http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/some-encouraging-backlash-against-nonsense/#more-15984"One of the themes of SBM is that modern health care should be based upon solid scientific ground. Interventions should be based on a risk vs benefit analysis using the best available scientific evidence (clinical and basic science).
As an extension of this, the standard of care needs to be a science-based standard. Science is (or at least should be) objective and transparent, and without such standards there is no way to have meaningful quality control. Without the filter of science there is no limit to the nonsense and magical thinking that can flow into the health care system. Increasingly we cannot afford the waste of fanciful and ineffective interventions, and even if limited resources were not an issue – individual patients deserve better.
It is for these reasons that we oppose the attempts by proponents of so-called complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) to erode or eliminate the science-based standard of care in medicine. Proponents differ mostly on how open they are about this goal, but there is no escaping the reality that at the heart of the very concept of CAM is at least a double standard – one in which the science-based bar for inclusion is lowered for some favored modalities.
Proponents will sometimes argue (against all evidence) that this is not the case but rather that there is prejudice and closed-mindedness against certain types of treatments. This is reminiscent of the claims by proponents of creationism/intelligent design that their beliefs are unfairly treated by scientists and school systems. In fact both cultural movements use the same language and tactics to promote their ideology against the defenders of a science-based standard -the “academic freedom” and “health-care freedom” strategies are two sides of the same coin.
..."The piece goes on to show how CAM artists work to lower standards, and then discusses the Canadian Medical Association's push back against proposed lower standards.
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No matter how it's spun, the "health freedom" movement and its desire to stop regulation is corrupt. It is self-serving for an industry that does not want to have to prove that its products serve a definite purpose in a safe manner. Anecdotes about human mistakes in the act of regulation do not change that. Shoving those anecdotes upon others as evidence that regulation is bad does not change that. Yelling "Big Pharma," because everyone has big problems with "Big Pharma" doesn't change the fact that those pushing "health freedom" are working to make their own profits, and they don't want any government oversight to step in and assess their practices.
If you want to call what you're pushing health care, then follow the same standards everyone else must follow.
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