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The Skeptic 2003 VOLUME 23, NO2 WINTER 2003 A JOURNAL OF FACT AND OPINION P ANDEMONIUM the Skeptic Contents Vol 23, No 2 Regulars Winter 2003 ISSN 0726-9897 ■ 3 – Editorial — Don’t Panic — Barry Williams ■ 4 – Around the Traps — Bunyip Editor ■ 64 – Letters Barry Williams ■ 69 – Notices Contributing Editors Tim Mendham Steve Roberts Features ■ 6 – Pan: The Reaction — Peter Bowditch Technology Consultant ■ 8 – Lessons Still Unlearnt — Stephen Colgan Richard Saunders ■ 11 – The Lead Balloon — Pan, Pan, Pan — Richard Lead ■ 14 – If it Sounds Like a Duck... — Peter Bowditch Chief Investigator ■ 18 – Nutrition Myths — Life in the Raw — Glenn Cardwell Bob Nixon ■ 20 – Agricultural Alternatives — David Conley ■ 24 – Skepticism and Psychotherapy — Jill Gordon All correspondence to: ■ Australian Skeptics Inc 30 – Microwaves, etc — David Vernon PO Box 268 ■ 35 – Hairy Diagnosis — Cholm Williams Roseville NSW 2069 ■ 36 – Homeopathetic — Borek Puza Australia ■ 38 – Hair Today ... — Karen Stollznow (ABN 90 613 095 379 ) ■ 40 – Smoke and Reflections — Martin Hadley Contact Details ■ 43 – Nigerian Letters — Leo Igwe Tel: (02) 9417 2071 ■ 44 – Interview — A Man for all Ages Pt2 — Richard and Geoff Saunders Fax: (02) 9417 7930 ■ 48 – Good Word: A Sea of Words — Mark Newbrook e-mail: [email protected] ■ 53 – Forum: The Doctor is In ■ 55 – Review: A Sober Appraisal — Chris Guest Web Pages ■ Australian Skeptics 56 – Junior Skeptic — Reviews — Belinda Bowditch & Gillian Brown www.skeptics.com.au ■ 58 – Forum: Three More Doors No Answers in Genesis ■ 61 – Getting Involved — Branch Activities http://home.austarnet.com.au/stear/default.htm ■ 63 – News: Science TV in Sydney the Skeptic is a journal of fact and opinion, published four times per year by Australian Skeptics Inc. Views and opinions expressed in articles and letters in the Skeptic are those of the authors, and are not necessarily those of Australian Skeptics Inc. Articles may be reprinted with permission and with due Cover art by Charles Rose of Cogency acknowledgement to the Skeptic. Editorial consultants: Skeptics around Australia Dr Stephen Basser (medicine) Dr Richard Gordon (medicine) Dr William Grey (philosophy) New South Wales Queensland Western Australia Australian Skeptics Inc Australian Skeptics (Qld) WA Skeptics Prof Colin Groves (anthropology) PO Box 268 PO Box 6454 22 Esperance Street Mr Martin Hadley (law) Roseville NSW 2069 Fairfield Gardens QLD 4103 East Victoria Park WA 6101 Dr Colin Keay (astronomy) Tel: (02) 9417 2071 Tel: (07) 3255 0499 Tel: (08) 9448 8458 Fax: (02) 9417 7930 [email protected] [email protected] Dr Mark Newbrook (linguistics) [email protected] Qskeptics eGroup Dr Andrew Parle (physics) (To subscribe send blank message to: Tasmania Prof Ian Plimer (geology) Hunter Skeptics [email protected]) Australian Skeptics in Tasmania Dr James Popple (law/computer sci) PO Box 166 PO Box 582 Waratah NSW 2298 Gold Coast Skeptics North Hobart TAS 7000. Dr Alex Ritchie (palaeontology) Tel: (02) 4957 8666. PO Box 8348 Tel: (03) 6234 1458 Dr Steve Roberts (chemistry) Fax: (02) 4952 6442 GCMC Bundall QLD 4217 [email protected] Mr Roland Seidel (mathematics) Tel: (07) 5593 1882 Victoria Fax: (07) 5593 2776 Northern Territory Branch correspondents: Australian Skeptics (Vic) Inc [email protected] Darwin Skeptics ACT: Mr Peter Barrett GPO Box 5166AA PO Box 809 Darwin: Mr Simon Potter Melbourne VIC 3001 South Australia Sanderson NT 0812 Gold Coast: Mr John Stear Tel: 1 800 666 996 Skeptics SA Tel: (08) 8932 2194 Fax: 03 9531 6705 PO Box 377 Fax: (08) 8932 7553 Hunter: Mr Michael Creech [email protected] Rundle Mall SA 5000 [email protected] Qld: Mr Bob Bruce Tel: (08) 8272 5881 SA: Mr Allan Lang ACT Fax: (08) 8272 5881 Borderline Skeptics Tas: Mr Fred Thornett Canberra Skeptics [email protected] PO Box 17 PO Box 555 Mitta Mitta VIC 3701 Vic: Mr Grant Stevenson Civic Square ACT 2608 Tel: (02) 6072 3632 WA: Dr John Happs [email protected] [email protected] Page 2 - the Skeptic, Winter 2003 Editorial Don’t Panic Can there be anyone who is unaware medicines, with very large financial wrote to its MP strongly opposing of the recent scandal concerning Pan penalties for non-compliance. Fur- this request. It seems it was denied. Pharmaceuticals Ltd and its failure ther, it has announced an inquiry “Many studies have shown ...” to comply with proper manufactur- into the entire alternative medicine Some studies have given some (often ing procedures, which led the Thera- industry, to report to Parliament marginal) support for some benefits peutic Goods Administration to insti- within three months. Although be- accruing from some alternative nos- tute the compulsory product recall of lated, that is not a bad start and is trums, but far more, larger and bet- well over 1,600 (and counting) prod- something that Australian Skeptics ter conducted studies have shown ucts? This is by far the largest recall has been advocating for many years. the bulk of them to be worthless. For of health-related (or any other) prod- example, a recent five-year Oxford ucts in the nation’s history. Spinning like Shane on steroids University study, costing £21m There is some irony in the fact Given that AltMed is a multi-billion found: "Over five years we saw abso- that, although the product that trig- dollar industry, it is hardly surpris- lutely no effect. Vitamin pills are a gered the investigation, Travacalm, ing that spokesmen took to the me- waste of time. There was no evidence was a Registered "pharmacy only" dia in droves, seeking to lay blame at of any protective effect against heart medication, Pan was predominantly the feet of anyone who they thought disease, cancer or any other out- a manufacturer of Listed alternative might take the heat off their own come. They are safe but they are or complementary medicines and problems. An alert observer would useless." There are many other such supplements. Most of the recalled have noticed that they all seemed to reports. items fall within those descriptions be singing from the same hymn book “People want to take charge of and consequently the AltMed indus- as they spun the story to make it their own health.” This is one of the try is now being called to account as look less disastrous for the industry. most common claims made both by never before in its history. Among their largely spurious purveyors and consumers of alterna- With the media interest at its claims are: tives. It sounds supremely demo- height, NSW Premier Bob Carr, ap- “We have the most regulated in- cratic, but it is actually profoundly peared on TV saying, accurately, “... dustry in the world.” Untrue, as idiotic. Most people (even editors) it appears that most of these prod- there was very little regulation of know very little of human physiol- ucts give no more benefit than col- Listed products under the previous ogy, disease, pharmacology or any- oured water”; Catalyst (ABCTV) TGA regime, though new legislation thing else that goes to make up reported on their investigation into might (at last) change this. Some medical science. Rather, we (over herbal remedies, which showed wide European countries already regulate 50% of us) have been led to believe, variations in the amount of active AltMed and pharmaceuticals under often by an uncritical and compliant ingredient and lack of uniformity in the same standards. media, that anecdote and antiquity many preparations from many “We are a small industry and the are the equal of clinical evidence in manufacturers; Chairman of the Government doesn’t give us any fi- deciding the worth of treatments. Australian Olympic Committee, nancial support to do proper testing Thus we cheerfully self-prescribe John Coates, (alert to the threat for efficacy”. True, but the govern- medications for self-diagnosed ills posed to athletes by inadvertent ment doesn’t give any money to and succeed only in creating very ingestion of proscribed substances) pharmaceutical companies either, expensive sewage. called for much stricter regulation of and nor should they. Pan was a Look at it another way. Many of the labelling of supplements and highly profitable company which us are concerned about airline flying; dietitians bemoaned the waste of could well have afforded proper test- do we then, if we wish to travel in- money on expensive and unneces- ing of their products — so can others terstate, design and build our own sary vitamin supplements, when in the industry. aeroplanes, thereby “taking charge sufficient of the real thing was read- In a display of sheer effrontery, of our own safety and security”? Lu- ily available in a normal diet. the Complementary Healthcare dicrous, isn’t it? As a result, the Commonwealth Council approached the Federal Gov- The following pages carry excel- Government has now introduced ernment seeking a grant of $11 mil- lent feature articles addressing dif- legislation requiring a much higher lion to fund “public education on the ferent facets of this story in more degree of compliance, evidence of benefits of complementary health detail. I commend them to you. efficacy, and accuracy in labelling for supplements”. Australian Skeptics manufacturers of complementary Barry Williams the Skeptic, Winter 2003 - Page 3 Notes on the News Around the Traps The right message Simple but effective messages that cut right to the heart of “alternative” Among the hectares of print devoted medical industry claims to represent to the scandal surrounding Pan Phar- “natural” alternatives to orthodox maceuticals (much more of which in medicine. In fact this industry relies this issue) and that cataloguing the very largely on misuse of the term spin* emanating from a complemen- “natural” to give a respectable cachet tary medicine industry desperately to pills and potions that are often far seeking to dissociate itself from Pan, from natural.
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