How the Game Is Played

Some people may not be aware of the nature of the opposition that alternative medicine and homeopathy faces, so I'd like to explain it here. There's a long lived public relations campaign against alternative medicine in the United States and Great Britain. When I say public relations campaign, I mean exactly that: an agency sends out press releases every so often to their friends in the media to reinforce their talking points. Google News makes it easy to notice these press releases. You'll see essentially the same article on different news sites when there was no big event to justify the article. Who's behind the public relations campaign? I don't know, but their motivation is probably economic, as I can't see why someone would hire a public relations agency for the long term without an economic motivation.

So what are the talking points the campaign hits on? I've noticed three main points. First, herbs and supplements are dangerous and should not be used. They've been arguing this for at least forty years. That gives you an idea how entrenched the campaign is. Second, supplements and herbs should be regulated by the FDA. Third, alternative medicine research is a frivolous waste of money and should be ended. A recent article on this theme can be found here. You'll notice the article quotes well known figures in the quackbuster world.

The last talking point requires a little bit of explanation. If the quackbusters are so sure that alternative medicine is an unscientific fraud, you might think they'd be in favor of more research. Instead, they have all consistently opposed it. There's a con here: the quackbusters want to say that there's no scientific evidence for alternative medicine. The easiest way to accomplish this is to choke off all research. No studies mean no evidence. As long as there's research money there will be a cadre of researchers with the skills to conduct clinical trials of alternative medicine. This is Say's Law in action: supply creates its own demand. And this is something the quackbusters do not want at all.

Tags: Bernie-Simon, homeopathy-works, homeopathy-world-community, opposition-alternative-medicine, public-relations-homeopathy, quackbusters

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Comment by Denise Whiting on June 18, 2009 at 12:09am: As a lover of homeopathy and a strong PR person (I created HonFest) I would love to positively promote homeopathy. Would love to discuss the best way to combat quackery posts. As a lay person I have so many positive stories. I promote homeopathy and alternative medicine at every opportunity. I also inform public how important it is to be in charge of your own health care.
Although I have insurance, I do not have a doctor at the moment. My internist since 1978 did not want to listen to me about my thyroid complaints. He said my foggy brain was "normal"...that I was getting older.

So many folks walking around with yeast issues...I had a systemic yeast infection
he thought I had scabies!!!!Wanted to put me on steroids. Told him no, just give me something to help me sleep because the itching at night was unbearable. Went to homeopathic MD, she asked the color of my diarrhea and in 2 minutes told me what to do. After 8 weeks of illness I was better in 3 days.
In the restaurant I talk to folks all the time who suffer from simply diagnosed ailments and they are literally on 5 to 10 meds that do nothing to improve their condition.
Patient was suffering from blood clots, she was on estrogen!! she was using it internally as she had a hysterectomy many years ago. She ending up having minor heart attack...more blood clots. I could not believe she continued with estrogen. I told her estrogen causes blood clots! She is off estrogen but has had a host of problems, I believe they are related mostly to estrogen. Stuff like this makes me crazy. I know this is a rant but what are the MD's thinking.
I hear stuff like this all the time...all I say is: Hi, how are you...it is my job I own a restaurant.

Comment by Bernie Simon on June 18, 2009 at 7:32pm: Hi, Denise. I think the best way to promote homeopathy is through testimonials from patients with positive outcomes. We should put together a web site, a modern version of Fifty Reasons for Being a Homeopath and get the stories out to the press.

Comment by Dr. Robert Bruck on June 18, 2009 at 7:42pm: Why not use HWC to start a testimonial page? You have close to 850 active members to draw from. By citing HWC to the media and providing real stories of the efficacy of homeopathy- a lot of attention could be had!

Comment by Bernie Simon on June 19, 2009 at 7:52pm: There's lots we could do. The easiest thing would be to set up a Wiki, but someone would have to watch it for defacements.

Comment by david hartley on June 20, 2009 at 5:20am: a Wiki can have posts allowed as "moderated only," no ?
Such a wiki could have several moderators so that not all the burden would be on one person.

Testimonials are powerful .. perhaps also some small bit of debunking the incessant AMA $Pharma sponsored 'skepdic' rheroric .. some ideas along these lines:

Selected quotes with attribution .. such as Harris Coulter's body of work on "empiricists vs. rationalists" .. stuff from "Divided Legacy" .. "The Controlled Clinical Trial"

Selected quotes from bleeding edge physics, which show that 'someday' science will be able to understand some of the how & why of homeopathic cure

A listing of "clinical trials" which support the fact that homeopathic potencies do have quantifiable statistically meaningful power to affect organisms (especially human.)

A small paragraph plus a listing of some offsite links on the topics of:
vaccinations - damage to health, legal exemptions