CAM skepticism – a good starting spot.
Orac has a good summary post with some links for useful essays on the problems with Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM). I especially like Steve Novella’s article:
I think the biggest victory scored by the promoters of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) was the name itself. Fifty years ago what passes today as CAM was snake oil, fraud, folk medicine, and quackery. The promoters of dubious health claims were charlatans, quacks, and con artists. Somehow they managed to pull off the greatest con of all – a culture change in which fraud became a legitimate alternative to scientific medicine, the line between science and pseudoscience was deliberate blurred, regulations designed to protect the public from quackery were weakened or eliminated, and it became politically incorrect to defend scientific standards in medicine.
He also comments on the spat of articles claiming how CAM has become a more-used modality. In reality, it’s not; and even if it were popular, that is not evidence that it works – simply evidence that people are gullible.
Why the big fuss about all this CAM stuff? One reason is taxpayer money getting spent on dumb ideas like this: Battlefield Acupuncture.
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