http://dcscience.net/Truth, falsehood and evidence: investigations of dubious and dishonest scienceen-gbTue, 27 Dec 2005 08:04:28 GMTCopyright: (C) David Colquhounhttp://www.ucl.ac.uk/Pharmacology/dc.html15A report has appeared on Regulation of Practitioners of Acupuncture, Herbal Medicine, Traditional Chinese Medicine. The report is written by people all of whom have vested interests in spreading quackery. It shows an execrable ability to assess evidence, and it advocates degrees in antiscience It would fail any examination. Sorry, Prof Pittilo, but its gamma minus. http://dcscience.net/?p=235http://dcscience.net/?p=23518 June 2008RegulationPoliticsPittiloQuackeryCAMherbalismacupunctureRobert Gordon’s universityThe Royal Pharmaceutical Society is desperately evasive about a matter that is central to their very existence, giving good advice to patients about which medicines work and which don’t. Pharmacists should be in the front line in education of the public, about medicines, the scientist on the High Street. Some of them are, but their professional organisation is letting them down badly.Until such time as the RPSGB decides to take notice of evidence, and clears up some of the things described here, it is hard to see how they can earn the respect of pharmacists, or of anyone else. http://dcscience.net/?p=233http://dcscience.net/?p=2335 June 2008PharmacyPharmacistsRoyal Pharmaceutical SocietyQuackeryCAMRPSGBQuackery is alive and well at Yale university. Thye posted some of their disgraceful symposium on YouTube so I cut out eight of the worst minutes, added comments and posted the video to YouTube. Mine has had more viewings than the original. http://dcscience.net/?p=231http://dcscience.net/?p=23119 May 2008YaleDr David KatzRichard BelitskyQuackeryCAMevidencefluid conceptAfter writing the recent post Boots reaches new level of dishonesty with CoQ10 promotion, I sent a complaint about the dishonesty of the advertisements to the Advertising Standards Authority, Boots were told to remove claims that CoQ10 “increased vitality”. But the ASA is toothless.http://dcscience.net/?p=232http://dcscience.net/?p=23214 May 2008BootsAlliance BootsadvertisingQuackeryCAMfraudBad adviceCoQ10Some truly astonishing slides from a lecture given to students at Westminster University on “energy medicine” –pure hokum. They learn about dowsing and crystal healing. Truly advanced barminess.http://dcscience.net/?p=227http://dcscience.net/?p=22723 April 2008Westminster UniversityantisciencedegreesQuackeryCAMAcademiaUniversitiesDowsingCrystal healingErnst and Singh say, in letter to the Times “In light of this “rigorous scientific evidence”, we strongly advise that the Prince of Wales and the Foundation for Integrated Health withdraw the publications Complementary Health Care: A Guide for Patients and the Smallwood report. They both contain numerous misleading and inaccurate claims concerning the supposed benefits of alternative medicine. The nation cannot be served by promoting ineffective and sometimes dangerous alternative treatments.”http://dcscience.net/?p=228http://dcscience.net/?p=22820 April 2008Prince of WalesFoundation for Integrated HealthBad adviceQuackeryCAMExtended version (with links) of article in today's Times Higher Education.It turns out that the "unrepentant capitalist", Luke Johnson. has much the same view of HR as academics. "HR is like many parts of modern businesses: a simple expense, and a burden on the backs of the productive workers", "They don't sell or produce: they consume. They are the amorphous support services" And they think Brain Gym is appropriate training for research students.hhttp://dcscience.net/?p=226http://dcscience.net/?p=22610 April 2008bureaucratsHuman resourcesresearchuniversitiesacademiamanagerialismBrain GymNLPtrainingWhat happens when a bureaucrat goes to hear the Unfinished Symphony. And when they try to run researchhttp://dcscience.net/?p=225http://dcscience.net/?p=2251 April 2008bureaucratsHuman resourcesresearchuniversitiesacademiamanagerialismIn a wonderful demonstration of common sense, the BBC has removed all the alternative medicine pages from BBC Health web sitehttp://dcscience.net/?p=224http://dcscience.net/?p=22426 March 2008Alternative medicinenutribollocksHerbalismCAMhomeopathyantiscienceSupplementsA big PR and marketing effort by Boots the Chemists to promote CoQ10 depends on (deliberate?) confusion between two quite different meanings of the word "energy". Quite a good write-up in the Daily Mail and appalling coverage in The Times.http://dcscience.net/?p=223http://dcscience.net/?p=22313 March 2008NutritionnutribollocksAlternative medicineCAMBootsCoQ10SupplementsThe Little Atoms interview can be downloadedhhttp://www.littleatoms.com/audio3.htmhttp://www.littleatoms.com/audio3.htm13 March 2008scepticismUCLAlternative medicineblogsSupplementsWe are all interested in the relationship between our health and what we eat. What a pity that so little is known about it. What should be a useful aid for checking your diet looks suspiciously like a sales scamhttp://dcscience.net/?p=221http://dcscience.net/?p=2218 March 2008NutritionnutribollocksAlternative medicineCAMThis afternoon I went to the Coliseum to see a revival of Jonathan Millers 1986 production of the Mikado. It was beautifully staged. The well-known patter song of Ko-Ko, the Lord High Executioner of Japan, begged for a version that deals with anti-science. The serious post will come later. [...]http://dcscience.net/?p=220http://dcscience.net/?p=22023 February 2008Gilbert and SullivanMikadoAlternative medicineCAMHRThis is the third post based on a recent trip to North America. One aspect of the endarkenment, the Wal-Mart model of a university, is very much the same in the US as in the UK, Quackery is rather different.http://dcscience.net/?p=219http://dcscience.net/?p=21917 February 2008QuackademicsQuackeryUniversitiesAcademiaCAMIntegrative medicineAlternative medicineYaleArizonaScripps InstituteOregon Health and Sciences UniversityOHSUCornellArizonaColumbiaAndrew WeilDavid HeberOne of the original reasons for going to North America was an invitation from the Toronto Secular Alliance and Center for Inquiry. The talk for them was given a lot of publicity, for example an interview on CBC’s Sunday Edition. The feedback on a CBC interview is dissected here.http://dcscience.net/?p=217http://dcscience.net/?p=2178 February 2008CBCSunday EditionMichael EnrightTrinhDugald SeelyMcMaster“the report is more hypothesis-generating for future research than a rigorous scientific study.Find us some money and we will do a proper job.You can quote me for that.”Professor David Smith (Oxford). Scientific adviser for Food for the Brain. A great deal has been written about media ‘nutritionist’, Patrick Holford.http://dcscience.net/?p=218http://dcscience.net/?p=2187 February 2008NutritionNutribollocksHolfordFollowing the media publicity that surrounded the lecture in Toronto, I was sent this poem by Anne Spencer, of Canada. It is based on the style of Jonathan Swift (1667-1745),http://dcscience.net/?p=216http://dcscience.net/?p=2163 February 2008HomeopathyCAMpoetryTwo examples of counter-productive pseudo-regulation of CAM, in the mindless box-ticking advocated by government, HR departments and the Prince of Wales. You dont need to be a scientist to see that most alternative medicine is bunk, It's obvious to John Sutherland, who was until recently professor of English literature at UCL, and to political columnist, Polly Toynbee.http://dcscience.net/?p=215http://dcscience.net/?p=21510 January 2008HomeopathyCAMSkills for healthNatural Healthcare CouncilHomeopaths have got excited about a paper that allegedly shows an effect of Arsenic 45x (on wheat seedlings). but they had not read the paper. In fact it was found that Ars45x was not detectably different from water treated in the same way. And neither was there any relationship between the size of the response and “potency”. Far from helping homeopaths, this paper undermines their fundamental beliefs.http://dcscience.net/?p=213http://dcscience.net/?p=21331 December 2007Homeopathy, CAM., antiscienceWe here a lot about leadership these days. It has become one of the favourite buzzwords of those who do neither research not teaching. Quite what it means is never clear, but one thing it should include is setting a good example in ethical behaviour. So what’s going wrong? Here are two more interesting examples of ‘leadership’.http://dcscience.net/?p=212http://dcscience.net/?p=21226 December 2007Academia, leadershipA merry christmas to one and all (or, depending on your mood, possibly bah humbug). After the last post (and the next one), here’s something a bit lighter. A walk along Brighton pier revealed tarot consultants to GSK and Astra Zeneca, and thoughts of the First World War (with video clips). Plus a bear called Mohammedhttp://dcscience.net/?p=211http://dcscience.net/?p=21123 December 2007CAMAdvice from PricewaterhouseCoopers, will do enormous harm to universities if it is taken seriously. How on earth would they know about how to get good science?http://dcscience.net/?p=210http://dcscience.net/?p=2109 December 2007CAMUhuh, here we go again. All over the media we see headlines like “Honey ‘beats cough medicine’ “ That is not what the paper said, and here’s why.http://dcscience.net/?p=209http://dcscience.net/?p=2095 December 2007CAMWell, guess what turned up in a brown envelope this morning. A copy of the Society of Homeopaths’ Newsletter. It makes interesting reading, not least when the homeopaths’ discussion group are abuzz with talk of the demise of homeopathyhttp://dcscience.net/?p=208http://dcscience.net/?p=2084 December 2007CAMToday is World AIDS Day, and the Society of Homeopaths is holding a meeting to “discuss the evidence” concerning the idea that you can treat AIDS with sugar pills. Needless to say, there is no evidence to discuss, but that doesn’t put them off for a moment.http://dcscience.net/?p=207http://dcscience.net/?p=2071 December 2007CAMAn advertisement in today’s Guardian asks “Will Vitamin B [sic] help me keep my energy levels up?”. The question goes unanswered, of course, but you are invited to get the answer from your Boots Pharmacy Team. Now I wonder what they will tell you? This sounds pretty sneaky to me.http://dcscience.net/?p=203http://dcscience.net/?p=20321 November 2007CAMLetters from this week’s BMJ. George Lewith wants more money to be spent on research on alternative medicine. John Garrow points out that the last time they got state money it was misspent. DC suggests that any money spent on this sort of research must be refereed by non-CAM people to make sure that the proposed work will answer the right questions.http://dcscience.net/?p=202http://dcscience.net/?p=20220 November 2007CAMIf you read nothing else on the topic, read Ben Goldacre’s best ever piece, A Kind of Magic? (Guardian, 16 Nov 2007). This started as response to “In defence of homeopathy” by Jeanette Winterson in the same newspaper on 13 November. On the same day, the Lancet carried a rather more academic piece by Goldacre.http://dcscience.net/?p=200http://dcscience.net/?p=20016 November 2007homeopathyThis was not written by me, but by a homeopath, in an email that has been circulating recently. It comes from the editor of hpathy.com, not one of the bigger players in the homeopathic fantasy business.Serious panic seems to be setting in. One amusing aspect is the description of the “huge and systematic campaign”.http://dcscience.net/?p=197http://dcscience.net/?p=19712 November 2007homeopathyEmergency warning. AFSSAPS has been informed by Laboratoires Boiron of an inversion of the labelling of two homeopathic medicaments, The bottles labelled “mother tincture of Gingko biloba” contain mother tincture of Equisetum arvense and vice versa. How would they ever know?http://dcscience.net/?p=196http://dcscience.net/?p=19610 November 2007homeopathyNo longer are we just told what to do from the top. Important decisions are preceded by a long period of consultation. That is a wonderful contribution to democracy. Sometimes. But in truth, these consultations are only too often totally sham public relations exercises. Here are a couple of examples.http://dcscience.net/?p=195http://dcscience.net/?p=19510 November 2007universitiesTwo stories of serious corruption of university research in the UK. The case of Aubrey Blumsohn, Richard Eastell, Proctor & Gamble and Sheffield University.http://dcscience.net/?p=193http://dcscience.net/?p=1937 November 2007universitiesTwo stories of serious corruption of university research in the USA, based on Jennifer Washburn’s excellent book, Universities Inc.http://dcscience.net/?p=192http://dcscience.net/?p=1926 November 2007universitiesAlliance boots is the biggest pharmacy chain in the UK. A visit from two Boots men in dark suits prompted re-posting of some of the iniquitous stuff that appears on the Boots education web site (and their advice about supplements).http://dcscience.net/?p=191http://dcscience.net/?p=19123 October 2007homeopathyKate Birch, vice-chair of the North American Society of homeopaths knocked at my office door, to present me with a copy of her book, She claims to be able to cure almost any disease. This is not just delusional thinking, it is very dangerous.http://dcscience.net/?p=172http://dcscience.net/?p=17223 October 2007homeopathyThe saga of the legal action by the Society of Homeopaths, who employed lawyers to remove “The Gentle Art of Homeopathic Killing” from the quackometer site, and the immediate appearance of the banned page all over the world.http://dcscience.net/?p=171http://dcscience.net/?p=17111 October 2007homeopathyA new meta-analysis shows the amazing paucity of evidence for the effectiveness of any herbal ‘remedy’. This one got a great deal of press coverage, and most of it quite high quality (though the Independent and the Scotsman couldn’t resist tagging on their own rather inaccurate assessments of what works.http://dcscience.net/?p=169http://dcscience.net/?p=1694 October 2007herbalismThe BMJ publish an article: Who are the doctor bloggers and what do they want? Mildly interesting cut-and-paste journalism, but why wasn’t it made available to bloggers?http://dcscience.net/?p=168http://dcscience.net/?p=1683 October 2007BlogsAt a meeting of the West Kent PCT board, on 27 September 2007, it was decidedto withdraw all funding for homeopathy from the end of this financial year. This means the end for the Tunbridge Wells Homeopathic Hospital...http://dcscience.net/?p=167http://dcscience.net/?p=16727 September 2007homeopathyYet another study shows no difference between ‘real’ acupuncture and sham. The alleged principles of acupuncture are again shown not to be ancient Chinese wisdom, but just bunk. It isn’t known whether the fact that both groups were better that the conventionally-treated group was a result of the theatricality of being pricked (anywhere) with needles, or a result of some real physiological effect of being pricked.http://dcscience.net/?p=166http://dcscience.net/?p=16626 September 2007acupunctureWatch Peter Fisher’s rather desperate attempt to forge a phony connection between opposition to homeopathy and defence of GM food., on Channel 4 Newshttp://dcscience.net/?p=165http://dcscience.net/?p=16521 September 2007homeopathyThe Advertising Standards Authority has upheld two complaints about some amazing advertising material issued by the celebrity nutritional therapist, Mr Holford.http://dcscience.net/?p=163http://dcscience.net/?p=16319 September 2007nutribollocksThe negative outcome of a placebo-controlled trial in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology is accompanied by an incisive comment piece by Edzard Ernsthttp://dcscience.net/?p=164http://dcscience.net/?p=16418 September 2007homeopathyThe Yale neurologist, Stephen Novella, recorded a podcast in which we discuss the removal of my seb page from the UCL site and the encroachment of endarkenment values into universities.http://dcscience.net/?p=162http://dcscience.net/?p=16216 September 2007nutribollocksIt sounds as though Tennessee pharmacist, Larry Rawdon, is in trouble. According to a report in the Tennessean (11 Sept, 2007)“. . . for more than 20 years, the Hohenwald man treated customers at his health-food store with juices and dietary supplements for ailments ranging from obesity to cancer.http://dcscience.net/?p=161http://dcscience.net/?p=16115 September 2007nutribollocksA recording of a debate with homeopath Felicity Lee at the British Pharmaceutical Conference in Manchester. And a rather more revealing interview of Felicity Lee by Ben Goldacre.http://dcscience.net/?p=160http://dcscience.net/?p=16012 September 2007homeopathyA threatening letter form Mr Holford accuses me of inaccuracy. Here is my reply.http://dcscience.net/?p=159http://dcscience.net/?p=15912 September 2007NutribollocksIt seems that Mr Holford’s CV has got wrong the date of his degree from York by three years. What an odd mistake to make..http://dcscience.net/?p=158http://dcscience.net/?p=1588 September 2007Nutribollocks“Our trial failed to show that acupuncture is a useful adjunct to a course of individualised, exercise based physiotherapy for older adults with knee osteoarthritis.”. That is the conclusion of a recent paper in the BMJ.And another nail in the coffin of the anti-oxidant myth. A 10-year double-blind, placebo-controlled study has found that women at high risk for cardiovascular disease derived no benefit from taking vitamin C, vitamin E, or beta carotene.http://dcscience.net/?p=45http://dcscience.net/?p=451 September 2007CAMPatrick Holford cites glowing endorsements from Dr John Marks (Dr John Marks, Life Fellow and former Director of Medical Studies, Cambridge University) in four places on his website, and also in the CV submitted to the University of Teesside in support of his visiting professorship. But enquiries show that Dr Marks, now 83, had written to Holford some time ago to say that I was not prepared any longer to support his work or views in any way and to please stop using my name as a supporter of his work,http://dcscience.net/?p=44http://dcscience.net/?p=4428 August 2007CAMThe curious world of homeopathy is in turmoil over the question of malaria “cures”. They are roundly condemned by the Faculty of Homeopaths, but the Society of Homeopaths (both UK and US) simply refuses to make any statement, despite the fact that claims to cure malaria clearly breach their own code of conduct. Chaos.http://dcscience.net/?p=43http://dcscience.net/?p=4326 August 2007CAMA report by the Taxpayers’ Alliance condemns waste of money on 400 “non-courses”. But it fails to distinguish between those that are merely not very intellectual, and those that teach things that are not true (the 60 CAM courses that were amongs their 400). Universities UK issues a strongly worded refutation, which defends to the hilt all the 400 courses, including the CAM. They need to sort out their act.http://dcscience.net/?p=42http://dcscience.net/?p=4221 August 2007CAMThere is no nutritional “therapist” whose doings have been the butt of more attention on the web. Ben Goldacre has been through his writings in meticulous detail. “Patrick Holford - “Food Is Better Than Medicine” South Africa Tour Blighted By HIV Claim” is particularly riveting. Imagine the surprise when he was appointed as a visiting professor by a committee of senior academics.http://dcscience.net/?p=39http://dcscience.net/?p=3917 August 2007CAMHow irrational thinking in government and universities has led to the rise of new-age nonsense in the name of science. This article appeared on the Guardian Science web site today. The blog version linked to here contains more links to sources .http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2007/aug/15/endarkenment,http://dcscience.net/goodscience/?p=17http://dcscience.net/goodscience/?p=1715 August 2007CAMSeveral companies are advertising direct cures for malaria by means of homeopathic “funny water” And they are spreading their ideas in Africa..http://dcscience.net/?p=24http://dcscience.net/?p=2410 August 2007CAMA wonderful article by Peter Lawrence (Zoology and LMB, Cambridge) describes the disastrous effects of the management and audit culture on original science. He also points how the harm one to the careers of women by the cult of managerialism.http://www.dcscience.net/goodscience/?p=13http://www.dcscience.net/goodscience/?p=139 August 2007CAMAn entire issue of the journal Homeopathy has been devoted to speculations about the memory of water. It is almost entirely speculation, and the journal’s editor, Peter Fisher, is honest enough to admit it. One of the contributions concludes “. . . any interpretation [of homeopathy] calling for ‘memory’ effects in pure water must be totally excluded”.http://dcscience.net/?p=17http://dcscience.net/?p=175 August 2007CAMIs the Mail getting converted to reason? Another (mostly) good article by Angela Epstein. But it is spoiled by referring the reader to the Society of Homeopaths for more information. From there they will get only make-believe.http://dcscience.net/?p=12http://dcscience.net/?p=1231 July 07CAMThe Independent on Sunday printed a misleading account of a paper that measured the strength of electric fields, but had no data whatsoever about their effects, if any, on health. The press release from Imperial College didn’t help much.http://www.dcscience.net/?p=11http://www.dcscience.net/?p=1130 July 07CAMA new Wordpress blog has been started, for new items. It is at http://www.dcscience.net/. You can sign up and leave comments.Gradually older items will be moved to this blog (don’t hold you breath: it’s tedious).Meanwhile all the older stuff is still at . http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html.As soon as the blog is working well, I’ll stop adding new items there.http://www.dcscience.net/http://www.dcscience.net/27 July 07CAMSigh! The Times Higher Education Supplement (27 July 2007) reports an 31.5% increase in applications for ‘university’ courses in complementary medicine. Dr Celia Bell, of Middlesex University defends their alternative medicine courses. She has had a conventional scientific training, so her views seem odd to me. The link is too the new blog version. The same post is also on the old page, at http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#bell1http://dcscience.net/?p=1http://dcscience.net/?p=126 July 07CAMIn a report on the appearance of Andrew Wakefield to face charges of professional misconduct, the BBC news showed graphs of the increase in cases of measles which has followed the fall in MMR vaccination. They reported on the many studies that have shown no link between MMR and autism. And most fascinatingly, they showed a movie of Wakefield's speech at the Mind Institute.http://dcscience.net/?p=5http://dcscience.net/?p=517 July 07CAMAfter 16 months of hard work by Simon Singh, the BBC have at last admitted that serious mistakes were made in its series on Alternative Medicine. Two of the main complaints were upheld (though several others were not).http://dcscience.net/?p=14http://dcscience.net/?p=1417 July 07CAMA synopsis of what should have been a good debate, with a chance to influence government policy. In fact it turned out to be a highly biased meeting dominated by advocates of alternative medicine. The chairman, David Tredinnick MP, is famous for advocating homeopathic borax treatment of foot and mouth disease during the 2001 epidemic (and for being suspended form the House of Commons as a result of sleaze allegations). Kim Lavely, CEO of the Prince’s Foundation for Integrated Health astonished us by insisting that the Foundation does not advocate alternative medicine (no, really?). There was much talk about “regulation” and very little talk about efficacy.http://dcscience.net/?p=15http://dcscience.net/?p=157 July 07CAMUsing potassium dichromate to treat patients in intensive care (rather than to clean the glassware)?No, that isn't a joke. A paper was published in Chest, official journal of the American College of Chest Physicians, that purported to show that homeopathic potassium dichromate (i.e. water) was a useful way to treat patients in intensive care. Luckily the patients got none of this corrosive and toxic hexavalent chromium compound, because it was homeopathic. But how does stuff like this get into respectable journals?http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#chesthttp://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#chest3 July 07CAMBreak from holiday to post a lovely analysis of the origins of the term “blood cleanser” (and pictures of the Lake District). The erudite Michael Quinion of World Wide Words, has allowed me to post his investigation. The term was been a favourite of snake oil salesman in the 19th century.http://dcscience.net/?p=16http://dcscience.net/?p=1617 June 07CAMOne of the effects of this affair has been the posting of some critical examinations of some of the writings of Dr Ann Walker. I make no comment. The links are here.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#bg2http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#bg215 June 07CAMJust as progress was being made on homeopathy, it seems that the NHS is now going for laying-on-of-hands by employing spiritual healers. This is a step too far in lying to patients. The application form for the job shows the box-ticking mentality of administrators who demand formal qualifications in mumbo-jumbo.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#heal1http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#heal113 June 07CAMA nice spoof on an obscure variant of laying-on-of-hands.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#tomatsohttp://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#tomatso13 June 07CAMThanks to Ben Goldacre’s Guardian column, and his entry on badsceince.net (http://www.badscience.net/?p=431 ), UCL has come under a lot of pressure (and my hit counter has soared).http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#bg1http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#bg19 June 07CAMOne of the letters sent to the provost of UCL in defence of my efforts. Professor Shafer suggests that UCL should be defending efforts to propagate public understanding of science, and should not cave in to a herbalist.. OK I know it isn’t really bad science, but it cheered me up.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#move1http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#move14 June 07CAMPapers sent to me from Imperial College revealed abuse of crude an ineffective metrics for assessment of the performance of staff. These metrics are demonstrably bad science as well as inhuman. The Times Higher Education Supplement (June 1, 2007) devoted several pages to the problem. An extended version of my analysis is at http://goodscience.org.ukhttp://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#goodsci1http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#goodsci11 June 07CAMOne year from our first letter to NHS Trusts, we sent another. Listen to the interview by John Humphrys on the Radio 4 Today Programme, with Raymond Tallis and Peter Fisher. :And hear Fisher suggest that he works for UCL (not true). You can also download a summary of the current evidence in the form of an example commissioning document which accompanied our letter.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#nhs3http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#nhs324 May 07CAMLord Hunt, a junior minister in the Department of Health, sends a surreal reply to an enquiry about the fraud known as “psychic surgery”.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#hunt1http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#hunt122 May 07CAMAn early day motion in support of homeopathic hospitals shows that irrational belief in magic is not unique to one party. Virtually all MPs have no idea about science. But I was quite surprised to find out in a reply from my MP that it is official Conservative policy.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#edm1http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#edm121 May 07CAMA new paper, with a very large sample, almost 300 000 men, shows an association between taking large doses of multivitamin supplements and death from prostate cancer. But this, like most observations on diet, was not a randomised study. The paper itself discusses the interpretation carefully. The reports in the newspapers did not.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#prost1http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#prost117 May 07CAMA web site comes very close to claiming that cancer can be cured by a homeopathic preparation mad from the blood of someone who had, allegedly, been cured of cancer by laying-on-of-hands. The site is run by a Sue Benford who has also written papers that suggest “explanations” of spontaneous human combustion and the incorruptibility of human corpses. All this scores maximum points for bizarreness. It would be hilarious but for the fact that it takes advantage of sick patients.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#phisinc1http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#phisinc115 May 07CAMA particularly powerful plea to forget homeopathy from Michael Baum, based on his experience as a cancer surgeon.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#baum1http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#baum12 May 07CAMIt was announced last year the homeopathic hospital at Royal Tunbridge Wells would be closed to save money. Now the West Kent NHS Trust has announced a public consultation. Have your say.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#twhosp2http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#twhosp22 May 07CAMThe person who spoke for the industry front organization, The Health Supplements Information Service, Dr Ann Walker, always uses her University of Reading address, but that is a part time job, and her course on herbals looks a lot less academic.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#walker1http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#walker11 May 07CAMThe latest Cochrane review finds no good evidence that acupuncture or acupressure are effective for stopping smokinghttp://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#acu2http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#acu21 May 07CAMTwo scams in which the alleged ingredients don’t exist, and the alleged evidence can’t be traced.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#scam1http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#scam11 May 07CAMA new meta-analysis shows that chondroitin is useless for the treatment of osteoarthritis. Recent well-designed and large trials show essentially no benefit at all.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#chondhttp://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#chond8 Apr 07CAMTwenty-five hospitals from London and southern and eastern England have already either stopped sending any patients to the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital or agreed to fund only a handful A campaign has started o save it, but the arguments are far from convincing.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#rlhh3http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#rlhh38 Apr 07CAMThe Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) published another bash at BSc degrees in anti-science. This one was accompanied by a defence from Brian Isbell, head of the department of complementary therapies at Westminster University. Isbell’s defence was different from Westminster’s first defence, but every bit as unsatisfactory, in my view.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#thes1http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#thes17 Apr 07CAMThe day after “Science degrees without the Science” appeared Nature, the University of Westminster issued a statement. In my view, their statement provides the strongest grounds so far to believe that the BSc is inappropriate.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#nature2http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#nature226 Mar 07CAMA piece in Nature about degrees in complementary medicine (CAM), stirred up a lot of publicity. No vice chancellor was willing to appear to defend the policy of 16 universities that give “BSc” degrees in CAM. The most remarkable outcome (so far) was that during a TV interview, Dr Peter Fisher, clinical director if the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital, appeared to agree with me.http://dcscience.net/?p=19http://dcscience.net/?p=1923 Mar 07CAMA TV company funded a rather uninformative study of omega-3 fish oil by Prof Basant Puri if Imperial College and the Hammersmith Hospital. The media reports on the study were totally misleading It was not revealed that Prof Puri is named as ‘inventor’ on a paten for the fish oil formulation, as discovered by Ben Goldacre: http://www.badscience.net/?p=385.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#puri1http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#puri118 Mar 07CAMThe media reports on the alleged advantages of drinking purple grape juice were uniformly misleading. The study by Alan Crozier did not measure health benefits but was a chemical analysis. Its interpretation in terms of health were arguably over-optimistic.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#crozier1http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#crozier118 Mar 07CAMThe British Medical Journal published a “head to head” debate on whether or not CAM should be referred to NICE for critical evaluation. And a hypothesis about why this hasn’t happened -little green men.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#bmj07http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#bmj0717 Mar 07CAMA report on the excellent Channel 4 TV documentary, in the Dispatches series: “Charles: The Meddling Prince”. And a bit more on how Clarence House tries to silence its critics..http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#hrh5http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#hrh512 Mar 07CAMTwo interesting papers this month. One shows popular anti-oxidant “supplements”, beta carotene, and vitamins A and D, far from making you live longer, have the opposite effect. Another shows that garlic does not lower cholesterol. And some publicity for Dan Hurley’s book, Natural Causes. An update looks at the activities of the supplements industry spokesperson. Dr Ann Walker, who seems sometimes to forget to declare her interests.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#supp11http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#supp113 Mar 07CAMVioletta and Mimi died young, of tuberculosis. Between Traviata (1953) and Boheme (1896), Robert Koch (1882) discovered the real cause of tuberculosis. Homeopaths' pills don't poison your body (they contain nothing) but their delusional thinking poisons your mind. If we had take their lazy approach to medicine, young people would still be dying.http://dcscience.net/?p=21http://dcscience.net/?p=2125 Feb 07CAMAnother purveyor of nutribollocks who has been dissected and exposed by Ben Goldacre. His views on AIDS are a menace to humanity. And, incredibly his course has been accredited by the University of Bedfordshire (formerly known as the University of Luton)http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#holford1http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#holford120 Feb 07CAMThanks to some superb work by Ben Goldacre, some hero has referred Dr Gillian McKeith to the advertising standards authority. Now she is just Ms McKeith. Doubtless she will continue to get rich on her own brand of nutribollocks anyway.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#nutri2http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#nutri212 Feb 07CAMJust had to show the latest bit of abusive email. This homeopath thinks that chemistry and physics need to be overturned. Well apart for email, the web, mobile phones, cars and aircraft. They, it seems, are OK.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#abuse1http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#abuse110 Feb 07CAMPeter Hain has approved the spending if £200 000 of taxpayers’ money to make unproven 19th century medicine available in Northern Ireland. The “pilot study” is NOT a trial or a study. At the end of it we shall be no wiser about whether it works. The money is being channeled through a private company, GettWellUK, which is supported by the Prince of Wales.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#hain1http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#hain19 Feb 07CAMBBC’s You and Yours programme (a lunchtime consumer programme) ran a good piece on “Helps Stop Snoring”, a dubious herbal “remedy” for snoring. They picked up the story from my site.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#snore2http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#snore25 Feb 07CAMBBC’s Panorama programme broadcast the content of secret emails. They show that GSK was aware of evidence the Seroxat increased risk of suicide in young patients, and suppressed it. They also showed that Prof Martin Keller’s paper on the topic was ghost-written by a PR firm working for GSK.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#gsk1http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#gsk15 Feb 07CAMThe Office of Fair Trading has told Magnopulse Ltd to stop making false claims for the benefits of magnetic bandages. One hopes that the Prescription Pricing Authority will now admit its mistake and stop paying for them on the NHS.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#mag4http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#mag45 Feb 07CAMLes Rose debates with homeopath Katherine Armitage on the Vanessa Feltz show on BBC Radio London. Listen to the clip to hear some of the best pseudo-scientific gobbeldygook on record.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#rose1http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#rose127 Jan 07CAMDespite allowing claims to be made for the effectiveness on the label of herbal medicines, the MHRA admits that there is no reason to ibelieve the claims are true. Ahem, some inconsistency there surely.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#mhra5http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#mhra513 Jan 07CAMOne of the zaniest bit of quantum bollocks of all time. Sigh,.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#shiatsu1http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#shiatsu11 Jan 07CAMStatements that condemn CAM and the approval of untrue labels by the MHRA have been issued by Royal Society, the Medical Research Council, the Academy of Medical Sciences, the Royal College of Pathologists, the Biosciences Federation (which represents 40 affiliated societies), the Physiological Society and the British Pharmacological Society. The Physiological Society’s December newsletter has an article by Austin Elliott “Homeopathic mumbo-jumbo”.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#mhra4http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#mhra421 Dec 06CAMA debate was held at the Natural History Museum on “Does Homeopathy Work?”. You can see it on streaming video. Peter Fisher gave a talk which, after shameless cherry-picking of the evidence, went on to explain that if a memory stick can hold a lot of information, so can water (I’m not kidding).http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#goldfishhttp://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#goldfish18 Dec 06CAMThe BBC2 Newsnight programme, in an excellent bit of investigative journalism, has shown that an ex-arms dealer, Michael Hart Jones has conned the Swaziland government with his claims to cure AIDS with a useless and probably dangerous treatment for AIDS based on goat serum.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#aids1http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#aids12 Dec 06CAM“Helps stop snoring” claims to work on the basis of a clinical trial. But the trial is flawed in many ways. In addition the author, Dr Andrew Prichard, seems to have quite forgotten to mention that a Helen Prichard who lives at the same address holds 2000 shares in the company that makes this wonder cure..http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#snorehttp://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#snore24 Nov 2006CAMThe Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) acts un direct breach of its brief my allowing unjustified claims to be made for the efficacy of Arnica gel. .http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#mhra3http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#mhra39 Nov 2006CAMIn a recent speech and interviews, Tony Blair confirms that he thinks science is just for making money, and that homeopathy and creationism don’t concern him.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#blair1http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#blair16 Nov 2006CAMThe House of Lords held a debate designed to annul the disgraceful decision of the MHRA to endorse the sale of snake oil (well, to allow homeopathic “medicines” (i.e. water) to be labelled with unjustified therapeutic claims.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#mhra2http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#mhra226 Oct 2006CAMInterview with DC, vainly trying to counter the bunkum from the two previous speakers.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#london1http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#london120 Oct 2006CAMThe Consumers’ Association has had a good record in distinguishing true claims from false in washing machines and dishwashers. But in CAM, they seem to be out of their depth. They have been giving some very bad advice, of the sort you might expect from the lifestyle pages of the Daily Mail.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#ca1http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#ca113 Oct 2006CAMAfter a long delay, the Dept of Health eventually complied with the Freedom of Information Act and supplied documents relating to the approval of magnetic bandages by the Prescription Pricing Authority (PPA). At the time the PPA denied it was their job to assess efficacy. But the documents show that isn’t true. They just did a very bad job of the assessment.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#mag3http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#mag312 Oct 2006CAMThe two chiropodists who run the Marigold Homeopathic Podiatry clinic (no, honestly, it’s real) at the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital seem to be spending much of their budget with a company that they themselves own. The UCLH Trust did not receive any notification of this until I told them about it.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#marigold2http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#marigold21 Oct 2006CAMIn answer to a complaint about homeopathy on the NHS, Caroline Flint, Minister of State in the Department of Health, replied with a mind-bogglingly ill-informed letter, recommending hin to consult the Faculty of Homeopaths for more information. Read the letter here.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#flint1http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#flint11 Oct 2006CAMThe Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) (an executive agency of the Department of Health) states that “We enhance and safeguard the health of the public by ensuring that medicines and medical devices work, and are acceptably safe.” They have just utterly betrayed the important job with which they are charged, Latest news indicates that the Department of Health is responsible.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#mhra1http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#mhra110 Sept 2006CAMThe Royal Society posts a statement that says “It is important that treatments labelled as complementary and alternative medicines are properly tested and that patients do not receive misleading information about the effectiveness of complementary medicine”. I hope the MHRA is listening.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#roysoc1http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#roysoc14 Oct 2006CAMThe BMJ published yet another inconclusive paper on acupuncture, but misrepresented it in their press release.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#bmj2http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#bmj230 Sept 2006CAMGerald Weissmann, editor-in-chief of FASEB journal, talks straighthttp://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#faseb1http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#faseb126 Sept 2006CAMCongratulations to South West Kent PCT which has decided that Tunbridge Wells homeopathic hospital has no place in the 21st century medicine.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#twhosphttp://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#twhosp26 Sept 2006CAMA curious web site that will sell you D-mannose and “DNA-rich” Chlorella for cancer (and, of course, take your donations).http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#icon1http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#icon110 Sept 2006CAMThe prince’s unconstitutional interventions in public policy continue as he launchs an organisation called Integrated Health Associates (IHA).http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#hrh3http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#hrh310 Sept 2006CAMAn even more than usually crackpot idea from homeopath Carol Franske is that shaking the bottle splits atomic nuclei. And a discussion on recent work which suggests that the real memory of water is even less than a millionth of a millionth of a secondhttp://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#water1http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#water123 Aug 2006CAMThe Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy (ACAI) has issued a superbly reasoned analysis of about 30 allergy-related tests and treatments that "have been promoted in the absence of any scientific rationale."http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#allergy1http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#allergy117 Aug 2006CAMThe US National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) has had $842 million of taxpayers’ money and has wasted most of it.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#nccam1http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html# nccam116 Aug 2006CAMThe Independent published a response from me that includes the words “Selling pills that contain nothing whatsoever but sugar as medicines isn't just delusional, it's fraud.”. When foolishness ends and fraud begins is the subject of an excellent book by the physicist Robert Park.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#fraud1http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#fraud115 Aug 2006CAMA paper has appeared, apparently quite serious, that likens anyone who thinks that there should be evidence that a medicine works is a fascist. This paper is truly unbelievable.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#holmes1http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#holmes111 Aug 2006CAMBrain Deer has produced a very detailed account of the MMR scandal. It shows the corrupting influence of money on research, and the harm done, bath by Dr Wakefield, and by the Royal Free Hospital which sought to profit from him..http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#mmr1http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#mmr14 Aug 2006CAMThe Independent recommended the Helios Homeopathy Travel kit as one of its Ten Best. They made amends by publishing a letter pointing out that the pills contained nothing whatsoever.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#helios1http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#helios128 July 2006CAMDr Gleason, a Maryland psychiatrist was led away in handcuffs after taking $100 000 from a drug company. His activities in promoting ‘off-label’ uses for their drug are, of course, entirely unrelated to the money he received.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#gleasonhttp://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#gleason22 July 2006CAMThe Institute of Science in Society purports to be about promoting a socially responsible approach to science. It combines some reasonable stuff about global warming with a lot of utter rubbish about homeopathy (mainly written by the Institute’s director, Dr Mae-Wan Ho.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#isishttp://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#isis19 July 2006CAMThe Newsnight TV programme did an undercover investigation. Ten out of ten homeopaths, including two big companies Nelsons and Helios, told patients that malaria could be prevented by homeopathic pills alone. So much for the idea that homeopathy is harmless. .http://dcscience.net/?p=22http://dcscience.net/?p=2213 July 2006CAMGeorge Lewith, who is an advocate of CAM research, appears to have rather different standards in his private clinic.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#lewith1http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#lewith15 July 2006CAMAn outrageous paper in the post-modernist style which is remarkably similar to Alan Sokal’s famous spoof.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#barry1http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#barry131 May 2006CAMA lovely article by Dominic Lawson, in The Independent.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#lawsonhttp://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#lawson31 May 2006CAMThe Prince of Wales addressed the World Health Organisation in Geneva. Some bits were excellent, but in the end it was irresponsible, dishonest, and perhaps unconstitutional too.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#hrh2http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#hrh223 May 2006CAMA letter from 13 doctors on scientists to NHS chiefs was the front page headline in The Times, and the lead story on the Today Programme.. Read and hear it here.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#nhs1http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#nhs123 May 2006CAMFrancis Wheen on HRH Prince Charles “his views on medicine are barmy -and pernicious.”http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#hrh1http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#hrh117 May 2006CAMWhat is the truth? Tobacco companies on one side, and the near-religious zealotry of the anti-smoking lobby on the other, certainly make it hard to discover. Neither side seems interested in evidence.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#ps1http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#ps12 May 2006CAMA bizarre organisation called the NHS Trusts Association promotes not only homeopathy, but even wackier things like ‘crystal therapy’.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#nhsta1http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#nhsta129 Apr 2006CAMAn Edinburgh hospital is to supply aromatherapy on the NHS.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#lothian1http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#lothian129 Apr 2006CAMThe Amsterdam Medical Disciplinary Tribunal has struck off one doctor and suspended two others for their exclusive use of complementary treatments, resulting in the death of a woman.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#dutch1http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#dutch121 Apr 2006CAMBoots, the biggest UK retail pharmacists, give bad, indeed dangerous, advice, and their ‘learning store’ for children has a lot of misleading rubbish about alternative medicines.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#boots1http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#boots118 Apr 2006Big PharmaHere is a link to a fascinating collection of essays that discuss ‘disease mongering’.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#pharma3http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#pharma313 Apr 2006Big PharmaWhen asked for the documentation that led to the approval of magnets as treatment for leg ulcers, the Department of Health would reveal precisely nothing, giving as a reason that trade secrets were involved. Trade secrets of magnetic bracelets?http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#foi2http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#foi26 Apr 2006FOIA letter published in the Guardian on 1 April 2006 defended in unequivocal terms the whole BBC2 series on Alternative Medicine. It had 10 signatories. But it seems the letter originated from the BBC and at least one signatory had not seen it and did not agree with it. What is going on?http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#bbc3http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#bbc34 Apr 2006BBCSeveral of the people who contributed to, and/or appeared in, the BBC2 series on alternative medicine, have complained that they were treated “like marionettes”, and that the programme was sensationalised and uncritical,http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#singh2http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html# singh225 Mar 2006BBCThe Office of Fair Trading has taken Magno-Pulse Ltd to the High Court after they refused to stop what the OFT regards, quit rightly, as misleading advertising. This is the company whose magnets have just been approved by the PPA for prescription on the NHS!http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#oft1http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#oft115 Mar 2006magnetsA request for information under the Freedom of Information Act gets the brush-off. It seems that the PPA retains no copies of any information about how it makes its decisions (they say).http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#foi1http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#foi114 Mar 2006magnetsEmails in my possession show that the Chiron Clinic is able to decide that nutritional supplements are needed for leg ulcers on the basis of an email (as well as magnets of course).http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#ne1http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#ne114 Mar 2006magnetsNobody knows the cost! But here is some information that I found by use of the Freedom of Information Act 2000...http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#rlhh2http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#rlhh213 Mar 2006homeopathyThe Prescription Pricing Authority, who approved the magnetic device say simultaneously that for a device to be included it “must be cost-effective” and “There is no judgement offered about whether a product in the Drug Tariff is more (or less) efficacious than any other, or the placebo effect.”. The mind boggles.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#mag2http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#mag227 Jan 2006magnetsA report in the Sunday Times says the magnetic devices for leg ulcers have been approved for prescription on the NHS despite there being next to no evidence that they work. Cherie Blair is said to approve.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#mag1http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#mag19 Jan 2006magnetsUse of alternative medicine, even as a placebo, raises problems that are rarely considered.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#dilemmahttp://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#dilemma9 Jan 2006BBC2The Open University course K221: delusions in a good universityhttp://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#ou1http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#ou1January 2006UniversityA good chance was missed to convey the facts and the science. Well below the BBC’s usual standard for science programmes.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#bbc2http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#bbc29 Jan 2006BBC2An article on the death of homeopathy, There has been long enough to get evidence, but it is not there.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#relicthttp://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#relictTue, 27 Dec 2005 23:59:56 GMTCAMA wonderful spoof paper on fraud in Science.http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#clone1http://www.dcscience.net/improbable.html#clone12 Feb 2006UK