VOL 7, ISSUE 1 WINTER 2013

Quacks and Conspiracies: The undermining of and your health

• Why the matters • The artificial promises of organic food —Tom Flanagan —Mark Hanson • as • Why celebrities are bad for your health —Timothy Caulfield —Steven J. Hoffman and Julia Belluz • The facts about “natural” • The Utopian’s Dilemma —Heather Boon —Kenneth P. Green • Who’s afraid of the big bad GMO? • How medical conspiracy theories are —Alan McHughen making us sicker—Jonathan Kay Why science matters n 2003 when survived another eight years though With the help of authors from a cancerous not without chemotherapy and across North America and who Itumour was radiation and additional operations) have developed a deep knowledge discovered on because his was a life that did not the pancreas necessarily have to end early. method, organic foods, GMOs, so- of Steve Jobs, If, what we do know from of specific issues, be it the scientific the brilliant, called “alternative” medicine, or why mercurial co- people are attracted to conspiracy over the decades had been availed founder of Apple refused to undergo theories, we try to help answer that byscientific Jobs early,investigations perhaps and Jobs advances might surgery to have it removed. “I really query. still be with us today. What we do didn’t want them to open up my body, so I tried to see if a few other know is that surgery, chemotherapy, There are obvious proven things would work,” Job later told his biographer, Walter Isaacson. tested and proven treatments can fruits are preferable to rotten ones; radiation and other scientifically- help save some people from an early foodsbenefits with to living Vitamin a healthy C and life. D trumpFresh For Jobs, those other “things” death from cancer. included his already strict vegan diet, soda pop and Doritos as an aid to fresh carrot and fruit juices, as well That doesn’t always work for keep a body healthy; greens are as , herbal remedies everyone but a natural question better for you when compared with is why someone as brilliant as and some other treatments he three beers and two fatty steaks Steve Jobs—he wasn’t crazy— discovered on the Internet. He also every night. But it is one thing to would forego actual proven help submitted to a regimen proscribed for his illness, this in favour of by a “natural” healing clinic that “treatments” that were untested, or of healthy choices for a body; it is advised juice fasts, bowel cleansings, quitenote the another obvious, to assert the added that theybenefits can hydro-therapy and “the expression of all negative feelings.” Another quackeryalready falsified, and snake or simply oil. Afterthe 21st all, treatments to treat diseases already “treatment” was eating horse feces. incentury his equivalent professional of 19th career, century Jobs replace scientifically-proven medical With reference to the latter, one present. would not have abandoned known friend later told Jobs “he was crazy.” methods for assembling a circuit In this issue of C2C Journal, we Nine months later, Jobs eventually board in favour of having employees take the side of science and the agreed to surgery. But by then the chant over raw materials with the cancer had spread. “During the vain hope that fully formed I-Macs attacks, foggy reasoning, magical operation, the doctors found three would magically result. thinking,scientific method and outright over ad chicanery.hominem liver metastases,” wrote Isaacson. This issue of C2C Journal aims to Science and a proper understanding “Had they operated nine months help answer the question of why too of it matters for many reasons but earlier, they might have caught it many people oppose, abandon, or in the context of personal health, it before it spread, though they would are unduly skeptical about science matters even more. never know for sure.” Indeed, one cannot always controversies that have arisen and know with certainty what causes areand connected its benefits. to We our zero bodies, in some e.g., Mark Milke this or that cancer or what allows claims about homeopathy or the Chairman of C2C Journal and issue it to spread. But I note Jobs (who editor

100-mile diet to name just two.

C2C Journal’s editorial board: Media Inquiries Patrick Callaghan, Adam Daifallah, Sylvia LeRoy, Al MacDer- Mark Milke Email: [email protected] mid, Heather Devlin MacDermid, Mark Milke, Andrea Mrozek, Joseph Quesnel, and Chris Schafer. For permission to reproduce an article, please contact the editors. © Copyright 2013. Canadian Journal of Ideas Inc. All Rights Reserved. Canadian Journal of Ideas Inc. the editors, or the advisory board members. The views expressed in C2C do not necessarily reflect those of C2C, Website: www.c2cjournal.ca Editor of this issue: Mark Milke Email: [email protected] Associate Editor: Kathleen Welsch

2 Volume 7, Issue 1 Contents _ Winter 2013 The scientific method and why it matters...... 5 by Tom Flanagan Surgery, chemotherapy and radiation lower the mortality rate from cancer, whereas reliance on homeopathic remedies is a death sentence. The University of Calgary’s Tom Flanagan, on why the

scientific method matters. The Suzanne Somers effect: How medical conspiracy theories are making us sicker ...... 31 by Jonathan Kay National Post editorial page editor Jonathan Kay has written the book, literally, on conspiracy theories. And, from the anti-

exist among the anti-science crowd. But unlike a harmless belief in movementaliens, such to beliefs the anti-fluoride can have deadly crowd, consequences. the same belief in conspiracies

The false promise of false science: Peeking behind the veil: The Homeopathy as pseudoscience...... 8 artificial promises of organic by Timothy Caulfield food...... 19 For those who reside in the material world, by Mark Hanson where the laws of physics have relevance, a homeopathic At the heart and soul of the organic movement is the non- remedy is either nothing but water or, if in capsule form, a

Law and the School of , University of Alberta, scientific belief in vitalism. Problem: Vitalism as a belief explains.sugar pill. Timothy Caulfield, a professor in the Faculty of Universitysystem has of been Manitoba, effectively takes on somedebunked organic for myths decades, and if misconceptions.not since the early 19th century. Mark Hanson, from the Why "natural" medicine is not the same as safe medicine...... 11 by Heather Boon Why celebrities and TV doctors are bad for your health ...... 23 Imagine a picnic in the country with your by Steven J. Hoffman and Julia Belluz play—and which you make sure they don’t eat. Heather Beware the celebrity doctors, to say nothing Boon,family. Professor Your children and the find Associate some mushrooms Dean at the while Leslie they Dan of Playboy models and movie stars who pretend to be Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto dissects some myths about “natural” products. literacyexperts in on Hollywood health issues. and beyond. Harvard’s Steven J. Hoffman and the Medical Post’s Julia Belluz take on the lack of scientific Who’s afraid of the big bad GMO?...... 14 The Utopian's Dilemma: In praise of by Alan McHughen the 10,000-mile diet...... 28 In over 30 years, there is not one by Kenneth P. Green documented case of harm to humans, animals or the wouldn’t know that from the fear-mongering anti-GMO disconnected from reality in Kitsilano would think and movement.environment Alan from McHughen, genetically from modified the department organisms. of But botany you pretend to eat,The otherwise. 100-mile Environmental diet is folly. Only scientist someone and and plant at the University of California, Riverside, Fraser Institute Senior Fellow Ken Green reviews The fills in the missing facts on GMOs. Locavore’s Dilemma: In Praise of the 10,000-Mile Diet. Volume 7, Issue 1 3 The scientific method and why it matters

By Tom Flanagan 2. Formulate an explanatory theory. 3. From that theory, deduce a hypothesis (prediction). yet devised for discovering truths about the he scientific method is the most powerful tool 4. Compare (test) that hypothesis against T systematic empirical evidence. method is the systematic testing of theoretical speculationsworld. against The essential empirical feature evidence. of theFor scientificexample, 5. If the prediction is accurate, consider the theory Aristotle claimed that men have more teeth than women do. We do not know how many mouths he but continue to derive other predictions for looked into, but he may in fact have been correct in empiricaltentatively testing. supported (i.e., not yet falsified) his day. Women tended to die younger than men did because of the rigours of childbirth, and wisdom teeth 6. erupt later in life (I am now getting two at the age of the theory, and start the cycle over again. If the prediction is falsified, revise or abandon 68). Aristotle is often derided for his alleged mistake, 7. Let other researchers replicate the experiment but the important thing is that this great philosopher to ensure that results are not a statistical outlier thought it was meaningful to gather such humdrum or perhaps due to some quirk of the researcher. empirical evidence. As Karl Popper taught us, the crucial element is the hypothetico-deductive method, which operates Aristotle’s claim about the number of teeth in men throughIn modern the following scientific stages: , the gold standard is the quest for falsification. One cannot properly test Inductively gather information through dictum. Argument by adducing favourable cases is the observation. hallmarkand women of rhetoric by finding whose a purpose few cases is to to build support political the 1. 4 Volume 7, Issue 1 coalitions, not to discover the truth about the world. and quickly developed stomach ulcers, which then In contrast, willingness to look at all the evidence is responded to treatment with antibiotics, the medical community thought ulcers were the result of stress

Howcentral the to scientificthe scientific method.method falsifies claims the role of , and Marshall won the Nobel The most trustworthy method of testing a Prizeand improper in 2005. diet.The treatment Subsequent of stomach studies ulcers confirmed was theoretical prediction is the controlled experiment, revolutionized. The moral of the story is that while in which confounding factors are either eliminated or statistically controlled. In contemporary medicine, this takes the form of the double-blind, randomized continuingconventional source scientific of correction wisdom andmay improvement. be wrong at anyWe . Psychological factors are minimized, dopoint not in know time oneverything, any subject, but thewe scientificdo know methodhow to testis a because neither patients nor doctors know who is what we think we know and how to develop better getting the treatment and who is getting a . approaches over time. Confounding factors are controlled by matching members Why “alternative” medicine is of the treatment and controlling attractive: three hypotheses for as many factors as possible, such as age, sex, ethnicity and Despite what health conditions. The clinical Jenny} McCarthy If the scientific method is so The scientific effective, why is there so much trial is the capstone of other less says, the MMR “alternative” medicine including conclusive forms of research osteopathy,fascination , with non-scientific home- such as epidemiological studies vaccine dramatically opathy and ? Let method and why it that identify candidate causes of reduces the me suggest three plausible pathology and experiments with likelihood of explanatory hypotheses, while animal models whose anatomy emphasizing that plausible does and physiology are similar, but contracting , not mean proven. matters not identical, to those of human mumps and rubella beings. without increasing restrained, patient and dependent Thanks to the scientific the incidence on Becausesystematic the empirical scientific methodevidence, is method, we have accumulated vital information about med- of autism. We or no hope. Multiple sclerosis, for ical conditions: Surgery, che- know all these example,there are timesis a terrible when itdisease offers thatlittle motherapy and radiation things because of lower the mortality rate from properly conducted and quality of life. We know a cancer, whereas reliance on lotadversely about its affects neural both mechanisms, the length homeopathic remedies is a and replicated but we do not understand its death sentence. Fluoride in studies. causation. There is no cure, and proper amounts reduces dental ~ existing symptomatic treatments cavities, although too much fluoride can lead to mottled and brittle teeth. Despite what Jenny McCarthy are only moderately effective says, the MMR vaccine dramatically reduces the Zamboni’s venoplastyand treatment have unpleasant (enlarging side allegedly effects. likelihood of contracting measles, mumps and constrictedIs it any wonder, blood then,ves-sels that in sufferers the neck) turn even to though Dr. Paolo it rubella without increasing the incidence of autism. We know all these things because of properly conducted and replicated studies. is supported mainly by flimsy anecdotal evidence? I might try it, too, if I suffered from MS. thought for human beings. Survival in ordinary life oftenThe depends scientific on method making is timely not adecisions natural based mode on of Of course, our knowledge is not final. As research whatever evidence is available. That was true when swallowedcontinues, thea Petri scientific dish ofmethod Helicobacter sometimes pylori upsets the early Homo sapiens stalked rhino on the African conventional scientific wisdom. Until Barry Marshall Volume 7, Issue 1 in 1984 5 savannahs, and it is true today when a woman with a lump in her breast has to decide whether to see a organizations such as the CIA. There is not always a surgeon or seek homeopathic advice. She may be brightfigures line such between as kings paranoid and popesfantasy and and byreal secretive politics. The Protocols of the Elders of Zion would look like a paranoid fantasy if they were believed by only one bymore any influenced consensus byin thewhat medical she hears literature. from friends We depend and person, but when believed by many, they became (and onfemale limited relatives anecdotal about evidence the effects in almost of mastectomy everything than we still are) a mainstay of anti-Semitic ideology. do, from buying a new computer to seeking medical The U.S. political scientist Michael Barkun has treatment. written about the “culture of conspiracy,” which emphasizes “stigmatized knowledge” not approved of communication have other objectives. The purpose by social authorities. In the strange world of the of The political scientific communication method seeks truth, but other forms “culture of conspiracy,” – rhetoric – is to build sup- extraterrestrial aliens portive coalitions in the mingle with the Bavarian pursuit of power. Half- Illuminati and de-votees of truths, quarter-truths and satanic rituals. Alternative downright lies are the medicine naturally is daily currency of politics drawn in, along with junk science of all kinds. If the and public affairs. Contrary authorities are lying about into rhetoric the scientific is not whether method, athe prediction test of matches effectiveness the New Mexico, they could flying saucers at Roswell, evidence but whether a just as well be lying about statement strengthens the medical research and the coalition that the speaker is trying to build. It is, an irresistible milieu for therefore, not surprising paranoidsscientific method. who are drawn It is that politicians will pander to “stigmatized knowledge” to believers in . Their votes Increased levels of count just as much as non- like moths to a flame. formal education do not believers’ votes. Demands seem to discourage the for action led the federal government to authorize a “culture of conspiracy”; in- $6-million clinical trial of deed, the Internet actually Dr. Zamboni’s venoplasty promotes it by allowing as a treatment for MS even true believers from all though the procedure over the world to exchange is supported mainly by “stigmatized knowledge” anecdotal evidence and not the combination of basic more freely than ever. If politics is part of the human science, epidemiology and trials with animal models condition and if paranoia is a distorted, individualized that usually precede the expensive decision to proceed form of politics, then alternative medicine and junk to trials with human subjects.

The problem of paranoia method.science ♦ are likely to flourish no matter how much Ordinary political rhetoric has a curious time is spent explaining the virtues of the scientific Doppelgänger in the form of individual paranoia. Paranoia is the construction of an imaginary, negative coalition that is out to destroy the individual; Tom Flanagan is professor of political science at the University of the coalition is usually populated by prominent Calgary.

6 Volume 7, Issue 1 The false promise of false science: Homeopathy as pseudoscience

By Timothy Caulfield It may create the impression that the therapies are “By granting self-regulation, we’re attesting, as supported by good science. It casts a veil of legitimacy elected representatives, to the public that we believe over the work of naturopaths and, one could argue, the practices that will be engaged in by professionals Indeed, Minister Horne was explicit. He said that the grantingimplies that of self-regulation all services that demonstrates are offered are to theefficacious. public the highest possible standard.” are safe and that they’re effective and that they meet that the Alberta government “believe[s] the practices The above statement was made earlier this year by the Alberta Health Minister, Fred Horne, during Really? a press conference to announce the granting of … [are] effective.” regulated status to naturopaths. The mood at the press Welcome to the world of pseudoscience conference, which received a good deal of coverage, appeared to be upbeat and positive. It was portrayed Allow me to lay my admittedly love-of-science, as a good-news story. It was, apparently, a victory rant-tainted cards on the table. In general, the for those who want more health-care options. It was services provided by naturopaths reside either in a victory for patient choice, autonomy and open- the realm of commonsense lifestyle advice (get lots mindedness. of sleep, eat well and stay active!) or they have little empirical evidence to support their use. In fact, many My reaction was somewhat less than positive. naturopathic practices are based on a semi-spiritual The granting of regulated status – which includes theory (the healing power of nature) and have no the creation of the College of Naturopathic Doctors foundation in science. They reside largely in the realm of Alberta – may seem a relatively benign political of pseudoscience. act. It will lead to more standardization and, I guess, Am I being too harsh? I recently worked with a promote safety. University of Alberta colleague on an analysis of the However, it may also foster a misunderstanding web sites for the naturopaths in Alberta and British about the services provided by these practitioners. Columbia. We wanted to get a sense of what is being

Volume 7, Issue 1 7 who cares if perhaps in some instances they do work? commonly advertised service is homeopathy. offered to the public. In Alberta, the number-one most Homeopathy has been around for hundreds of years. What does the clinical evidence actually say? The basic philosophy behind the practice is the idea of Here's why: Because despite claims to the contrary, “like cures like.” A homeopathic remedy consists of a there are hundreds of studies on homeopathy. natural substance – a bit of herb, root, mineral, you get What the good research consistently tells us is that the idea – that “corresponds” to the ailment you wish homeopathic treatments do not work any better than to treat. The “active” agent is placed in water and then do. diluted to the point where it no longer exists in any For example, a 2002 systematic review – a rigorous physical sense. analysis of all available evidence – concluded that the In fact, practitioners of homeopathy believe that best available evidence “does not warrant positive the more diluted a remedy is, the more powerful it recommendations for its use in clinical practice.” A is. So, if you subscribe to this particular worldview, ironically, you want your active agents to be not just homeopathic remedies have no “ o. ” non-existent, but super non-existent. Even2010 the review U.S. of National the “best Institutes evidence” of Health concluded National that effects beyond placeb The bottom line: For those of us who reside in Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, the material world, where the laws of physics have relevance, a homeopathic remedy is either nothing minded about unconventional treatments, concluded, but water or, if in capsule form, an entity that has a “[t]here specific is mission little toevidence be open- to a sugar pill. support homeopathy as an

How homeopathy conflicts with the laws of physics and effective treatment for any To be fair, there is ob- chemistry servationalspecific condition.” evidence that Of course, “like cures suggests that patients who seek like” and super dilution have out homeopathic remedies absolutely no foundation in often feel better, but research science. There is no evidence tells us that, as with many to support the idea that the alternative treatments, this is active agents – the herb, likely nothing more than the root, mineral – correspond in any biologically meaningful doubt, a powerful force. placebo effect – which is, no way to the particular ailments that the homeopathic In summary: There is no evidence that homeopathy treatments are meant to treat. (One popular works, and given the absurd nature of the proposed homeopathic Web site nicely illustrates the ridiculous nature of this idea by saying, “[I]f the symptoms of that it should work. mechanism of action, no scientifically plausible reason your cold are similar to poisoning by mercury, then Some might argue it is unfair to analyze homeopathy mercury would be your homeopathic remedy.”) and use that to critique naturopaths. Homeopathy is a Of course, the idea that a super-diluted solution could have some measurable impact on our bodies it is consistently mocked on TV shows, by comedians and,“treatment” of course, so obviouslyby skeptics. devoid of scientific merit that If a homeopathic solution contains no true ingredients, howconflicts can itwith have the a knownphysical laws impact of physics on the and body? chemistry. http:// Welcome to bogus treatment endorsed by a www.ukskeptics.com/homeopathic-dilutions.php pandering government This is not the same thing as using a vaccine, where Nevertheless, for naturopaths, homeopathy is not there is an actual biologically active agent present that some fringe practice utilized by a few rogue clinics that interacts with our immune system.) have decided to shun modern science. Homeopathy is central to naturopathic medicine. The web site for perspective, homeopathic remedies sound silly, but the newly formed Alberta college has a picture of an One might argue that, sure, from a scientific

8 Volume 7, Issue 1 attractive naturopath dispensing what looks to be The public should not forget that many special a homeopathic solution. The text under the picture interests also exist in the context of homeopathy and proudly notes the use of homeopathy. The president naturopathic medicine. The makers of homeopathic of the new college reiterated this message in the speech he delivered after Minister Horne gave his pharmaceutical company. After all, homeopathic speech. And, of course, it is a practice that is taught in solutionsremedies are want not to made turn by a water profit fairies just as and much distributed as any Canada’s leading school of naturopathic medicine. free of charge. Nor do naturopaths donate their time When Minister Horne tells the world that the Alberta and services. government believes that the practices of naturopaths How to puncture bias and special interests: not implied legitimization of a bogus treatment; this is Return to the scientific method are effective, he is talking about homeopathy. This is There are biases and vested interests everywhere. Every time I speak or write about the One should be aware of these biases, but their official and overt legitimization of a bogus treatment. existence does not help prove that homeopathy works. of three reactions. Reaction one: It is alleged that In fact, the concern with vested interests should push homeopathypseudoscientific does naturework (this of homeopathy, is usually in Ithe elicit form one of “It worked for me!”) and that I must be in the pocket of Big Pharma. Two: It is us toward, not away from,studies a reliance and the on dispassionatethe scientific noted that many remedies method. It is the use ofassessment carefully constructed of available scientific data provided by conventional that will ultimately tell us doctors also do not work any The bottom line: For what works – whether we are better than placebos do, and } talking about conventional or those of us who reside in I must be in the pocket of Big alternative therapies. Pharma. Three: I must be in the material world, where Many caring and thoughtful the pocket of Big Pharma. the laws of physics have alternative practitioners will These arguments do not likely continue to assert that take us very far down the road relevance, a homeopathic of rational debate. To simply remedy is either nothing the argument that 2+2=5 is assert something works does stillhomeopathy incorrect is no effective, matter how but not make it so. Moreover, but water or, if in capsule sincere, caring and “holistically” personal experience is the form, a sugar pill. motivated the proponent. The most unreliable form of ~ values or disposition of the evidence. Indeed, in many proponent may be relevant to questions of bias, but not, in the personalways, the perceptions. scientific method I do not know if my arguments will convince a single was developed to fight the perverting influence of personend, to whether to stop usinga claim homeopathy. of efficacy is Homeopathy accurate. is a “Big Pharma” and “Big Naturopath”: Both have faith-informed practice and, as such, largely impervious vested interests to rational argumentation. No amount of evidence (and there is a mountain of it) will convince advocates that The claim that many conventional therapies are homeopathy is merely water. But I do hope that, in the true. And pharmaceutical future, provincial governments across Canada will take interests – and, for that matter, other corporate more care in the way they address these regulation interestsineffective – have is hadabsolutely a terrible impact on the way issues that is, unless they wish to abandon evidence- evidence is produced and used. Many forces and based approaches to health care and embrace the vested interests twist what we hear about biomedical ♦ research but embracing unproven therapies does not help this situation. On the contrary, it moves health- supernaturalTimothy Caulfiel andd ispseudoscientific. the Canada Research Chair in Health Law and Policy; a professor in the Faculty of Law and the School of care policy in the wrong direction – further away from Public Health, University of Alberta; and the author of The Cure for Everything: Untangling the Twisted Messages about treatments. Health, Fitness and Happiness. Twitter: @CaulfieldTim science and empirically provable, efficacious and safe Volume 7, Issue 1 9 Why natural medicine is not the same as safe medicine

By Heather Boon herbal , vitamins, minerals, probiotics and essential fatty acids available for purchase in t’s natural, so it’s safe … or is it? As a researcher Canadian pharmacies and health food stores fall into products such as herbs and vitamins, I often I Natural Product Number on the label, which is a sign hearstudying the claim the thatsafety these and productsefficacy of are natural safe simplyhealth thatthis category. the product To check is approved a specific for product, sale under look some for the of because they are natural. Many myths about natural the strictest regulations in the world for these types health products continue to circulate despite growing of products. The regulations generally guarantee that research – more than 5,000 studies on herbal medicine what is on the label is in fact what is in the bottle. This is more than can be said for herbs and other Natural health products are not always as natural as supplements purchased in many other countries or manyalone people have beenthink, publishednor are they in always the last safer five or better years. over the Internet. However, many assumptions about for you than medications designed in a laboratory. natural health products (and the regulations) are simply not true. careful study of such claims in clinical trials will help usClaims understand of effectiveness what works are and oftenwhat does exaggerated. not. Only For example, natural health products are not necessarily made from natural sources. Your “natural” In some ways, natural health products are not product may in fact be synthesized in an unnatural laboratory. For example, vitamin C, chemically known as ascorbic acid, is much easier and cheaper that much different from any other medicines. Some conditions, and since they work by having some to synthesize from scratch in a laboratory than it is actionappear on to the be human beneficial body, for this individuals means natural with specific health products can also have adverse product (ascorbic acid) is chemically identical to drug interactions. ascorbicto isolate acid from found natural in naturesources. (e.g., As in long an as orange), the final it effects or undesirable What is “natural”? betweenqualifies as vitamin a natural C synthesized health product. in a laboratory As a scientist, and as dietary supplements in the United States) as a vitaminI will argue C isolated that your from body natural cannot sources. tell the Some difference people groupCanada of products defines usednatural for health health-related products purposes (known purport to care a great deal about how their natural whose active ingredients “exist in nature.” Most products are made. If this matters to you, read the

10 Volume 7, Issue 1 label carefully – if it does not say it is from a natural somehow “knows what to do with” natural products source, it probably is not. any more than it “knows what to do with” with other types of medicines. Many things exist in nature Do “natural” health products work? that humans are not meant to ingest. Scientists are A second assumption is that if a product is legally sold in Canada and the label says it is good for treating exactly how the body works (and thus what happens headaches, it actually works for treating headaches. whenbecoming we become increasingly sick) and sophisticated at designing at medicines figuring that out What you may not know is that a natural health product can be approved for sale in Canada in one of mitigateare specifically human targeted disease. to interact with receptors on that the product works for something: It prevents cells or specific metabolic pathways in order to help coldstwo ways. or helps One you way sleep, is to for present example. scientific The other evidence is to Natural does not = safe provide information that the product has been used Just as natural does not mean “better for you,” in a “traditional system of medicine” (for example, it also does not mean it is safe. Imagine a picnic in traditional Chinese medicine or Ayurvedic medicine the country with your family. While playing, your

50 consecutive years. trained botanist, it is unlikely that you are going to from India) for a specific condition for a minimum of children find some mushrooms. Unless you are a Some people may want to suggest adding those mushrooms to your meal given purchase a medicinal product that they might be poisonous! However, has been used for a long time by if someone picks those same traditional healers, but this is not As a scientist, I mushrooms, dries them, puts them } in a capsule and labels them as a will argue that your natural health product, many people the same as scientific evidence of body cannot tell the suddenly assume that they must be completely safe for everyone. makeefficacy. it so. For Use eons, by billions people of believed people difference between forthe thousandsearth was flat,of years but thatis not did proof not Some of the most potent toxins in vitamin C synthesized the world come from natural sources in a laboratory and – arsenic and snake venom for that something is effective. blind, placebo-controlled clinical vitamin C isolated example. Also, natural products can trials,Research, is needed specifically to test the medicinal double- claims associated with natural from natural reactions and interact badly with health products. Sometimes these sources. otherhave adverse medications. effects, For cause example, allergic ~ St. John’s wort is a herbal product but more often, the studies show that clinical trials tell us is almost thatstudies natural confirm health the productstraditional do use, not work as well as originally thought. For example, according to The depression (see The Cochrane Collaboration review ofas effective the evidence as atconventional http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/ medications for treating and summarizing all the clinical study evidence on t) . Cochrane Collaboration, a group dedicated to finding However, it causes the body to metabolize a number help to prevent urinary tract infections. In contrast, ofdoi/10.1002/14651858.CD000448.pub3/abstrac conventional medications faster than normal (see studiesspecific ofproducts, echinacea cranberry for colds juice have or had tablets mixed really results. do a recent warning issued by Health Canada at http:// It appears that if it does work, you may not notice a www.hc-sc.gc.ca/dhp-mps/medeff/advisories-avis/ prof/_2000/hypericum_perforatum_hpc-cps-eng. resolve only slightly faster than they would without an php). Therefore, if one takes St. Johns wort with intervention).big effect if you take it (e.g., your symptoms may warfarin (a blood thinner) or the birth control pill, Yet, people continue to believe that “natural” products (or at least products composed of be decreased and they may not work as intended. compounds found in nature) are somehow better for Otherthe effects herbal products,of these such conventional as comfrey, medicines have been may them than are medicines designed and synthesized associated with liver problems (the Food and Drug in a laboratory. There is no evidence that the body Administration in the United States issued a warning

Volume 7, Issue 1 11 http://www.fda. as cancer). There is simply no reason to believe gov/Food/DietarySupplements/Alerts/default.htm). these claims. Similarly, conspiracy theories that large Underabout comfrey Canada’s products regulatory in system, 2001: known adverse pharmaceutical companies are trying to keep us from knowing about a herbal product that will cure are listed on the labels of natural health products. conditions such as cancer are highly overrated. Rather Nevertheless,effects, drug the assumption interactions that theseand productscontraindications are than being the enemies of natural health products, completely safe is so strong that some people might pharmaceutical companies are big promoters of not think to check this information. them since they own some of the most popular natural health product brands. For example, Wyeth Too good to be true Finally, if something seems too good to be true, national pharmaceutical company, owns Centrum®, it probably is. Although there is growing research aConsumer well-known Healthcare, multivitamin a division (and of thus Pfizer, a a natural multi- health product). Pharmaceutical companies now takes seconds to make a claim about a product and market “natural” options of familiar products such into the safety and efficacy of natural products, it as Gravol® that are actually natural health products is slow in part because natural health with no relationship to the original productsyears to test are that complicated. claim properly. Unlike Scientific research products Original Gravol® is a chemical most conventional medicines, which called dimenhydrinate; natural-source are single chemical entities (which we Gravol® contains the herb ginger.) know a lot about since we constructed Canada has some of the highest them), natural health products often quality natural health products in the contain many active compounds world, because of our strict regulatory (sometimes hundreds), thus making system. Natural health product labels have lots of useful information about the safety of the products; however, Clinicalit challenging research to figure is time-consuming out how the not all the claims on the labels are andwhole expensive, product affects so we the need human to makebody. That they are composed of materials to test contains enough of the “active foundsupported in nature by does scientific not mean evidence. natural ingredients”sure the specific to be product a fair we test choose of its health products are safe for everyone. Moreover, there is no reason to think that they are somehow better for us effects.For example, much preliminary work is needed to determine what part than other medicines. The bottom line of the plant should be used, when it is that natural health products should should be harvested, how it should be be treated like any other medicines. processed and what dosage should be given. If this preliminary work (sometimes called pre- clinical studies) is not completed properly, scientists consumers shouldScientific beware research of unrealistic clearly shows claims that of some natural health products can be beneficial, but risk spending millions of dollars on a clinical trial only ♦ to discover that the reason the product seemed not to safetyHeather or Boon efficacy., BScPhm, PhD is a Professor and the Associate work in the trial is that they used the leaves instead of Dean – Graduate Education at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharma- the root, or they did not give the trial participants the cy, University of Toronto. She originally trained as a pharmacist right dosage. Scientists are making progress, and each and currently co-directs IN-CAM (the Canadian Interdisciplinary trial teaches them something about these products, Network for Complementary and Alternative Medicine Research). but it is still a lot easier to make a claim about a natural She is the President-elect of the International Society of Comple- mentary Medicine Research. She served as the Chair of Health health product than it is to do the research to test the Canada’s Expert Advisory Committee for Natural Health Products validity of that claim. from 2006-2009. Her primary research interests are the safety and efficacy of natural health products as well as complementary/ Given the pace of the science, claims of alternative medicine regulation and policy issues. She is the author cures from natural health products abound for health of a textbook on natural health products and over 100 academic publications. conditions12 that are notoriously difficult to treat (such Volume 7, Issue 1 Who is afraid of the BIG BAD GMO? By Alan McHughen record of the GMOs and the idea that this technology may inadvertently introduce safety hazards into foods. Finally, another large segment fears not the organism) and some people run scared ̶ why? technology but rather the idea of technology GMOsust mention are products “GMO” of technologies (genetically developed modified per se J and big multinational corporations dominating the food supply. Leading GMO seed developer Monsanto, to take DNA (i.e., genetic information) from any plant, for example, is the company many people love to animalduring the or microbe1970s and and 1980s combine that it allow with researchers the DNA of hate. any other plant, animal or microbe. The resulting transgenic organism (e.g., a bacterium with a human Politics makes for strange bedfellows. When these insulin gene inserted) remains essentially identical; however, it now expresses insulin per the example or against GMOs, it means they are locking arms with disparate groups come together to fight passionately whatever the new trait of the inserted DNA is. those who were, and will be again, enemies on other issues. For various reasons, this recombinant DNA technology, rDNA, is scary to some. Prince Charles, the Some facts: Not one documented case of harm in Prince of Wales, does not like it for moral and ethical three decades The Daily GMO technologies have been around since the Telegraph, that “I happen to believe that this kind of reasons. Back in 1998, he wrote in the from human insulin to safer crops grown with fewer belong to God and to God alone.” Others base their pesticides.early 1970s Moreover, and have ingiven over us 30 many years useful of experience, products, genetic modification takes mankind into realms that fear along naturalistic notions, asserting that humans according to authoritative sources such as the U.S. are undermining Mother Nature’s species barrier by National Academies and the American Medical moving genes from one species to another. People Association, there is not one documented case of who hold this view are invariably befuddled when harm to humans, animals or the environment from GM products. where the perceived species barrier is not violated – That is an impressive track record, considering the e.g.,confronted where genes with examplesare transferred of genetic within modification the species extent of GM products in pharmaceuticals, agriculture, or where undesirable genes are removed. food and industrial applications. So why are so many Still others fear the apparently uncertain safety still fearful of this technology? One simple answer is

Volume 7, Issue 1 13 junk science and its carefully crafted use as a weapon interest groups, such as Friends of the Earth and the of mass fear. U.K.’s Soil Association, deployed their considerable media-manipulating machinery to spread more scare Send in the (junk science) clowns stories. money by scaring people about the potential dangers Activists claimed they were performing a public Jeremy Rifkin was the first junk dealer to make big service by alerting locals in Africa that GM foods from the United States would render the men impotent. of genetic numerous engineering. books such Rifkin as Algeny is no scientist, butThe an In the Philippines, people were told, and some Biotecheconomist Century and prolific story spinner – the author convinced, by activist scaremongers that merely (1983) and and medical books, (1999). however, They are all, apparently, could turn heterosexual, virile noneclassified is peer as non-fiction. reviewed. Unlike The most other science walking through a fieldmen of genetically gay. European modified activists corn late evolutionary scientist Other examples went to Zambia during the Stephen Jay Gould referred to } height of the 2002 famine and Algeny as of junk science being convinced then president Levy “a cleverly constructed tract of used to deny access to Mwanawasa that the GM corn anti-intellectualRifkin’s 1983 book in food aid contributed by the masquerading as scholarship,” valuable GMOs include Time magazine the so-called terminator United States was “poison.” As reported by the British ran a story titled “The Most technology, which in Hatedand in Man 1989, in Science.” Still, Broadcasting Corporation, Edgar Allen Poe made money theory renders seeds Mwanawasa duly locked from selling horror stories – sterile but has never up the food in warehouses been shown to actually – the same GM corn eaten In the peer-review process, without incident by millions of why not Rifkin? cause seed sterility in the usually anonymous re- Americans – and then watched viewers make suggestions practice…Apparently, his subjects die, insisting such for improvement prior to no one thought to ask a fate was preferable to eating publication, thus protecting the obvious question of “poison.” That is, until the starving Zambians broke into the author from the public how these supposedly embarrassment of publishing the warehouses and gorged sterile terminator themselves healthy on the hallmarks of the junk scientist seeds can even sprout, allegedly poisonous corn. isa flawed an unnaturally work. But disquieting one of the let alone pass on the lack of shame. When the fatal Junk science and politics trait to offspring, as Other examples of junk to the world, the junk scientist they themselves are science being used to deny isscientific not the least defects bit embarrassed, are exposed sterile. access to valuable GMOs responding instead with an ~ include the so-called terminator ad hominem attack on the technology, which in theory whistleblower, accusing him or her of being in league renders seeds sterile but has never been shown to actually cause seed sterility in practice. But that with the devil or, worse, Monsanto. fact has not impeded the widespread misbelief that terminator technology is present in most or all targets. The real bugbears are capitalism and modern In reality, biotechnology is not Rifkin’s main agriculture; the hybrid progeny of these two foretell, approval for insect resistant GM brinjal (eggplant) fromGM seeds. India’s In Minister 2010, Indian of Environment scientists were and Forests.seeking demise of humanity. Opposition spokesperson Bharat Mansata pleaded according to Rifkin’s junk science portrayal, the Not to be outdone in the chase for money from with the Minister to reject the GM eggplant because fear-mongering, Greenpeace and other special “… once the terminator seeds are released into a

14 Volume 7, Issue 1 region, the trait of seed sterility can pass to other non- the stakes are so low.” genetically-engineered crops and plants, making most But the ultimate result is an increase in overall or all of the seeds in the region sterile!” Apparently, understanding of how nature works. Academics are no one thought to ask the obvious question of how held accountable; colleagues and rivals remember an these supposedly sterile terminator seeds can even academic’s proclamations. After too many erroneous predictions, the academic loses credibility in the themselves are sterile. eyes of his or her peers and is banished to the dank sprout, let alone pass on the trait to offspring, as they Meanwhile, the New World spawned another basement of the Ivory Tower. But the junk scientist, when called out on an incorrect prediction, simply Smith, who has penned several books decrying his moves on to the next issue or the next book. No perceivedpopular junkhazards scientist of modern in the agriculture, person saving of Jeffrey the accountability, no defending past statements when and foods. Smith’s self-published, non-peer-reviewed as anyone can publish any outlandish junk science Geneticmost potent Rou-lette venom, for example, for genetically expounds modified upon already crops claimthey are on shownthe Internet. to be false. Social media fuel the fire, questionable reports – almost all But when a plant breeder from non-peer-reviewed sources develops a strain of rice that is enhanced to help overcome that suggests that he actually ...the junk scientist, – in a confident, technical voice when} called out on an in poor tropical countries, the credentials. However, closer mediavitamin interview A deficiency, (and rampant give inspectionhas some scientificof Smith’s orCV medicalreveals incorrect prediction, that the closest he has come to simply moves on to the scaremongers like Smith instead next issue or the next ofprominence authentic to)experts pseudoscientific in nutrition as a ballroom dance instructor or agronomy, people who scientific credentials is workingGenetic book. No accountability, might actually bring legitimate Roulette is so packed with no defending past questions and concerns to the discussion. and a flying carpet yogi. statements when they that a group Entertainers Penn & Teller scientific misunderstanding and are shown to be false. applied reductio ad absurdum established a Web site to counter Social media fuel the (reduce to absurdity) to a video andof explain, actual point scientific by point, experts some fire, as anyone can to illustrate the lunacy of such 65 false claims. publish any outlandish a lopsided media “balance.” junk science claim on between scientist and Nobel Distinguishing real scientists the Internet. laureateIt highlights Norman the difference Borlaug, from junk scientists: ~ and Greenpeace activists (see credentials and associations http://www.youtube.com/ Whatever became of cre- 8). Borlaug dentials? The media have an ethical obligation to is the father of the Green Revolution and credited present balance – both sides of a story – especially with saving the liveswatch?v=tIvNopv9Pa of a billion humans by breeding for a controversial topic. When, say, an evolutionary better crops in developing countries. In other words, biologist publishes a study opining on when our unlike some well-fed 20-something anti-technology ancestral humans diverged from Neanderthals, the media typically interview another credentialed were attempting to disparage modern agricultural technologies,activists with Borlaug no credentials knows about or qualifications science and whoalso about saving human lives. collectedscientist evidence with a is different peer reviewed interpretation and opened offor the Curiously, the junk scientists are fond of selectively findings. This is how science advances – objectively be passionate, which spawned what is known as peer reviewed) purportedly supporting their agenda. Sayre’sdiscussion Law: among “Academic experts politics in the are field. so bitter Disputes because can Revealingly,quoting “scientific in a desperate studies” futile(some appeal of which to authority, are even

Volume 7, Issue 1 15 but these same people rarely, if ever, cite solid peer- reviewed studies that reject their position. This cherry-picking of data favourable to a set agenda and U.S.scientific National credibility. Academy They of areSciences, mainly the the British professional Royal ignoring or discrediting contrary data is particularly Societyscientific and and the medical American associations, Medical groupsAssociation. such as Such the

Recently, French scientist Gilles-Éric Séralini who inhabit the fringes of every community. When pernicious when it creeps into the scientific realm. groups effectively moderate the extreme individuals and his team published a peer-reviewed paper that these groups conduct a study on a given issue, all claimed harm to test animals after they were fed GM corn for two years. Séralini boasted that his includes due consideration of the whole body of knowledge,viewpoints arepro representedand con, surrounding and the final the assessmentissue. Séralini, and later his disciples, failed to note the These groups are also immune to the charge often manypaper wasother the peer-reviewed, first long-term long-term GM feeding GM trial. feeding But leveled by pseudo-scientists and anti-technology studies, including one in the journal in which his activists that the private sector lies, cheats and steals claims appeared, that concluded the opposite about to show its products in a good light, and the fudging of GMO safety data is therefore de rigueur. In the as safe, or safer, than regular non-GM food and feed. same vein, and applying the old sports maxim that the effect of GM food on animals: that such food was Double standard Séralini also refuses to disclose his data, in violation of not public academic scientist who dares challengethe best defence the junk is to science be offensive, is labeled any of the demand from his disciples for an industry shill. only standard scientific ethics but also The real evidence data pertaining to GMO safety. transparency in releasing scientific When it comes to the safety and Scientists are, assuredly, hu-mans sustainability of GM technologies in and come in all political stripes and agriculture and food production, the U.S. National Academies of Science have conducted expert reviews of whoflavours. have Itlet istheir not subjective difficult passions to find scientifically cre-dentialed individuals freely available online, if one knows and allow their biases to drive their whereGMO safety to look. going Every back to single 1986. oneAll are of override their scientific objectivity these studies has reached the same general conclusion: GMOs are no conductscientific experiments endeavours. with the Typically, express more hazardous than are other forms purposesuch conflicted of generating scientists data to design support and a of breeding. A major investigation predetermined conclusion rather than in 2004 into the safety of genetically engineered foods concluded that GM technology is the data to illuminate the truth. not inherently hazardous and asserted, “To date, no designing for the true scientific process of allowing adverse health effects attributed to genetic engineering The response for lay people have been documented in the human population.” So what is a poor interested layperson to do? Even when cognizant of the fact that the bulk of information subsequently, either. There have been no verified reports of adverse effects about GM technology on the Internet is wrong and that each side of a controversial issue like GM food the impact of genetically engineered crops on safety garners support from some (apparently) farmA moresustainability recent study,in the United from 2010, States. investigated This study concluded that genetic engineering technology qualified scientists, where does the layperson turn to has produced substantial net environmental and Fortunately, there are sources. Unfortunately, the find accurate and objective information? GM crops. Sensibly, the report does caution that the economic benefits compared with the use of non- bottomsources of suffer Internet from searches relatively – but ranklow conventionalat the top of and and good risk management. social media profiles – they tend to appear near the continuation of GM crop benefits requires diligence 16 Volume 7, Issue 1 Similar studies are also conducted by public Unfortunately, the junk dealers and anti-technology scientists in other countries around the world. That NGOs use social media skillfully, and they recruit includes the last bastion of backward thinking against impressionable students each year to help “save the agricultural GMOs, the European Union. There, anti- planet.” This domination of the Internet and the free science advocacy groups have been successful in scaring much of the public. To support the European legitimate scientist educators, few of whom actually haveworkforce public of education volunteers or overwhelm outreach the in effortstheir job of descriptions. Overcoming junk science and allowing political leadership that has sought scientific Commission has been a major sponsor of public a truly informed public debate on both the risks and researchjustification into for the safety banning of GMOs GMOs, for the over European 25 years. Unfortunately for the European politicians who’d legitimate research into GMO hoped to reveal some new benefits of GMO cropssafety and andfoods providing require supportingthe results hazards, all of the EU- to the public in a transparent funded research to date manner. It also requires credible concludes the same as all experts who can help the other public studies into It is not difficult to find } interested public understand the the safety of GMOs: that scientifically credentialed GM technology poses no individuals who have let nuances that are often beyond new risks. the ken of the anti-technology their subjective passions activists. Until this occurs, the However, the EU override their scientific junk scientists will continue to solicit donations by invoking tinues to thwart the objectivity and allow EUscientific political community agenda. con- In their biases to drive their the Big Bad GMO in order to strike fear into the hearts of the scientific endeavours. community issued a report unsuspecting populace. ♦ summarizing2001, the EU its scientificresearch Typically, such conflicted scientists design and Alan McHughen is a public sector edu- search projects into GMO conduct experiments with cator, scientist and consumer advocate. safetyfindings: conducted Eighty-one by 400 re- After earning his doctorate at Oxford the express purpose of University, Dr. McHughen worked at teams of public scientists Yale University and the University of Sas- in non-commercial labs at generating data to support katchewan before joining the University a cost of 70-million euros a predetermined conclusion of California, Riverside. A molecular ge- concluded that GMOs neticist with an interest in crop improve- are no more hazardous rather than designing for ment and environmental sustainability, he helped develop US and Canadian regula- than are other forms of the true scientific process tions governing the safety of genetically plant breeding. A follow- of allowing the data to engineered crops and foods. He served up report published in on US National Academy of Sciences illuminate the truth. panels investigating the environmental ~ effects of transgenic plants, a second theme, documenting 50 investigating the safety of genetically additional2010 continued GMO the safetysame engineered foods and helped review a projects funded by EU taxpayers and involving more third looking at sustainability and economic impacts of biotechnol- than 400 public, non-commercial labs at a cost of ogy on US agriculture. Having developed internationally approved more than 200-million euros. commercial crop varieties using both conventional breeding and genetic engineering techniques, he has firsthand experience with The conclusion: GMOs are no more hazardous than the relevant technical, biosafety and policy issues from both sides of other forms of breed-ing are. Is it not strikingly odd the regulatory process. His award winning book, ‘Pandora’s Picnic Basket; The Potential and Hazards of Genetically Modified Foods’ all came to the same general conclusion about the uses understandable, consumer-friendly language to explode the that these diverse professional scientific associations myths and explore the genuine risks of genetic modification (GM) safety of GMOs? And is it not equally odd that the junk technology. More recently, Dr McHughen served as a Jefferson scientists and their followers rarely cite these peer- Science Fellow at US Department of State and as a Senior Policy Analyst at the White House.

Volumereviewed 7, Issue scientific 1 studies? 17 Peeking behind the veil: the artificial promises of organic food

By Mark Hanson than conventionally grown food. They did note that eating organic food could result in less exposure to t is reasonable to assume that most people would pesticide residues and antibiotic-resistant bacteria, healthy food in a manner that is sustainable I necessarily meaningful. want farmers to grow sufficient quantities of for the environment and for humanity. Yet, as we though the health benefits in these reductions are not become further removed in our daily lives from The reaction of organic proponents to the Stanford farms and the people who grow our food, it is easy for misunderstandings to cloud how best to achieve who claimed that the argument that organic food this end. One option that has grown in popularity is isstudy more typically nutritious fell into was two never categories: a selling first, point those (a disingenuous claim at best) and, therefore, the study and its means of production are highly problematic. is of no concern. The second defense has been that, organic food, but the misconceptions about its benefits has developed around organic food. The result is the organic versus conventional food due to the reduction spreadPropelled and by promotion a general of scientific irrational ignorance, fears that a actually dogma in fact, potential the study exposure does to show pesticides the health and benefits potentially of detract from our ability to achieve the goal of abundant harmful bacteria. Therefore, they argue, organic is still food for all. the preferred means of food production. The latter of these arguments, especially around The reality about “organic” food pesticide exposure, has a number of unspoken assumptions that need to be stated clearly. First, Stanford University and her colleagues published there is a general belief that no pesticides are a systematicIn the fall of review 2012, Dr. Crystal Smith-Spangler of used or allowed in organic production. Second, 1 exposure to pesticides at the concentrations found and nutrition of organic that foods evaluated as compared the scientific with in conventional food results in adverse health conventionallyliterature around produced differences items. Thisin reviewthe health attracted effects outcomes. Third, conventional agriculture is a extensive media and public attention, as the authors monolith that employs a uniform set of practices concluded that there is no strong evidence supporting in stark contrast to those dictated for organic the contention that organic food is any more nutritious agriculture, and, therefore, the only healthy choice,

18 Volume 7, Issue 1 for us and the environment, is organic. most toxic compound currently known. Each of these assumptions is built on a number of What are these natural sources of pesticides and myths and misconceptions about what organic food how do we access them? In the case of pyrethrum (a is and how it is produced. Let me deconstruct all of collection of similar compounds), it is derived from the them. primarily in East Africa, and the resulting pyrethrum Reality check: Even organic foods use pesticides isflowers exported of chrysanthemums. from there, with These Kenya flowers as the are globally grown The average person tends to believe that organic dominant producer, followed by Australia as the next food is produced without any pesticides. This is leading exporter. untrue. Under Canadian law2 That should raise this question: are they using product must meet strict guidelines developed under organic techniques to grow a crop that provides the auspices of the federal, to be certified organic, a organic farmers halfway across government in terms of what the globe with a natural, non- can and cannot be used in its synthetic pesticide? production3,4. Pesticides are not banned; only synthetic In some instances, yes, but pesticides are disallowed. in many cases, the answer is Synthetic pesticides are those no. Similar to any plant crop, that have been manufactured chrysanthemums are subject using modern organic to damage by pests and can chemistry techniques. require synthetic pesticides (in addition to synthetic fertilizers) to maintain pro- between a synthetic pes- ductivity and to protect yields. ticideSo, what and isa the non-synthetic difference They also require modern pesticide? In reality and chemical methods to extract in practice, nothing. Both the compounds of interest in a types are employed to useable form. control pests, whether insect, fungus or other Are there other op-tions organism that threatens the besides growing chry- productivity of a crop. santhemums for pyrethrum? Yes! An entire class of syn- Within organic prod-uction thetic pesticides based on in Canada, a farmer is allowed the chemistry and biological to use copper compounds to activity of the pyrethrums control fungus outbreaks, and exists – the pyrethroids. These naturally derived chemicals chemicals are similar in terms such as pyrethrum, rotenone, of their environmental fate, spinosad and the toxin- toxicity and human health risk producing microbe Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) to control to those compounds that constitute pyrethrum. The damage by insects and other invertebrates. pyrethroids are inherently less wasteful to produce in All the compounds used in organic farming pose terms of resources. In addition, they come with the a risk to the environment and human health in the same way that synthetic pesticides do. The only trying to reconcile using conventional agricultural techniquessame benefits to produce and without a “natural” the mental pesticide gymnastics for use in of sources, such as plants or bacteria, as opposed to organic farming. beingtrue difference produced by is employing that they synthetic are derived chemistry, from or natural These arguments alone should make them the more obvious choice when trying to develop a sustainable organisms. Natural chemicals can be just as toxic as agricultural practice to feed the people on this planet. syntheticin the case ones. of Bt,A case expression in point is by the genetically bacteria-produced modified The only reason pyrethroids are not allowed in organic botulinum toxin (the cause of botulism) which is the agriculture is that they are synthetic. The take-

Volume 7, Issue 1 19 home message from this policy is that items that are non-organic agricultural practices and techniques synthetic are inherently bad, and items from nature employed by farmers5. are inherently good. This “natural” fallacy permeates Outside the organic envelope, no single set of much of the thinking around organic production. rules or approaches exists for farming. Are some Reality check: Pesticides are not killing you conventional farmers better than others in terms of protecting and enhancing soil and crops and the The assumption that the reduction in pesticide surrounding ecosystems as well as avoiding wasteful exposure from eating organic versus conventional application of pesticides? completely unproven. Absolutely. Yet, we forget that in many cases, the fruits and vegetables will result in any health benefit is Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory living are the places where they were born, and it is Agency is in charge of approving pesticides. The wherefields andthey areas raise wheretheir families. the farmers work and earn a scientists’ and re-gulators’ job is to protect health in relation to our exposure to all pesticides. They have a clear vested interested in maintaining Can exposure to pesticides result the water they drink and the air they in adverse health outcomes? Yes, the productivity ofbreathe. their fields They and can theemploy cleanliness evidence- of because at the right concentrations, all chemicals can result in toxicity. The take-home based practices to improve crop yields and reduce environmental Insecticides that act on the nervous message} from this system (like pyrethrum) can impact. If something does not be especially hazardous to the policy is that items work, they can discard it, and when environment and us if used improperly, that are synthetic it does, they can employ it. which should not surprise to anyone. are inherently bad, Farming approaches not typically allowed in organic include Yet, when we look at mortality and items from integrated pest management and morbidity statistics, life-spans in with synthetic pesticides and Canada (and pretty much everywhere nature are inherently the application of nutrient- else) are still increasing, and the risk good. This “natural” rich biosolids from human and of a person developing or dying from fallacy permeates animal waste, as they can contain cancer (a common refrain from those much of the thinking synthetic compounds (Note: while fearing synthetic chemicals) has not changed in any meaningful way for around organic decades. production. inbiosolids some way can for appear millennia.) off-putting In ~ conventionalat first, they agriculture, have been employed there are health, it is not obvious how. In the end, simple actions, no ideologically driven rules, only attempts to improve suchIf aspesticides washing are your truly produce affecting prior to eating or best management practices for sustainable production. Organic farming creates the false premise of choice between only it, and bad' conventional methods. In fact, cooking, can reduce the pesticide residue significantly, only organic farming has a single set of dogmatic rules. Conventional farming contains an entire spectrum eatingmaking more the exposure fruits and differences vegetables tobetween our overall organic health and of practices. This false dichotomy between the two areconventional unambiguous. next One to meaningless.of the single largest The benefitsbarriers to of misrepresents the diversity of modern agricultural people eating more fruits and vegetables can be the practices. cost. Ironically, “organic” food is much more expensive than the conventional variety. The junk science at the heart of the organic food movement: vitalism Reality check: There is no such thing as Whether the modern organic farmer realizes it or conventional agriculture not, at the heart and soul of the organic movement is An interesting comment by the lead author of the Stanford study was her surprise at the diversity of in organic pre-dates the advent of synthetic pesticides the non-scientific belief in vitalism. The tie to vitalism 20 Volume 7, Issue 1 [6]. The Canadian guidelines make a subtle nod to answer is not from oranges) does not convince organic this legacy, where they state that organic production proponents that there is nothing inherently wrong “maintain[s] the organic integrity and vital qualities with a synthetic pesticide. of the products” [3]. Vitalism is essentially the notion People fear synthetics even though there is no that life can only come from life. evidence they do any harm. This lack of evidence This means that “dead” things, such as synthesized should lead organic proponents to consider this molecules, lack this “vital” property (usually an scenario: Imagine a synthetic pesticide that controls unnamed “”), and, therefore, they cannot an important crop pest in a way that results in no harm sustain life. The resulting conclusion then is that whatsoever to the environment and no risk to human synthesized molecules are inherently health. Would this synthetic harmful to our health and the health pesticide be allowed in organic of the ecosystem. production? This belief gained steam in organic }Yet, when we The answer, at least from circles a century ago when the ability look at mortality proponents of “organic” food, to synthesize nitrogen fertilizers would be a simple “no.” And from atmospheric nitrogen was and morbidity the reason would be that discovered. No longer were farmers statistics, life- organic food proponents rely on required to apply only animal manure or compost (both living sources) to a spans in Canada (and pretty much inpseudoscientific those molecules appeals that to arethe could use material acquired from producedinnate, unmeasurable by living and differences non-living thefield air to (somethingsupplement not nutrients; alive). they Of everywhere else) things. The result, insofar as the course, this totally ignores the well- are still increasing, anti-science organic movement understood global cycles of nutrients continues to grow, is that the and elements such as nitrogen. and the risk of a world will have one less valuable Vitalism as a belief system has person developing tool available to feed the planet.♦ or dying from been effectively debunked for cancer (a common synthesesdecades, if of not organic since the molecules early 19th by refrain from those Dr. Mark Hanson completed his un- chemists.century, starting Despite with this, the the belief first dergraduate degree at the University of in vitalism, sometimes in the form fearing synthetic Toronto in zoology and chemistry in 1997, followed by a Ph.D. at the University of of our innate connection to soil and Guelph (Ontario Agricultural College) in 6 chemicals) has not land , persists in organic circles and 2002. He held a post-doctoral fellowship elsewhere, regardless of whether the changed in any at the Insitut National de la Recherche land knows we are there or not. Agronomique (INRA) in Rennes, France, meaningful way for after which he started a faculty position at Vitalism is also indicative of decades. the University of Manitoba (Department superstitious thinking where of Environment and Geography) in 2004 conscious purpose is attributed to ~ and where he is currently an associate something despite the fact that no professor. conscious purpose exists. For example, the soil is Dr. Hanson’s research program focuses on characterizing the there to provide nourishment to the plant, and the impacts of stressors in freshwater ecosystems, with an emphasis on plant exists to provide nourishment to us. This is a macrophytes and invertebrates. He has published extensively on child-like belief in how the world works7. Ironically, if the impacts of pesticides, metals, nutrients and emerging contami- nants such as pharmaceuticals and halogenated compounds. A anything can be argued as having “purpose,” it is the core focus (and a recognized global expertise) in his research pro- things we create with a function in mind. gram has been in the use of model ecosystems such as mesocosms. The lack of any evidence for “vital” forces or any Mark teaches extensively in the areas of water quality, toxicology, critical and scientific thinking, and ecological and human health physical, chemical or biological distinction between risk assessment. In addition, he is an associate editor for the jour- naturally derived and synthesized molecules (ask nal Science of the Total Environment and the book review editor for yourself where your vitamin C pill comes from, and the the journal Ecotoxicology.

Volume 7, Issue 1 21 References [4] Organic Production Systems Permitted Substances Lists. 2011. CAN/CGSB-32.311-2006. Available online at http://www.tpsgc-pwg- [1] Smith-Spangler C., Brandeau M., Hunter G., Bavinger J. C., sc.gc.ca/ongc-cgsb/programme-program/normes-standards/internet/ Pearson M., Eschbach P., Sundaram V., Liu H., Schirmer P., Stave C., bio-org/permises-permitted-eng.html. Olkin I., Bravata D. 2012. “Are Organic Foods Safer or Healthier than Conventional Alternatives? A Systematic Review.” Annals of [5] Available online at http://med.stanford.edu/ism/2012/september/ Internal Medicine. 157(5):348-366. organic.html. [2] Organic Products Regulations. 2009. SOR/2009-176. Available online at http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-2009-176/. [6] DeGregori T. R. 2003. “Muck and or Change and Progress: Vitalism versus Hamiltonian Matter-of-fact Knowledge.” Journal of [3] Organic Production Systems General Principles and Manage- Economic Issues. 37(1):17-33. ment Standards. 2011. CAN/CGSB-32.310-2006. Available online at http://www.tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca/ongc-cgsb/programme-program/ [7] Lindeman M., Saher M. 2007. “Vitalism, Purpose and Supersti- normes-standards/internet/bio-org/principes-principles-eng.html. tion.” British Journal of Psychology. 98:33-44.

Why celebrities and TV doctors can be BAD FOR YOUR HEALTH

By Steven J. Hoffman and Julia Belluz And as society ages and the audience for TV doctors he 20th century popularity of TV talk shows (mostly women aged 25 to 54 ) becomes increasingly 1 simultaneously gave rise to the celebrity TV health conscious, one can only expect this industry to T further ripen and grow. about new health products, cutting-edge treatments Successful TV doctors perform theatre; they invite doctor. Up to five times each week, we are told us in, speak sensationally and have a commanding understand. presence. They use phrases such as “miraculous and scientific discoveries in chatty language we can all Thus, a new industry has been born. TV shows lead to book deals, which lead to newspaper columns, Everything works for everyone, and in the world they cure,” “unbelievable finding” and “magical treatment.” specialty Web sites and access to the lucrative create for us, no problem is without a solution. speakers’ circuit. Celebrity doctors are omnipresent. Part of what makes the TV doctor so popular is that

22 Volume 7, Issue 1 the host either believes the act or at least pretends In various shows and columns, this scrub-wearing well. TV doctors preach simple and positive messages surgeon recommends taking multivitamins each day of hope, and they promise to those who are to keep all sorts of maladies away. He claims, “A multi looking for them. They inspire belief and a religious ensures that you get all the essential vitamins and following in people who want to improve their health minerals recommended for each day, keeping your and are looking for the best – and often easiest – way engine running smooth and adding protection against of doing so. chronic illnesses such as breast cancer, colon cancer 4 This act also works because we want it to work. and heart disease.” This all sounds great, except that the claims are not true for everyone and we have known this for a while. cholesterol,Who does notlow wantenergy a or quick receding fix forhairline? the thing And we A 2006 synthesis of nine randomized controlled trials wantlike least these about messages ourselves to work – our because flabby we belly, like high the messengers. Unlike many of our to prevent cancer, cardiovascular own physicians, TV doctors are found no important disease,benefit from cataracts, taking multivitamins macular de- charismatic and engaging, and generation or hypertension.5 More they are moved by our concerns. Successful TV recent studies are not any better. It does not hurt that they doctors} perform tend to have movie-star good looks, which studies of human theatre; they invite us betweenA 2011 prospective multivitamin cohort use study and psychology have long shown in, speak sensationally decreasedfound no significant mortality associations from all 2 causes, cardiovascular disease or Just think about the chiseled and have a cancer. Multivitamin intake also featurescan inspire and dreamy our confidence. blue eyes commanding presence. did not correlate with any change of Dr. Travis Stork, star of The in the likelihood of developing Doctors, one of the United States’ They use phrases cancer.6 most popular TV talk shows. He such as “miraculous And unfortunately, it gets is an emergency physician and cure,” “unbelievable study of 38,772 postmenopausal most any clinician at your local finding” and “magical womenworse: A even 2011 showed retrospective an as- emergencyinfinitely easier room. on the eyes than treatment.” Everything sociation between multivitamin works for everyone, supplementation and increased the medical community, too. risk of death, highlighting the ForTV example, doctors they fill a give void us left their by and in the world they possibility of harm from using create for us, no “health products” that are 23 seconds that real-life doctors prescribed en masse rather than allowtime, much us to more explain than a the problem 18 or problem is without a tailored to an individual’s health 7 before interrupting.3 They speak solution. needs. clearly, reveal the secrets of ~ As another example of Oz’s science in simple sound bites medical follies, he recommends and convince us with their winning smiles that we can change our lives for the better. On one show segment titled “The Power of Vitamin But if contemporary TV doctors are one part belief everyone take a daily 1,000 IU vitamin D supplement. uterine cancers.8 On another episode, “The One Quick in the science department. Quite simply, their advice PillD,” heFix,” discussed he emphasized its benefits the importance for colon, of breast vitamin and D canand another be wrong. part Sometimes confidence, it they can are be seriously dangerous. lacking Yet, supplementation for preventing over 20 diseases. 9 many of us take it in and eat it up. In this case, some of what Oz says about vitamin D was once thought to be true, especially for people with Medical “advice” from the Wizard of Oz For example, examine the science of Dr. Mehmet disease risk factors such as hypertension. However, Oz, perhaps the world’s most successful TV doctor. today’sboth a deficiency evidence ofsuggests this vitamin otherwise. and cardiovascular In10 numerous

Volume 7, Issue 1 23 randomized controlled trials and several systematic critical. Early positive results on mice do not trigger a change in medical practice or lead to new health least biased information as syntheses of the best- recommendations. Instead, we wait for human trials, availablereviews – global which evidence offer the – no most link has comprehensive been found and and sometimes multiple human trials and other types between vitamin D and reductions in blood pressure, of studies. Treatments are “proven” once enough lipid fractions, glucose, cardiovascular outcomes or evidence has been mustered that doctors (and mortality. The United States Preventative Task Force, sometimes government regulators) are convinced of the Institute11 of Medicine and Health Canada have all judged the evidence linking vitamin D supplementation practice. to fewer cancers to be scant. their potential benefits, effectiveness and safety in 12 Oz also invites special guests onto his show, the developed robust processes to ensure the credibility “superstars of the alternative medicine movement,” of Theapproved result health is that products over the andpast treatments 100 years wethat have are who outside of the daytime TV universe are widely prescribed by one’s own medical professional. The viewed as outright quacks. Take Dr. Joe Mercola, appearance of a product or treatment on a TV show, an anti-vaccine campaigner who warned people one of them. even one hosted by a certified medical doctor, is not cause widespread Guillain- It is true that this phenomenon that the H1N1 vaccine would Barre Syndrome (which did not of celebrity doctors and medical happen) and who advocates theatre is nothing new. The 13 using coconut oil to prevent and days of salesmen and treat Alzheimer’s disease (which clinical studies do not support). are not so far behind us. In keeping with Mercola’s anti-14 carbolic smoke balls for the flu science stance, Oz’s series on But something has changed. alternative therapies took on Science is more complex and a conspiratorial tone when confusing than ever. There is more discussing the medicine other research output than ever before. doctors apparently do not want Scientists’ promises of looming us to know about. “You’ve cures for the greatest scourges shown you’re not afraid15 to test have raised public expectations the time-honoured traditions of alternative medicine, so The continued expansion of why is your doctor?” Oz asked, massof what media is scientifically communications, possible. suggesting that physicians are especially TV and Internet, gives colluding to keep patients away celebrities the most powerful and far-reaching microphone How real science works they have ever had. That microphone is also from effective treatments. It is true that medicine is confusing. Health continuously on in this age of the 24-hour news cycle. recommendations change all the time. One day red wine is good for the heart; the next day it causes times each week! – entrepreneurial doctors end up With mandates to inform but also entertain – up to five cancer. Screening for breast and prostate cancers used sensationalizing slow-paced science and packaging it to be a lifesaver; now, expert panels say these tests do in ways that are good for contemporary TV audiences more harm than good for some people. but incompatible with the nature of science. 16 But medicine is supposed to change and keep As concerning as the TV doctors’ grip on millions of people may be, they are, after all, medical doctors. supposed to change: We start with a hypothesis, test surgical specialty, a professor to medical trainees iton and changing. revise our It isthoughts the scientific accordingly. method As we that conduct is not andOz, forvice-chair example, of the is board-certifiedDepartment of Surgery in a grueling at the more and better tests, we continually update our prestigious Columbia University College of Physicians thinking. and Surgeons in New York City. He graduated from In science, we always remain cautious and Harvard College, Wharton School of Business and the

24 Volume 7, Issue 1 University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. range of therapies – most backed by no evidence that they work better than a placebo – that are promoted Who knew Playboy models and movie stars were by the rich and famous, from Kate Moss’s acupuncture experts on health issues? to Uma Thurman’s Gem therapy and model Christy Turlington’s Ayurveda. Other famous folks,18 from Tina Turner to Prince afar. We have all emulated our favourite celebrities, be But Oz is not the only person who influences us from Charles, to the physician of Queen Elizabeth II and they models, pop singers, Olympic athletes, religious even physics Nobel Laureate Brian Josephson, have leaders or former politicians; many people buy their used their credibility in areas such as entertainment clothes, wear their perfumes or drink their preferred or the natural sciences to promote homeopathy. This, soft drinks based on such associations. This pattern despite the mountain of evidence that demonstrates becomes more troubling when we trust these public over-priced, sugar-water solutions. that homeopathic remedies are akin19 to ineffectual, Jenny McCarthy is a well-documented example. The The good news is that we now have better ways formerfigures withPlayboy our modelhealth. tries to scare us with nonsense of protecting ourselves from these celebrities and TV about causing autism; she has doctors and their abuses of science parents about whether to vaccinate their unequivocally know that medical children.thus influenced But we thealso critical see more-credible decision of It is true that decisionsand scientific are betterlanguage. when For based we now on celebrities such as former U.S. president this} phenomenon the best-available evidence; we also Bill Clinton promoting particular diets know that research studies are not all and Adam Levine of the chart-topping of celebrity pop rock band Maroon 5 serving as the doctors and of evidence needed. In countries face of an ADHD awareness campaign. medical theatre suchequal as in Canada, providing with the publicly different funded types They, like TV doctors, are all part of health care systems, we fortunately a long history of celebrity involvement is nothing new. have access to real doctors who know with science and the health product The days of snake us and can help us wade through the industry. Schuyler Colfax, vice-president evidence regardless of our ability to to Ulysses Grant, spoke well about a oil salesmen and pay. throat lozenge. Vin Mariani – wine laced with cocaine and marketed to treat a carbolic smoke range of ailments from insomnia to the balls for the flu Celebrities run amok in an age of information overload are not so far bulb inventor Thomas Edison, author This leads us to the real question: H.G.flu – was Wells, endorsed Nobel Prize-winningby Pope Leo XIII, writer light behind us. If the science of celebrities and TV Anatole France and French composer ~ doctors can be so spectacularly false, Charles Gounod. why does it pass many people’s In more recent17 times, actress Lauren Bacall peddled “smell test” and move people to make decisions about a macular degeneration medicine by Novartis, Olympia their health on nothing more than a famous person’s Dukakis put her face on Lidodern for pain and endorsement? Sylvester Stallone backed the cholesterol medication Pravachol. Australian cricket star Shane Warne tuned to the odours of . The avalanche of promoted nicotine replacement products as his trick healthPart informationof the problem facing is that us our overwhelms noses are insufficiently the senses, for keeping New Year’s resolutions to stop smoking and there is a paucity of digestible resources to help – except that he never actually stopped smoking and us wade through it. We trust people who are famous, thinking they are better informed and more skilled wasThe paid impact $200,000 of such Australian entanglements for his publicity is far-reaching. efforts. than people who are not famous. Perhaps another Surges in popularity for alternative therapies can be reason is that in a democratic age, people mistakenly attributed to celebrities’ devotion to them. The U.K.- believe that one opinion is as good as any other, even based academic Dr. calls alternative though fact-based opinions are one thing and faith- treatments “celebrity-based medicine,” because of the based opinions, quite another.

Volume 7, Issue 1 25 eos/dr-oz-3-key-supplements; Dr. Oz’s Ultimate Supplement Checklist. Available at http://www. Regardless, improving health literacy and arming doctoroz.com/videos/dr-ozs-ultimate-supplement-checklist. people with knowledge is only part of the solution. and Safety of Multivitamin and Mineral Supplement Use to Prevent Cancer and Chronic Disease in Changing the systems, markets and cultures that Adults:5 Huang a SystematicH.Y., B. Caballero, Review S. for Chang, a National A.J. Alberg, Institutes R.D. Semba, of Health C.R. State-of-the-Science Schneyer et al. 2006. Conference.” “The Efficacy perpetuate this abuse of science is another. The Annals of Internal Medicine September 5; 145(5):372-385. incentives and professional cultures of the media, the Risk of Mortality and Cancer Incidence: the Multiethnic Cohort Study.” American Journal of industry, research and medical communities are 6 Park S.Y., S.P. Murphy, L.R. Wilkens, B.E. Henderson, L.N. Kolonel. 2011. “Multivitamin Use and - Epidemiology. April 15; 173(8):906-914. not always aligned to promote our health and often ity Rate in Older Women: the Iowa Women’s Health Study.” Archives of Internal Medicine October 7 Mursu J., K. Robien, L.J. Harnack, K. Park, D.R. Jacobs, Jr. 2011. “Dietary Supplements and Mortal contribute to the problem. For example, newspapers 8 The Dr. Oz Show. The Power of Vitamin D. Available at http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/ 10; 171(18):1625-1633. power-vitamin-d. (recommendation at 5:23 mark) sometimes feature sensationalized and potentially harmful headlines to attract readership, just as health 9 The Dr. Oz Show. The One Pill Quick Fix, Pt 1. Available at http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/ product companies naturally promote their wares one-pill-quick-fix-pt-1. to anyone willing to take them. Researchers are not 10 Wang T.J., M.J. Pencina, S.L. Booth, P.F. Jacques, E. Ingelsson, K. Lanier et al. 2008. “Vitamin D Deficiency and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease.” Circulation. January 29; 117(4):503-511. 11 Elamin M.B., N.O. Abu Elnour, K.B. Elamin, M.M. Fatourechi, A.A. Alkatib, J.P. Almandoz et al. Trikalinos,“Vitamin D J.and Mitri, Cardiovascular M. Brendel, K. Outcomes: Patel et al. a “SystematicSystematic Review Review: and Vitamin Meta-analysis.” D and Cardiometabolic 2011. The journalists, and doctors are not usually compensated Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. July; 96(7):1931-1942; Pittas A.G., M. Chung, T. forrewarded public outreach for explaining activities. their findings to patients or Outcomes.” 2010. Annals of Internal Medicine March 2; 152(5):307-314; M.D. Witham, M.A. Nadir,- ingA.D. Vitamin Struthers. D Supplementation 2009. “The Effect for of HypertensionVitamin D on andBlood Cardiovascular Pressure: a Systematic Disease Prevention?” Review.” The The Journal Shared responsibility for this problem means there of Hypertension. Oct;27 (10):1948-1954; D.L. Cohen, R.R. Townsend. “Should We be Recommend is a shared responsibility for investing in enduring Journal of Clinical Hypertension (Greenwich) 2012. November; 14(11):816-818; McGreevy C., D. Williams. 2011. “New Insights about Vitamin D and Cardiovascular Disease: a Narrative Review. solutions. The necessary system changes will not Annals of Internal Medicine December 20; 155(12):820-826. Women.” The Journal of the American Medical Association. 308(3):225. be easy, but progress is being made. 12 Kuehn B.M. 2012. “USPSTF: Taking Vitamin D and Calcium Doesn’t Prevent Fractures in Older People are increasingly being held 13 De Wals, P., G. Deceuninck, E. Toth, N. Boulianne, D. Brunet, R.M. accountable. Doctors are participating Boucher, M. Landry, G. De Serres. 2012. “Risk of Guillain-Barré Syndrome following H1N1 Influenza Vaccination in Quebec.” The Journal of the in the blogosphere, academics are Part of American Medical Association. July 11;308(2):175-181. } at http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/dr-oz-embraces- the problem mercola/.14 Science-based Medicine. “Dr. Oz Embraces Joseph Mercola.” Available journalists are debunking unhelpful is that our Available at http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/alternative-medicine- mythsfighting about disease-mongering vaccines, vitamins efforts and and 15 The Dr. Oz Show. Controversial Medicine: Alternative Health, Pt. 1. U.S. Preventive Services Task Force’s recommendations for adults. controversy-pt-1. with the explicit goal of better noses are Available at http://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/adultrec.htm. informing their readers’ or viewers’ 16 insufficiently Prescription Products in Direct-to-Consumer Advertising.” Pharmacy in health decisions. 17 Gerald M.C. 2010. “The Right and Fall of Celebrity Promotion of tuned to the In the meantime, we can be assured History Ernst 52(1): E., M.H. 13-23. Pittler. 2006. “Celebrity-based Medicine.” Medical Journal odours of 18 that “miracle” products and treatments of Australia 185 (11): 680-681. that sound too good to be true probably quackery. 19 Kassab S, Cummings M, Berkovitz S, et al. Homeopathic medicines for adverse effects of cancer treatments. Cochrane Database of Systematic - are. Even when a high-quality study ~ perkineticReviews 2009; disorder. (2): CD004845. Cochrane Database doi: 10.1002/14651858.pub2; Syst Rev 2007; (4): CD005648. Heirs M, doi: initially suggests a treatment may be Dean ME. Homeopathy for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder or hy - 10.1002/14651858.pub2; McCarney RW, Linde K, Lasserson TJ. Homeopa thy for chronic asthma. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2004; (1): CD000353. as further experiments are conducted and science doi: 10.1002/14651858.pub2; McCarney R, Warner J, Fisher P, Van Haselen R. Homeopathy for dementia. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2003; (1): CD003803. doi: 10.1002/14651858; Vickers AJ, progresses.staggeringly20 effective, this effect usually dampens U,Smith Pittler C. Homoeopathic MH, Ernst E. Homeopathy Oscillococcinum for childhood for preventing and adolescence and treating ailments: influenza systematic and influenza-like review of syndromes. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2006; (3): CD001957. doi: 10.1002/14651858; Altunc

In a world where celebrities and TV talk show hosts randomized clinical trials. Mayo Clin Proc 2007; 82 (1): 69-75. run amok, a healthy dose of skepticism mixed with 20 Pereira T.V., R.I. Horwitz, J.A. Ioannidis . 2012. “Empirical Evaluation of Very Large Treatment Effects of Medical Interventions.” The Journal of the American Medical Association. October some basic medical literacy is what the real doctors 24;308(16):1676-1684. prescribe. Knowledge about science is our best Steven J. Hoffman is an assistant professor at McMaster University protection against those who abuse it.♦ and the McMaster Health Forum, a visiting assistant professor at the Harvard School of Public Health, and a Trudeau Scholar. .

End notes Julia Belluz (http://juliabelluz.com/) is a National Magazine Award- winning journalist focused on health care, policy and medical 1 The New York Times. Haughney, C. “Today’s Key to Selling Magazines: A TV Doctor.” Available politics. She is currently the Associate Editor at the Medical Post at http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/07/business/media/dr-oz-a-tv-doctor-is-driving-huge- magazine-sales.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss. and a regular contributor to Maclean’s magazine. Her award- 2 Joseph W.B. 1982. “The Credibility of Physically Attractive Communicators: A Review.” Journal winning blog “Science-ish”. (http://www2.macleans.ca/category/ of Advertising 11(3): 15-24; Patzer G.L. 1983. “Source Credibility as a Function of Communicator blog-central/science-ish/ ) is a joint project with Maclean’s, the Physical Attractiveness.” Journal of Business Research 11: 229-241. Medical Post and the McMaster Health Forum. She is a graduate of 3 Beckman H.B. and R.M. Frankel. 1984. “The Effect of Physician Behavior on the Collection of Data.” Annals of Internal Medicine 101(5): 692-696; Marvel M.K., R.M. Epstein, K. Flowers and H.B. the London School of Economics and Ryerson University’s journal- Beckman. 1999. “Soliciting the Patient’s Agenda. Have We Improved?” The Journal of the American 4 The Doctor Oz Show. Dr. Oz’s 3 Key Supplements. Available at http://www.doctoroz.com/vid- Medical Association 281(3): 283-287. ism school.

26 Volume 7, Issue 1 BOOK REVIEW

The utopian’s dilemma: In praise of the 10,000-mile diet

The Locavore’s Dilemma: In Praise of the 10,000-Mile Diet. are better for the environment; they bring you better, Pierre Desrochers and Hiroko Shimizu (2012). New York: Public Affairs, 2012, 256 pp. community and the local farmers. This idea is also atmore-flavourful the heart of food; the and they aret, better in which for the another local Reviewed by Kenneth P. Green intrepid Canadian couple document a year spent eating or the sake of disclosure, I should state right up 100-mile die

his sense of humour (and his Québécois accent) only foodstuffs that were grown and/or reared within F In a chapter called “The Basic Problems with Food charming,front and that though I know I and have like not Pierre met his Desrochers, wife, Hiroko, find I 100 miles of their home in Kitsilano, British Columbia. Miles,” Desrochers and Shimizu point out that food am sure I would like her, too. I have also had my doubts about the whole 'eat local' and 'eat' organic movement. miles are a poor proxy for environmental impact: So, I would have been predisposed to like the dynamic Despite its popularity, the concept and its duo’s dissection of the latest in food faddishness, the underlying rationale have been convincingly obsession with eating locally and organically. debunked in numerous Life Cycle Assessment Fortunately for me, I did not have to resort to (LCA) studies [LCAs are essentially cradle-to- grave analyses of environmental impacts] …. Not favoritism in deciding if I liked Locavore’s Dilemma, surprisingly, it turns out that food miles can only the new book from Desrochers and Shimizu. The be taken at face value in the case of identical couple has put together a fascinating book. It traces items produced simultaneously in the exact same the origins of the eat local and eat organic movement (origins that were much further back in time than I other words, if everything else is equal, which is imagined), examines the fundamental precepts of the obviouslyphysical conditions never the casebut in in differentthe real world. locations – in locavore philosophy, dissects the many mythical and magical thoughts expressed by leading proponents The discussion of transport in this section is of “locavory” and warns of the strong likelihood of particularly illuminating. It turns out that, in fact, adverse consequences for people and the planet transportation contributes only a small share to a should this fad be pursued more extensively. food’s environmental impact or the production of greenhouse gas emissions related to its production Kitsilano conscience chic: The 100-mile diet and use. Desrochers and Shimizu review the literature One of the more thorough concept demolitions in on the issue, pointing out that according to one study: Locavore relates to the idea of food miles, which are a [Eighty-two] percent of the estimated 30 billion measure of how far food travels before it is consumed. food miles associated with U.K.-consumed food are The basic idea is that low food miles are better: They generated within the country, with car transport

Volume 7, Issue 1 27 from shop to home accounting for 48 percent and food protectionists. By forcing people to buy more tractor-trailers (what they call HGVs – heavy goods expensive local food, locavorism impoverishes consumers who will then have less money to spend on other things, including other locally produced vehicles) representing 31 percent of food miles. goods and services. wouldSo, unless not really one doanticipates much for walking the environment, that 100 miles at least to We see virtually the same sentiments expressed ingather terms one’s of greenhouse own food, limitinggas emission one’s reductions.diet to 100 miles within the energy policy arena, where advocates of Desrochers points out that other factors also renewable energy sing the praises of creating green undermine the food-miles issue. This includes the jobs, as then presidential candidate Barack Obama did tendency of those who rely most on local and organic greenin 2008: jobs “We’ll that payinvest well, $15 can’t billion be outsourced, a year over andthe helpnext enddecade our in dependence renewable onenergy, foreign creating oil.” five million new gainedfood to by report reducing increased food transport. food waste; In addition, that offsets there iswhatever the irony environmental of more energy benefits being may used have to ensure been As Bastiat would undoubtedly demonstrate, to the local refrigeration to store foods that are more highly extent that all this renewable energy is more costly perishable than are foods than conventional energy, that are more conventionally citizens will have to spend more produced, packaged and of their earnings to pay for transported from further ...there is the irony energy. That will leave less in away. } their budgets for dining at the of more energy being local pub, shopping at the local Welcome to Utopia— used to ensure local merchant and so forth. And, in again! fact, this has been exactly the What I found most refrigeration to store result. In study after study, the fascinating in Locavore’s foods that are more evidence is that the pursuit of Dilemma was that the very green energy jobs has cost more same family of fallacies and highly perishable than jobs than were created. In Italy, for example, researchers Carlo coalitions of crusaders that are foods that are more Desrochers and Shimizu dis- Stagnaro and his colleagues sect map neatly onto many conventionally produced, at the Instituto Bruno Leoni other realms of public policy. demonstrated that for every packaged and transported green job created in Italy, 4.8 In that sense, The jobs were lost in the general Locavore’s Dilemma may from further away. economy. be misnamed: It could well ~ be named The Utopian’s Dilemma, as the myriad of fantasies that the authors Food security: Not by relying on local conditions dissect infect a broad swathe of public policy. We Another fallacy that Desrochers and Shimizu see these fantasies time and again in policies on tear apart is the notion that eating locally somehow trade, energy, transport, urban planning and the increases food security. Walking through security environment. Since I specialize in energy and natural sub-issues such as overspecialization and food resource policy, I will focus my examples there. security; locavorism and military security; peak oil and locavorism; and , Desrochers and classic called the broken window fallacy. As Desrochers Shimizu conclude: andOne Shimizu of the show, first advocates fallacies theof locavory authors exist take in on denial is a of the potential negative consequences that might attend their choice: Paradoxically, a world where in a few decades 9 The basic logic of what Bastiat enthusiasts have thebillion planet’s people most could productive afford to locationspurchase wouldtheir food be dubbed the “broken window fallacy” similarly incrediblyfrom 90 millionmore food highly secure efficient than one farmers in which using a applies to the short-sighted reasoning of local few billion farmers feed their neighbors but lack

28 Volume 7, Issue 1 the infrastructure to ship their products over long embargo that will never come. Still, oil economists distances. of all stripes acknowledge that maintaining public Again, the food security fallacy maps nearly stockpiles discourages the accumulation of private identically onto the arguments made regarding energy inventories and perhaps even public inventories security, i.e., that sticking with local production keeps abroad because foreign governments have an jobs here, reduces military risks, reduces the threat of supply interruptions, price shocks and so forth. As a U.S. release would reduce oil prices everywhere inincentive the world. to ‘free ride’ off U.S. inventories given that points out: Indeed, the idea that governments (rather than Bryce, a prolific writer about all-things-energy In summary, the reality of the energy sector is this: private individuals) can manage reserves in a way that

for that term – means interdependence. And example of Friedrich Hayek’s fatal conceit: makes them profitable in the long haul is just another thatenergy interdependence security – whatever goes the far favored beyond definition energy The peculiar character of the problem of a rational commodities like diesel fuel, gasoline, natural economic order is determined precisely by the gas, and neodymium. The US is a vital player in fact that the knowledge of the circumstances of the global marketplace for a which we must make use never myriad of commodities, ranging exists in concentrated or integrated from iPods and tennis rackets to form but solely as the dispersed bits of incomplete and frequently The sooner the US discards the contradictory knowledge which all hypertrophiedfresh flowers and rhetoric bottled water. about the separate individuals possess. energy security and energy The economic problem of society is independence and accepts the thus not merely a problem of how to reality of our interdependence, allocate ‘given’ resources—if ‘given’ the more secure and prosperous is taken to mean given to a single it will be. mind which deliberately solves the A third fallacy that Desrochers problem set by these ‘data.’ It is and Shimizu examine is the rather a problem of how to secure somewhat quaint notion that one the best use of resources known to can protect oneself from things like any of the members of society, for ends whose relative importance only these individuals know. Or, to byenvironmental some clever planner. fluctuations Oil reserve withs, heliumsufficient reserve reserves,s, who as does determined not like utilization of knowledge which is put it briefly, it is a problem of the a good reserve? Michael Pollan not given to anyone in its totality. clearly likes the idea, as his push for a government- In other words, nobody could know how much of run strategic grain reserve in order to control grain any particular grain to keep in reserve because nobody prices falls under the scrutiny of Desrochers and would have enough information about future market Shimizu. Such a reserve, Pollan is quoted as saying, conditions, environmental conditions or other social would “prevent huge swings in commodity prices” and conditions to make rational use of the reserve in order “provide some cushion for world food stocks.” But as with people who think that oil reserves can mitigate No book review is complete without a bit of to control price fluctuations effectively. criticism, of course, and if there were one thing that reserves miss a fundamental economic point. As Cato’s could have been done better in Locavore, it would be the risks of price fluctuations, people calling for food Jerry Taylor and Peter Van Doren point out with regard in terms of the book’s narrative structure. While it to the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR): is easy to summarize the conclusions of some of the So what’s wrong with using the [Strategic book’s investigatory sections, others are somewhat Petroleum Reserve] to douse the market with crude wandering and some chapters seem to bury the lead. whenever gasoline prices get out of control? Well, Summary paragraphs at the end of the book’s many it’s better than hoarding oil to hedge against an sub-sections would have made my life as a reviewer

Volume 7, Issue 1 29 a bit easier. However, this is a relatively small quibble with an otherwise excellent book that is highly abroad, some fine coffee or tea (from abroad), and recommended. naturellement.♦ perhaps, on concluding, a fine Cognac, from France, Kenneth P. Green is a Senior Fellow at the Fraser Institute; he and Shimizu, I would suggest periodically pairing holds a Doctorate of Environmental Science and Engineering yourIndeed, reading as a with tribute a bit to ofthe cheese fine work or chocolate of Desrochers from (D.Env.) from the University of California, Los Angeles.

The Suzanne Somers effect: How medical conspiracy theories are making us sicker

By Jonathan Kay In the domain of medicine, conspiracy theories can he term “” summons have life-and-death consequences. images from The X-Files and the stories of T Common conspiracy theory ‘threads’ HarperCollins book, Among the Truthers, conspiracy In the course of my research, I have met people who Thomas Pynchon. But as I argued in my 2011 believe a bewildering range of conspiracy theories marketplace of ideas and on the political sphere – from Holocaust deniers, to followers of David Icke thattheories depends can haveon it. realHow, and for corrosiveinstance, does effects one haveon the (who promotes the idea that our political leaders an intelligent debate about national security policy are the terrestrial manifestations of giant inter- dimensional space lizards), to the vaccine-related job” hatched by Dick Cheney? How does one have an conspiracy theories described below. Yet all of these intelligentwith someone discussion who about believes U.S. 9/11domestic was politics an “inside with theories, I concluded, are bound together by two main someone who thinks Barack Obama is an illegal alien elements: who was born in Kenya? purport to address the problem of evil in the conspiracy theories are especially tangible. Consider 1) Evil. Except in rare cases, conspiracy theories theIn 30-year-old the medical conspiracy realm, thetheory pernicious that the U.S. effects Army of of why bad things happen to good people (the created AIDS at its Fort Detrick, Maryland testing branchworld and, of more thought specifically, known the to age-old theologians question as facility as part of a genocidal plan to kill black people. theodicy). In this sense, conspiracism acts as a perIn acent 2010 of studyrespondents of 214 said Los that Angeles-area AIDS “is a African- form of Jews,secular Freemasons, replacement the for New World Order devil or figures, other genocide,American ormen planned undergoing destruction, treatment against for HIV, blacks.” 31 moreprojecting obscure responsibility villains. This for aspect human of suffering conspiracism onto The study found that a belief in such AIDS conspiracy explains why conspiracy theories always proliferate theories correlates negatively with adherence to prescribed antiretroviral drug regimens. sociologically traumatic expressions of evil such in the shadow of mass human-suffering events or 30 Volume 7, Issue 1 as World War I, the Holocaust, the assassination the Western world have avoided vaccinating their children, leaving them exposed to deadly, and entirely On a personal level, conspiracy theories often are preventable, diseases such as measles, whooping of JFK, 9/11 and the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s. such as a bankruptcy or (as discussed in more Vaccines typically are administered to small children detailembraced below) by peoplea medical afflicted catastrophe. with private traumas cough and Hib influenza.

distrust in powerful institutions – including not themselves.in the first two Many years doctors of life, believe at around autism the is same a genetic time only2) Distrust. national Conspiracy governments, theories but reflect also widespread NGOs, the disorderthat the first programmed behavioral into symptoms a child’s ofbrain autism before manifest birth. United Nations, the mass media and the health- But parents cannot see their child’s genes. What they can see are the steel needles injecting a mysterious foreign substance into their then-apparently-perfect politicalcare industry. evolution Many came 9/11 when conspiracy U.S. forces theorists, failed for to bundles of joy. When this experience is closely followed instance, told me that the defining moment in their by a devastating diagnosis, many parents forge a link 2003 invasion of Iraq. “The government lied to us – between the two experiences – a link that, as many find weapons of mass destruction following the will confess quite candidly, can never be shaken by about” was a common refrain. Of course, all citizens science. and I wanted to find out what else they were lying rightly treat government The myth that vaccines cause pronouncements with a autism permits emotionally degree of skepticism, but vulnerable parents to blame for hard-boiled conspiracy Far from being a politically accountable, hu- theorists, this skepticism dangerous} toxin, fluoride is a man evildoers – the big phar- becomes all-encompassing naturally occurring element maceutical companies and – and the entire world of politics, mass media and in many communities’ water their apologists at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) even public health is seen supplies…Yet from the as one giant lie. and Health Canada – for a beginning, scattered activists trauma that might otherwise be The Fort Detrick AIDS became bothered by the idea seen as a mere act of God. The thesis, described above, is myth thereby allows them to one example of how these that the government was substitute their frustration and two elements – distrust and adding something, anything, disappointment with the more the need to explain human to their drinking water.” psychologically manageable duce a stubbornly popular ~ emotion of anger. conspiracysuffering theory– combine that inhibits to pro- life-saving medical Such myths provide another psychotherapeutic therapies. Another example lies with anti-vaccine dividend: hope. The debunked vaccine-autism link activists who falsely claim a proven linkage between is actually two conspiracies in one. Not only have the widely administered MMR (measles, mumps and McCarthy and her followers argued that the medical rubella) vaccine and autism spectrum disorder. establishment is covering up evidence that its drugs are harming children’s brains, they also promote Conspiracy theories about the medical world the piggyback conspiracy theory that vitamins and other natural remedies can be used to “heal” the on the Internet, this is one of the most durable and damage done by vaccines and that this cure is falsely widespreadOf all the – medical in large conspiracypart thanks theories to the advocacy that traffic of discredited by the very same medical establishment celebrity laypersons such as former Playboy model evildoers. Other conspiracists I have interviewed have experienced other forms of harrowing, life-threatening Jenny McCarthy. Since 1998, when the theory was medical crises. These stories tend to follow the same furtherfirst put discredited forward in a by study a detailed published investigation in the Lancet by pattern: Doctors tried to cure their condition with journalistmedical journal Brian Deer,(subsequently untold millions retracted of parents in 2010 across and expensive drugs and painful surgical procedures – but

Volume 7, Issue 1 31 failed. It was only once they had turned to a “natural” change skeptics imagine a similar conspiracy afoot in cure – faith healing, homeopathy, Gerson Therapy (a regard to anthropogenic global warming). crackpot diet-based cancer treatment), and so forth The Internet has turbocharged the spread of such – that their condition went away. In the aftermath of conspiracy theories by permitting their propagandists to create blogs — complete with high-quality video obsessed pharmaceutical companies and the medical propaganda – that speak directly to patients stricken establishmentthis experience, have they becomebeen conspiring convinced to that prevent profit- ordinary citizens from discovering the power of these interviewed describe their frustration in dealing natural cures. with such specific patients, health who conditions. often arrive Doctors at medical I have appointments with thick dossiers of printouts from Fears of fluoridation their favourite Web sites. Of course, such theories have been around for many cases, they are so psychologically invested in Arguing withtheir these conspiracy patients can theories be difficult. that they In withgenerations. conspiracist The campaign themes since against water fluoridation, thefor practice instance, became has been widespread suffused on behalf of medical . science,reject or ignore no matter any argument how compelling offered Far from being a dangerous the available peer-reviewed medical in the 1950s data may be. The result: frustration occurring element in many for the practitioner and increased communities’toxin, fluoride water is a naturallysupplies. health risks for the patient. This is how the United States So, how can medical practitioners combat the spread of conspiracy noticed the correlation be- theories? Public Health Service first Let me answer that question by reference to the two ingredients in all Mainstreamtween fluoride scientists and judged tooth- conspiracy theories: evil and distrust. thedecay practice prevention to be safe;in the and 1930s. over Obviously, doctors cannot put an the last 60 years, numerous end to the former, but they can do epidemiological studies have done nothing to shake this something to abate the latter. consensus. Yet from the beginning, The medieval views of Ms. scattered activists became Suzanne Somers bothered by the idea that By way of explanation, it is worth the government was adding considering a particular case study – something, anything, to their drinking water. As that of Three’s Company sitcom star and ThighMaster Gretchen Ann Reilly reported in the 2004 book “The pitchwoman, Suzanne Somers, a breast-cancer survivor Politics of Healing,” these often were the same activists who has become an outspoken critic of chemotherapy, who objected to mass polio vaccination: Both public- conventional cancer drugs and mainstream oncology health campaigns tapped into the same instinctive more generally. human fear surrounding body integrity. The fact that mainstream scientists supported Knockout: Interviews with Doctors Who are Curing Cancer,In her and 2009 other best-selling alternative books, medicine Somers manifesto, follows Paranoiacs such as Dr. Leo Spira — author of the in the path of other alternative medicine advocates wonderfullyfluoridation did titled little “The to Dramadiscourage of Fluorine: such activism: Arch by describing the human body in essentially medieval Enemy of Mankind” — argued that all the major terms. According to this view – of which there are laboratories, journals and research institutions had endless variations, each with its own cult following entered into a grand conspiracy to suppress dissenting and mail-order industry – we all have a natural views (much in the same way that today’s climate-

32 energy field that becomes compromised Volume 7, Issue when 1 institutions, suggests the problem may get worse. medical therapies. Vitamins, obscure extracts, oils, *** balms,exposed herbs to artificialand meditation Western are foods, presumptively medicines good. and Prescription drugs, radiological treatments and The most viable strategy for medical professionals surgical interventions are presumptively bad. It is a distinction upon which Somers herself is willing to at a personal level with patients who are at risk of to use to address this trust deficit is building trust stake her life: She tells readers that, if again faced with embracing conspiratorial views of the health sciences. By creating strong person-to-person relationships a cancer diagnosis, “my choice overwhelmingly would with patients, doctors and other practitioners can be to use only alternative treatments.” escape the jaded attitude that many people exhibit Knockout promotes a variety of dubious therapies toward the medical establishment in general. Doctors – such as laetrile, an apricot extract that was proven and hospitals might also facilitate the creation of support groups of similarly situated patients who can speak to one another on a peer-to-peer basis about thatineffective correctly). decades If onlyago, and the the Gonzalez protocol, a medicalregimen involving establishment twice-daily and coffee enemas (you read therapies. the FDA took these treatments theObviously, beneficial effects the best of ap- their seriously, Somers argues, As maddening as all proach to such trust building researchers would receive this} may seem to trained the funds needed to prove medical professionals, these basis, but in general, I would saywill thatdiffer such on an a case-by-case approach the health-care industry [homeopathic] trends speak would de-emphasize appeals andtheir its effectiveness. cynical government Instead, to powerful psychological to statistics and epidemiology allies conspire behind closed and highlight case studies that doors to protect the cash forces that affect a large speak directly to the patient’s cow of conventional cancer swathe of the population. circumstances. Doctors might therapies. also choose to couch their Indeed, the pervasive Somers’ case against con- recommendations in ref- ventional cancer treatments influence of amateur Internet- erences to the knowledge is built around her own circulated media, coupled they have gained in their (admittedly accurate) ob- clinical practice, since such servation that such treat- with survey results that show ments often are painful to dismiss as industry prop- steadily increasing levels of information is more difficult and debilitating. Specialists aganda. assure her that this pain popular distrust in all public Many patients who come and debilitation is worth institutions, suggests the to embrace conspiracy the sacrifice in the long run. problem may get worse. theories do so because But following that advice is they were proselytized by an act of trust. And as noted, ~ someone within their own trust is something that conspiracy theorists hold trusted circle of contacts – a relative, neighbour or in short supply. And so, patients such as Somers fellow parent in the schoolyard. If a doctor can gain follow the only thing they do trust: their five senses a comparable level of social trust through an ongoing – a path that more often leads them to herbs, roots checkup and treatment regimen, he or she will be and special spas than to the pharmacy or hospital. in a position to advocate on an equal footing for evidence-based medicine and thereby help patients As maddening as all this may seem to trained avoid the conspiracy theories that are doing a brisk medical professionals, these trends speak to and dangerous trade in the medical marketplace of powerful psychological forces that affect a large ideas.♦ swathe of the population. Indeed, the pervasive influence of amateur Internet-circulated media, Jonathan Kay is Managing Editor for Comment at the National Post, and the author of Among The Truthers (HarperCollins, 2011). coupled with survey results that show steadily His columns appear online at www.fullcomment.com. Follow him increasing levels of popular distrust in all public on Twitter @jonkay.

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