some lawsuits, he created a fake paper, the journal allowed it to run. All the other studies were done, showed no connection whatsoever again and again and again. So it's an absolute lie that has killed thousands of kids. Because the mothers who heard that lie, many of them didn't have their kids take either pertussis or measles vaccine, and their children are dead today. And so the people who go and engage in those anti-vaccine efforts -- you know, they, they kill children. It's a very sad thing, because these vaccines are important.

More: Bill Gates: Vaccine-autism link 'an absolute lie'

Strong words, but so true.

Anti-vaxxers: Is This The Best You Can Produce?

Whoa... 2011 so far is really all about vaccines. First, there was a whole series of excellent articles in the British Medical Journal on how the whole MMR/vaccines/autism scare was really a big, elaborate fraud by A. Wakefield and a bunch of lawyers, all to make some money (but that was not really a news for most of the educated world).

There are also two outstanding books on the topic that came out in January:
















and:
















and now, the "debate" is heating up... sort of. There is really nothing credible and intelligent that the anti-vax loonies can come up with at this time. After numerous studies, all around the world, tons of research, thousands of scientists looking into this, and finally more and more data coming in that autism is mostly genetic, the issue is settled. Yet, the wacos are still at it, spreading misinformation, scaring parents, and possibly causing more pain, suffering, and possibly even death. This time, they created another "list", signed mostly by people who have no expertise in immunology, or even medical sciences (take some chiropractors and homeopaths), who say "no" to vaccines. I'm sure this will spread somehow in the Web, going from one mailbox to another, from one mom/dad to the next, causing more confusion.

That's why it is so important to squish this concoction of garbage and stupidity as soon as possible.
There is nobody better to perform this task than Orac:

Upon reading the statement, I was actually surprised by it. No, I wasn't surprised by what it said. Rather, I was surprised at how transparently pathetic it was. The claims made on it were either really easily refuted or trivially true but meaningless.

The whole dissection: The clueless cite the ignorant to argue against vaccines

Dr. Offit on Colbert

Dr. Paul Offit was on The Colbert Report last night:

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/372812/january-31-2011/paul-offit

Interesting conversation (as always) from a great mind.

I already went through his book and I'll write about it shortly.

Homeopathy on CBC

Great documentary on homeopathy from Canadian CBC:

CBC Marketplace - Homeopathy: Cure or Con? Part 1 of 2

and 

CBC Marketplace - Homeopathy: Cure or Con? Part 2 of 2


If you still buy and use them... well, there is no excuse for your brains anymore. Unless you believe in magic and witchcraft.


Want to have some laughs, check my post here.

BMJ Articles - Part 3

Part 3: The Lancet’s two days to bury bad news

BMJ Articles - The Links

I just wanted to post links to the original articles from British Medical Journal (BMJ) about Andrew Wakefield fraud. I think it is extremely important to read them and realize how fake news can be manufactured and that nothing and no one can be trusted without verification. That's where peer review and the self-correcting nature of science comes in.

Part 1: How the case against the MMR vaccine was fixed

Part 2: How the vaccine crisis was meant to make money

BMJ Editorial: Wakefield’s article linking MMR vaccine and autism was fraudulent

In a related story, an interview with Seth Mnookin on Salon.com, about his new book "The Panic Virus" (next on my reading list):

Behind the vaccine panic

and also, Salon.com removes the dumbest, full of errors article from five years ago:

Correcting our record

Yes... that article that was written by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (yet another example that your social status does not make up for brains) and also published by Rolling Stone magazine. Let's see how they are going to "fix" their credibility.

Call for Prosecution

It's good to hear that someone is calling things as they are in the mainstream media:

Finally, after 13 years of needless controversy, the British Medical Journal determined that Andrew Wakefield's vaccine-autism link constituted an "elaborate fraud."

Having already lost his medical license in the UK for unethical professional conduct, it is now time for him to be prosecuted.

I could not agree more. While, as the author pointed out, prosecuting scientists should not be undertaken lightly, this case is all about fraud, not about a scientist trying to uncover new truths. This is not prosecution of ideas, this is, pure and simple, prosecution of a crook, who designed an elaborate scheme to make money, without considering all of those he was hurting in the process.

Read more: Vaccine-autism researcher should be prosecuted

Gotta Love This - To Vaccinate Or Not

This piece of audio from an Australian radio show has been making its way around the blogosphere, and it's priceless!!!

It's about time for the mainstream media to step in and tell how it really is:

To Vaccinate or Not

It's about time to stop giving the loonies time and place to vent their egos and woo-woo that has no backing in science and research. This anti-vax misinformation has been killing children all over the world and it's time to stop it! It's great to see that journalists are stepping up to the plate.

A few places to go for info:
1. Immunize For Good
2. Science Based Medicine Blog: Vaccines
3. Every Child by Two

Research, research, research... but make sure you pick your experts wisely (Jenny McCarthy, with her Google U degree does not count).