http://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/when-science-fails-bully/#more-3829"There seems to be no end to the questionable tactics of CAM promoters. The one thing they do not have on their side is the science. Two decades ago, when they really started clamoring for legitimacy, their frequent cry was that all they wanted was a fair chance to prove that their modalities worked. They claimed that treatments like acupuncture and homeopathy were simply not studied, and once they were properly studied the world would see how effective they were.
Now, two decades and billions of research dollars later (mostly through the NCCAM) the evidence is increasingly clear – these modalities are alternative for a reason, they don’t work. Those clinical trials that are well controlled an rigorously designed demonstrate that acupuncture, homeopathy, reiki, and similar methods do not work any better than placebo. They are physiologically inert.
If proponents were intellectually honest, they would have simply admitted this and moved on. But CAM proponents use scientific evidence (to borrow an excellent metaphor) as a drunkard uses a lamppost, for support rather than illumination.
The more negative evidence comes in, the more desperately they try to distract from this fact. So they misrepresent the evidence, cherry pick the positive data, advocate for unblinded “pragmatic studies”, confuse placebo effects with specific effects of their intervention, and still maintain that “Western” science cannot penetrate their arcane modalities. It’s all smoke and mirrors, meant to deceive.
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It's not a long piece, but it's not easily summed up, so any responses should come after reading the whole piece. Anyway, I am so tired of the alt-med scam artists continuing to take money from hard working people. It's just ridiculous.
:(
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