Posted 14 November 2024
Dr. Edzard Ernst, an emeritus professor at the University of Exeter, has described several categories of harm caused by so-called alternative medicine (SCAM).
They include:
- direct harm by SCAM therapies such as chiropractic spinal manipulation, acupuncture, and herbal medicine
- harm such as missing a serious diagnosis or giving false positive diagnoses caused by SCAM diagnostic techniques that haven’t been validated
- harm caused by SCAM practitioners recommending subpar treatments, offering poor advice, diagnosing conditions that don’t exist, or exaggerating the importance of everyday health impairments
- harm caused by the industry by leading consumers to misspend their money and by endangering species through the exploitation of natural resources
- harm caused by unreliable research that undermines trust in science
- harm caused by fallacious notions, such as “nature knows best,” that undermine rational thought
Ernst concluded:
As the benefits of SCAM are often only marginal or entirely absent, even relatively … Read the rest