Following my latest column on Health Canada licensing homeopathic vaccine alternatives ("Just say no to nosodes," Yorkton This Week, May 1, 2013), I was once again asked why I take such an activist stance against alternative medicine and other forms of superstition.
I thought I had made it quite clear that on the balance between a person's right to be duped and the public good, I will always oppose quackery. Distrust of the proven technology of science-based vaccinations has led to increasing outbreaks of formerly almost-eradicated infectious diseases.
Here are two other examples from recent news why I won't turn a blind eye.
On May 6, three Cleveland women who had gone missing in 2003 were freed from captivity.
Shortly after Amanda Berry, the first of the three victims, was kidnapped, her mother, Louwana Miller, appeared on the Montel Williams Show with celebrity psychic Sylvia Browne.
Browne told the grief-stricken woman, on national TV no less, that her daughter was dead.
"She's not alive, honey," Browne said. "Your daughter's not the kind who wouldn't call."
Browne is a notorious "grief vampire" in skeptical circles. She makes her living exploiting the superstitions of vulnerable people and is rarely held accountable because, like all psychics, her predictions are extremely vague or not falsifiable. In a high profile case like this, however, even the mainstream media picked up on the horrific damage charlatans like Browne can cause.
Berry's family has said Miller died of a broken heart. I couldn't find any details of what that means exactly, but there is little doubt grief can drive people to lifestyle choices such as drinking and drugs, or simply not taking care of their health that could lead to premature death.
I am not saying definitively that Miller would be alive today if not for Browne's prediction, but it certainly robbed her of all hope.
Despite being caught red-handed in this case, Browne defended her record saying she has a success rate of 87 to 90 per cent.
"Only God is right all the time," she said, according the The Huffington Post.
In the same statement, she said, "If ever there was a time to be grateful and relieved for being mistaken, this is that time."
The problem for Browne is, her accuracy claims can be refuted with actual data. In 2010, The Skeptical Inquirer did an extensive study of transcripts from the Montel Williams Show. Of 115 cases with known outcomes Browne had weighed in on over the years, her actual accuracy rate was zero.
The day after those three women were freed, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, declared the Western Black Rhino extinct. They were hunted out of existence, not to feed hungry people, but for their horns. Unlike elephants, though, who will soon succumb to the same fate because of the human lust for ornamental ivory, the demand for rhinoceros horn is primarily for use in the traditional "medicine" systems of Asian countries where it is said to cure fever, rheumatism, gout, snakebites, hallucinations, typhoid, headaches, carbuncles, vomiting, food poisoning, and even "devil possession."
Ancient peoples can be forgiven their predilection for mystical remedies. In fact, the modern pharmaceutical industry owes much to traditional cures. But, in 2013, there is no evidence that rhino horns are among these.
The horns are mostly keratin, the same stuff hair, fingernails and animal hooves are made of. One study did show that extremely large doses of the stuff was able to slightly reduce fever in rats, but the corresponding doses in humans would be many many times greater than those prescribed by traditional Chinese healers.
One researcher said you would do just as well chewing on your fingernails.
And, even it there was something to it, we have so many effective treatments these days, it is due to pure stubborn clinging to tradition and superstition that we have lost yet another majestic species of large mammal.
The premise that apologists for medical, pseudoscientific, paranormal and religious quackery operate on is that, even if it isn't effective, it's harmless. The preceding examples prove that is simply not the case.
Unfortunately, the age-old law of supply and demand guarantees that as long as there are people who believe and are willing to put out their hard-earned dollars for unproven or disproven quackery, there will be those, either other true believers or the more nefarious charlatans, willing to take advantage.
That is why I am an activist.
