Quackery is a Media Sacred Cow

For many years I have been urging Hawaii media to investigate the massive frauds perpetrated by the fraudulent alternative medicine industries in Hawaii. They have always ignored me. Here is my latest submission to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, proposed for the commentary page. A month later it has not been published, I have not heard from the paper and I'm pretty sure they have tossed it. This is more proof that the paper, like all the major media, considers "alternative medicine" to be a sacred cow that is above reproach or even careful investigation. 

Our Legislators Have Saddled Us with Fraudulent Health Care

Suppose you go to a naturopath (ND) for a general checkup and consultation. Here is some of what you are likely to be told: avoid vaccinations; take lots of vitamin supplements; stock up on herbal and homeopathic drugs for use when you get sick  and take some of them daily to prevent illness. None of this has been proved effective for anything, and evidence that they are harmful has been accumulating for decades.

The naturopath may then hook you up to a computerized gizmo that supposedly detects tendencies to contract certain illnesses. The above prescriptions may be refined based on the results. Such devices have never been proved effective for diagnosing anything, and if an MD were to use such unapproved methods she could be in big trouble. But, thanks to our state legislators, the ND’s consultation will be covered by insurance, meaning we all pay for it.

Later, if you contract something that could have been prevented by a vaccine, the ND will treat you with still more vitamins, herbs and homeopathic drugs, as well as acupuncture, spinal manipulations, high colonics (mega enemas), and irrational dietary advice. This too will be covered by insurance.

Something similar will happen if you go to other “alternative medicine” practitioners. A chiropractor will tell you that everyone needs regular spinal adjustments to stay healthy and may advise against getting vaccinated. Many chiropractors also peddle supplements, herbal and homeopathic drugs to “hold” the spinal adjustments. There is not a scrap of evidence to support their claims, which they have been making for more than a century, but their services are covered by insurance.

Likewise, an acupuncturist will say you need regular needling to support your immune system and stay healthy. This is nonsense. In fact, while scientists can now photograph a single atom, no one has proved that acupuncture points and meridians exist. Yet this placebo medicine is covered by insurance.

Recently I tried to get a list of all licensed naturopaths in the state to see who among them has made significant campaign contributions to state legislators. David Kern, ND, of the Hawaii Society of Naturopathic Physicians, demanded to know why I wanted the list. When I told him my purpose was irrelevant since it was public information he refused to provide it.

Legislators are not the only ones who have betrayed the public and refused to take a stand for scientific standards and consumer protection in health care. Media coverage of the various forms of “alternative medicine” has been breathlessly promotional for decades. The public has been thoroughly indoctrinated.

The last feature article about naturopathy in a local daily that I can recall was published in the 1980s. It was credulous and promotional, quoting naturopaths denouncing anti-retroviral drugs as worthless and deadly, and claiming that NDs can cure HIV/AIDS and cancer with herbs, vitamins, diets, acupuncture and the like. But Magic Johnson and millions of others are alive and well thanks to these drugs, while those who believe the naturopaths die decades prematurely. Still we get no investigative reporting on any of the “alternative medicines,” which are effectively exempt from anti-fraud laws, food-and-drug laws, medical device laws, and reckless endangering laws.

Science-based medicine has earned our respect with a century and a half of spectacular achievements dealing with hundreds of ailments and injuries. Naturopathy and the others have no such record of achievement and have actively opposed the most effective science-based measures such as vaccinations. Yet they have demanded legal equivalence with MDs and our legislators have given it to them.

For much more on media promotion of health fraud -- from Oprah and Dr. Oz to daily newspapers to NPR, PBS, and Bill Moyers -- get the free e-book, "Lying for Fun and Profit": 

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/675547. 

For more information on specific health frauds visit: 
www.sciencebasedmedicine.org.