Update on Chiropractice and Libel

I've been meaning to put together something about the situation with Simon Singh and the BCA as referred to in an earlier post, but I think this article:

Science-Based Medicine

does a much better job than I could. It explains beautifully how the BCA have done more to discredit themselves than anyone else could have done.

QUOTE:

Simon Singh is a science journalist who last year wrote an article in the Guardian critical of the British Chiropractic Association (BCA) for promoting chiropractic treatment for certain childhood ailments. Singh characterized these treatments as “bogus” because they lack evidence to back up claims for clinical efficacy. The BCA responded by suing Singh for libel. In the English court system the person being sued for libel is essentially guilty until proven innocent, and even successfully defending oneself can be ruinously expensive. Therefore suing for libel in English court is a very successful strategy for silencing critics.

This case resulted in a bit of a backlash against the BCA, who were accused of silencing legitimate and very necessary public scientific debate regarding the safety and efficacy of medical interventions. The BCA could have simply responded by providing evidence to back up their claims, and the Guardian even offered them space to do so, but instead they sued.

Part of this backlash is a movement, supported by many scientific organizations, to keep libel laws out of science.

Recently the BCA has responded to this backlash with a statement and a list of studies they claim provides the evidence Singh said was lacking.

....snip ....

The BCA’s list of evidence for these four clinical claims is not impressive. The best they have to offer is a few weak and poorly designed studies. They also ignore larger better trials where available that are negative.

A more thorough assessment of the evidence for chiropractic treatment for asthma and colic is reveals evidence for lack of efficacy. For otitis media and nocturnal enuresis there is a lack of evidence for efficacy.

Despite the state of the evidence, the BCA feels they are justified in promoting chiropractic for these pediatric indications. The reader can decide if the term “bogus” applies.

Standards .... of .... ???

An email from the Prime Minister's Office regarding a petition to regulate quack medicine.

The Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council (CNHC) does not promote the efficacy of disciplines practised by its registrants. The aim of the CNHC is protection of the public. Registration means that the practitioner has met certain entry standards (in terms of having an accredited qualification or relevant experience) and that they subscribe to a set of professional standards. The public will have the reassurance that the practitioner they choose meets these standards and will be subject to fitness to practise procedures should they behave inappropriately.

Regulation, whether statutory or voluntary, is about protecting the public. For this reason, the Government fully supports the work of the CNHC. If patients choose to use complementary or alternative therapy, the Government’s advice is to choose a practitioner registered with a reputable voluntary registration body such as the CNHC.

(bolding mine)

So, the public can rest assured ... not that the treatment has any validity ... but that the practitioner has subscribed to a certain set of standards. So the practitioner's behaviour is held to a set standard, but the actuall efficacy of the treatment is not. Your treatment may be costing you plenty and not be proven to work at all, but at least your practitioner will behave appropriately.

In my opinion, the government should be concerned about the efficacy of treatments, and should be concerned that people are enouraged to use treatments such as acupuncture, which has scientifically be shown to yield the exact same results if it is done incorrectly - therefore only benefitting a patient due to the placebo effect.

Never forget - make sure the younger generations know

Twenty years on, and the youth in China reportedly do not know what happened there.
Tiananmen Square defiance

New defiance as people try to mark remembrance

Sad News

David Carradine found dead

I couldn't let this go unremarked, given the impact Kung Fu had on me over the years. Very sad news indeed. I feel almost as if I've lost a mentor, although I know that he was an actor playing a part. He did it so well, though, and I had been delighted to see his career revamped a little more recently thanks to Kill Bill.

Simon Singh, JREF, and Sense about Science

Randi's comments

My family will find this amusing because I am the least science-oriented person they know. Throw words with 6 or more syllables, or definitive terminology at me and I start to get a little flustered. However, since my conversion from a stance believing nature guides and supports us to understanding the importance of a scientific approach, I'm all for supporting science and its progress wherever possible.

I fully support Simon Singh in his legal battle against the BCA, and therefore was delighted to see JREF's support, and their link to 'Sense about Science' who are also supporting Simon Singh.
Sense about Science

I hope you will also lend your support - go blog it, twitter it, or at the very least link to their 'Keep libel laws out of science' campaign - such as I have done to the right.
link for button

'Natural Remedy' sellers run away from Q&A

My thanks to Teek at the Skepchick blog for bringing this to my attention. It brightened my day after the rather depressing news that acupuncture and other 'alternative' medicines are to be covered under the NHS.

Go here for an amusing read of what happened when a purveyor of 'natural remedies' opened themselves up to some Q&A with the Guardian readers:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/ethicallivingblog/2009/may/26/you-ask-neals-yard-remedies

Not a single answer!
This is a shame because many of the questions are entirely reasonable, and are simple questions anyone who believes these items are useful shoudl have been prepared to answer. Shame on them for running away, and more shame on them for continuing in business, given the rather outrageous claims made against some of their products which they clearly cannot support.

Edited to add:
Of all the good questions asked, I think the following is my favourite, and one I would have liked to have seen answered:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/ethicallivingblog/2009/may/26/you-ask-neals-yard-remedies?commentid=61406bf1-ab66-469d-8c2d-60e1c4d4aeb2
horcrux:

If I have discovered a new homeopathic remedy how do I go about getting it on the shelves of your shops?

Will it hinder my pitch that I have no evidence for my new remedy?

In my efforts, I have noted from your Canadian website that all your products meet your "stringent requirements" for quality and that they are "thoroughly tested". What are these stringent requirements for quality and what do these thorough tests involve? I would want to make sure that my new product will stand up to these impressive sounding standards.

I also see that you have a "team of highly qualified scientists" responsible for checking this, what are your minimum qualification requirements to join this esteemed body?

A little gem in the city sidestreets

Down in the docks area of Aberdeen is a location I know little about, and not an area I'd tend to wander around unless heading from one place to another. However, we were directed today to a little cafe there, and we'll need to thank the lady who sent us there.

Musa Art Cafe is located off the main road that passes by the docks, and the bus and railway stations, on Exchange Street. A little converted church that dates from 1880, it has been restored to show off the beautiful wooden carved beams in the ceiling and the rose windows.






Inside it is rather chaotic, but in a fun, just-give-into-it kind of way. You need to identify the best path by which to weave through to your chosen table, but the staff were immediately welcoming, friendly, and able to assist in finding a spot. It was quite busy when we were in so we missed the ceramics and some of the art that it claims are on offer, but as we sat upstairs we had a good overall view of the cafe, and a stunning view of the elaborate ceiling and the windows.

The menu was a rare thing for me - I was actually stuck for choice on several possible options. I picked "chilli cooked haddock with mash, crispy bacon and a poached duck egg". It was several meals in one, really, and came with a rich creamy sauce around the haddock. The chilli wasn't intrusive on the haddock, and the egg was poached perfectly - something I had been experimenting with last week, with much less success! The mash included spring onions, so was actually champ - a real home favourite for me that I don't get often enough over here. We were seriously tempted by some of the desserts, but were too full to try some, so happily agreed that we will be coming back.

So, a delightful surprise in a part of the city I never would have considered for good healthy food. Highly recommended.

The Spice Mill

I went out last night to a local Indian restaurant called The Spice Mill.

In advance of visiting I'd tried calling to discuss my dietary needs with someone, but had real problems getting the man answering the phone to understand me, so decided to try with the waiter on the night instead.

Let's deal with the good news first - the food was fantastic. The portions weren't as huge as many Indian restaurants do them for some reason, and they were fresh and beautifully seasoned.

Unfortunately the staff let it down. We had one waiter who had really good english, and was polite and helpful ... when he was available.

We asked for a jug of water at the start of the evening, and after the third time of asking, got some glasses of water during our main meal. We had to wait a fair bit between ordering, and courses, and had to try hard to get the attention of a waiter. On two occasions, getting that attention supplied us with some incomprehensible grunts - and no resolution to our requests.

When our main courses arrived, the waiter for some reason started picking through my friend's dish with a spoon, between handing each of the other dishes and rice to the table. We asked several times what the problem was, and were rewarded with more incomprehensible grunts before he ran away, taking the dish with him! Another waiter was next to our table as he ran, and my friend took advantage of him looking at us to say she didn't know why he took the dish (it seemed to be the correct dish). This waiter grunted something else, and then met the decent waiter on the way up the stairs. He turned to our table and we told him the waiter had taken a dish away with no explanation. He went to find out what happened. After a few minutes, a dish (looking like the same dish) was brought to my friend. He made a half-assed attempt of an apology and left - we are still completely in the dark as to what happened, and it didn't fill us with much comfort for the rest of the evening. Nobody came to see how we were doing and if everything was ok, and we were left for a fair amount of time again after our meals before we were asked if we wanted coffees or desserts. We were too disgusted to stay much longer by that point.

So, we had an enjoyable evening - because the company was good and we had plenty of time to waste (luckily enough). The meal was not overly expensive, and we were unimpressed with the presentation of a rose each as we left. We'd have preferred better service.

Our final verdict was that we'd eat the food again, but only from the takeaway service.

Al Pitcher's Picture Show

I went back to the Lemon Tree last night to watch a comedy gig. Al Pitcher isn't someone I'd heard of before, and the whole show was entirely enjoyable.

I managed to retain my mysterious mask of public invisibilty, so was spared the attention of this Kiwi comedian, who keeps the show very intimate and individualised for each town he goes to. He does this partly by turning it into a 'chat' with the audience and partly through a 'slide show' of photos he takes of each town he visits before that night's show. Unlike many comedians who abuse their audience as part of the show, Al Pitcher was very friendly, and people were mostly happy to respond and speak to him. Even my daughter and I were prepared at various points to add our comments, but each time we were either too slow, or someone changed the track of the discussion before we piped up. I've seen Aberdeen audiences brutally heckle comedians in my previous life at the Lemon Tree as door steward, so I knew if he didn't get the balance right, they had the capability to reduce him to tears.

His take on Aberdeen through the photos he took was highly amusing, and it seemed the only thing to cause anything close to offence in them was his commentary that Aberdonians (scots in general, really) will put anything in a pie. Personally, I think the lull didn't come from offense, though. I think people were just wondering if they should tell him to have a rowie for breakfast next day. This weird concoction, also known as a buttery, is a fatty, salty, pat of pastry that looks like it was scraped off the bottom of a grill and is unique to the Aberdeen area, I believe.

In any case, everyone participated happily - even the Irish schoolteacher who frowned severely on his ... banter .... about whether or not teachers are ever tempted to try it on with the kids. (There was a bunch of Irish lady schoolteachers in together, and he was surmising that although it's definitely nasty and condemned by the media when male teachers do it... it seems to be thought of as as very sexy, when the teacher's a lady). As you'd expect, not too many people were laughing hard at such jokes, and yet Al managed to turn it around, and was told by the lady before the break that he was very funny - even if those particular jokes weren't. :D

I expect that this show depends very heavily on the audience - by its very nature. The Aberdeen audience was split about evenly between actual Aberdonians, and immigrants such as myself and the Irish ladies, which may have helped the comedian out a little. I've found a similarity though, between my native Belfast and Aberdeen, in that they tend not to take themselves too seriously anyway. They were happy to sit back and laugh at the way Aberdeen looks to a tourist, and to join in the banter (or craic, as my lot would say).

So although we had not set ourselves any expectations, other than hiding if he was brutal with the audience participation stuff (which he wasn't by any stretch), both my daughter and I came home still smiling and laughing, having had an evening out that was as interesting as it was entertaining. We'd definitely recommend it, and would see him again if we get the chance.

Friday Blues at the Lemon Tree

So, I've been out of cirulation for quite a while, and this week it got on top of me. I decided to take some positive action, and start getting out a bit more, even if it means alone (all but one of my friends being at least 500 miles away). Scary stuff.

I decided to start somewhere familiar to me. I used to go to The Lemon Tree quite regularly, and worked there as a door steward a few years back. Added to the facts that my ex husband was 2nd chef there, and I met my last partner there, it's a bit like revisiting an old home. None of the old staff remain, however - not even in the kitchen from what I could see (it's open to the restaurant), but the restaurant itself was as familiar and comfortable as I expected - despite a lovely fresh revamp on the decor.

I admit to hiding myself at one of my favourite old tables right at the back away from the stage and the bar and kitchen - but at least I was out of the house. :)

I started with a course of courgette, sun-dried tomatoes and haddock risotto, which was absolutely delightful. I had expected to spend a little time picking out the tomatoes, but luckily for me the description was wrong. These tomatoes were little loops of light, moist (definitely not any form of dried) tomatoes that left a lovely juice in the mouth. The courgettes were in nice big chunks and perfectly cooked so that they weren't crunchy, but not mushy either. The haddock was mixed in so that unless you had a piece on your fork, you didn't taste it over everything else; a difficult balance to achieve with fish. The rice had a few small forkfuls that were a little crunchy, but I don't mind that - I prefer it to a risotto that ends up all gooey and overdone, and it was only a few forks' worth. Overall I was really glad I chose that dish.

By now the band had started playing. They were called Papa Mojo and played a style of quite traditional blues music. They were mostly unobtrusive with just a few horrible jokes, and the music was great. One of the two singers apologised for a croaky throat, but I had enjoyed his songs more than the other as there was a slight Joe Cocker effect. Of course - I don't know if that's how he always sounds, but it was the kind of raspy blues vocal that I like. They mixed in a few songs that they said were by 'confused' blues musicians - with an element of gospel mixed in. I have to say they were the parts I didn't enjoy so much, but they didn't do enough of them to spoil the outing for me.

I was enjoying the music so much that I settled down for the whole show, and to follow my risotto I decided to set my diet aside, and had the orange creme brulee. This dish was absolutely heavenly. It had the thinnest crispest layer of burnt sugar, and under that was a light cream that was deliciously icy cold. It had the exact measure of orange in it so that the dish tasted light and creamy, and also refreshingly zesty. The only issue I had with it was that it was in a little ramekin, and served with a large dessert spoon! However, when my hot chocolate arrived in a tall glass, it came with a short teaspoon, so I was able to use that spoon for my dessert - it was basically useless for the drink.

At least both spoons were clean - I had to move my table settings around to get a clean fork (something I've encountered before at the venue). I found this ironic as I watched two waiters polish up heaps of cutlery while I was waiting to be served initially. I wasn't aware that it had changed to a system where you order your food at the bar yourself. There is a little menu holder on the table that says "Welcome to the Lemon Tree" on one side, and - as I later discovered because it had been turned to the back of the table and covered by a wilting paper menu - "Please order at the bar" on the other. I think they should put this information on the menu as well, or both sides of the menu holder to be sure it can bve easily seen. I wuold have suggested this to the guy I placed my orders with, but I have the distinct feeling it was his first day, and I didn't want to cause him more panic than he was already experiencing. He did ok with my queries about gluten free options, so I let him off the hook. The waiting staff were slow to clear away (I seem to become invisible in public places - the table next to me was attended to twice and cleared away on a third visit, while I sat with the same dishes clearly left aside to be lifted) but that's no big deal.

But - none of the latter comments spoiled my visit in any way. I felt relaxed, and the food was just divine, and the music was enjoyable and not overbearing. I would be happy to return, but more importabtly, it went well enough for me that I'm a little happier to venture to somewhere less known to me. Maybe I'll start reviewing such places a little more often. :)