The British Chiropractic Association is proud to be a member organisation of ARMA, the Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance. ARMA is the UK umbrella association bringing together support groups, professional bodies and research organisations in the field of arthritis and other musculoskeletal conditions. click here to go to the ARMA website

ARMA is also the UK National Action Network for the Bone & Joint Decade – an international multi-disciplinary initiative to improve the health-related quality of life for people with musculoskeletal conditions. click here to go to the website for the Bone & Joint Decade

There are some members of ARMA that are less controversial in what they do – the Royal College of Nursing Rheumatology Forum and the Chartered Society of Physiotherapists jump out at me, largely because I have relatives who are members of both.

I’m sure ARMA and the BCA are very well-intentioned; indeed, they have a call for information out for good practice in musculoskeletal services in line with ARMA’s care standardsat the moment. Unfortunately, they’re not looking out for instances of – shall we say – suboptimal efficiency.

The Overarching Principles of the Standards of Care (download as PDF) make interesting reading, especially A1

All people with musculoskeletal conditions should have fair access to appropriate treatments and health care services, with flexibility maintained to meet local and personal needs. Care and its delivery should reflect best practice, agreed guidelines and existing standards.

(my emphases).

Given that chiropractic remains, ahem, controversial, I do wonder if chiropractic is an appropriate partner for ARMA. As the redoutable Edzard Ernst put it,

Chiropractic is rooted in mystical concepts. This led to an internal conflict within the chiropractic profession, which continues today. Currently, there are two types of chiropractors: those religiously adhering to the gospel of its founding fathers and those open to change. The core concepts of chiropractic, subluxation and spinal manipulation, are not based on sound science. Back and neck pain are the domains of chiropractic but many chiropractors treat conditions other than musculoskeletal problems. With the possible exception of back pain, chiropractic spinal manipulation has not been shown to be effective for any medical condition. Manipulation is associated with frequent mild adverse effects and with serious complications of unknown incidence. Its cost-effectiveness has not been demonstrated beyond reasonable doubt. The concepts of chiropractic are not based on solid science and its therapeutic value has not been demonstrated beyond reasonable doubt.

From the abstract to this paper in the Journal of Pain and Sympton Management.

I wonder if the other members of ARMA would agree with Prof. Ernst’s assessment. In the meantime, does anyone know anything about ARMA or a group of which ARMA is a member, Bone and Joint Decade.

xD.

More information on Jenny McCarthy and vaccines in general at JennyMcCarthyBodyCount.com.

Although it is a book about climate change, it is more about why we have failed to heed the many warnings about where we’re headed and why we deny, in many cases, hard facts. I will be writing a longer review of this excellent book once I have caught up on work and sleep. Suffice to say that it paints a worryingly grim and worryingly realistic picture of where we’re going and, more particularly, why we have singularly failed, as a species, to put into place the policies and changes indicated by the science of climate change to avoid catastrophe.

The full interview:

An edited version appears in the latest episode of everyone’s favourite skeptical podcast, the Pod Delusion:

Requiem for a Species is available priced £14.99 in hardback and is published by Earthscan.

I’d just like to add one thing:

The British Chiropractic Association happily promotes bogus treatments without a jot of evidence.

I’m tempted to put that on the nearest billboard to the BCA’s offices.

xD.

“I have sat among their learned men, for that honour I had, and been counted happy to be born in such a place of philosophic freedom, as they supposed England was, while themselves did nothing but bemoan the servile condition into which learning among them was brought; …. that nothing had been there written now these many years but flattery and fustian. There it was that I found and visited the famous Galileo, grown old a prisoner of the Inquisition, for thinking in astronomy otherwise than the Franciscan and Dominican licensers thought.”

John Milton, Areopagitica, cited by the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, Lord Judge, in his judgement allowing an appeal in the BCA v Singh case. The full title of Milton’s work is “Areopagitica: A speech of Mr. John Milton for the liberty of unlicensed printing to the Parliament of England” and was published in 1644. The full text of the judgement is at Bailii and the full text of the Areopagitica is available courtesy of Project Gutenberg.

When a judgement against you includes the word ‘Orwellian’, it’s time to consider the words ‘epic’ and ‘fail.

xD.

So, here’s the plan. We should write to every one of those MPs, explaining why homeopathy is (a) wrong (b) a waste of money and (c) harmful. I’m rather hoping that Jack of Kent and MJ Robbins will join in on this one.

As I see it, we need to draft a letter that succinctly expresses why EDM908 is such rot. Ideally, I’d want it to be signed by a whole load of people, sent to a newspaper like the Guardian for publication and copied to the MPs in question. What do people think? Any volunteers… sign up in the comments!

The EDM, started by David Tredinnick, reads

That this House expresses concern at the conclusions of the Science and Technology Committee’s Report, Evidence Check on Homeopathy; notes that the Committee took only oral evidence from a limited number of witnesses, including known critics of homeopathy Tracy Brown, the Managing Director of Sense About Science, and journalist Dr Ben Goldacre, who have no expertise in the subject; believes that evidence should have been heard from primary care trusts that commission homeopathy, doctors who use it in a primary care setting, and other relevant organisations, such as the Society of Homeopaths, to provide balance; observes that the Committee did not consider evidence from abroad from countries such as France and Germany, where provision of homeopathy is far more widespread than in the UK, or from India, where it is part of the health service; regrets that the Committee ignored the 74 randomised controlled trials comparing homeopathy with placebo, of which 63 showed homeopathic treatments were effective, and that the Committee recommends no further research; further notes that 206 hon. Members signed Early Day Motion No. 1240 in support of NHS homeopathic hospitals in Session 2006-07; and calls on the Government to maintain its policy of allowing decision-making on individual clinical interventions, including homeopathy, to remain in the hands of local NHS service providers and practitioners who are best placed to know their community’s needs.

A list of signatories is on the EDM’s webpage.

xD.

“Adolf Hitler took Darwin’s evolutionary philosophy to its logical conclusions.”
“…Darwin was a racist.”
“Darwin believed that women were not as competent as men, and less intelligent than men, but they were better than a dog.”
“The legacy of Darwin’s theory can be seen in the rise of eugenics, euthanasia, infanticide, and abortion.”
“DNA… presents a formidable challenge to Darwinian evolution.”

H/T The Don’t Diss Darwin Institute.

As you may or may not be aware, the Gideons International place copies of the Bible or the New Testament in hotel rooms across the world – close on one and one-half billion since their foundation in the early twentieth century. I have to mention, as it’s International Women’s Day, that the Gideons always refer to their members being “businessmen and their wives” or similar.

How about we take a leaf out of Cameron and Comfort’s book (well – not quite; we’d be honest) and come up with a simple, short atheist introduction to the Bible that travelling atheists can print out and put inside any Bibles or other holy texts that they find in their hotel rooms?

Any takers?

xD.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE REPORT ON HOMEOPATHY

That this House expresses concern at the conclusions of the Science and Technology Committee’s Report, Evidence Check on Homeopathy; notes that the Committee took only oral evidence from a limited number of witnesses, including known critics of homeopathy Tracy Brown, the Managing Director of Sense About Science, and journalist Dr Ben Goldacre, who have no expertise in the subject; believes that evidence should have been heard from primary care trusts that commission homeopathy, doctors who use it in a primary care setting, and other relevant organisations, such as the Society of Homeopaths, to provide balance; observes that the Committee did not consider evidence from abroad from countries such as France and Germany, where provision of homeopathy is far more widespread than in the UK, or from India, where it is part of the health service; regrets that the Committee ignored the 74 randomised controlled trials comparing homeopathy with placebo, of which 63 showed homeopathic treatments were effective, and that the Committee recommends no further research; further notes that 206 hon. Members signed Early Day Motion No. 1240 in support of NHS homeopathic hospitals in Session 2006-07; and calls on the Government to maintain its policy of allowing decision-making on individual clinical interventions, including homeopathy, to remain in the hands of local NHS service providers and practitioners who are best placed to know their community’s needs.

Tredinnick, David
Simpson, Alan
Russell, Bob
Pound, Stephen
Dismore, Andrew
Simpson, David
McDonnell, John
Campbell, Gregory
Cohen, Harry
Corbyn, Jeremy
Drew, David
Gray, James
Hancock, Mike