03 February 2011 by Kim Hebert
Earlier in January, CBC Marketplace investigated homeopathy. Now that there has been some time for people to react, here is a summary of some coverage around the Internet. Please also feel free to share relevant links in the comments. Favourable Reactions Digital Journal’s opinion section covered the topic of homeopathy in several articles the week [...]
Posted in Alternative Medicine, Canada, Pseudoscience9 Comments
17 January 2011 by Kim Hebert
As it was last year, and likely will be again next year unless the Reptilians get us, it’s December. Unsurprisingly, psychics in late 2008 made their various predictions about 2009 and I examined the claims of two: self-proclaimed psychic Sylvia Browne and Nostradamus fanboi John Hogue. I wonder if they did any better for 2010, [...]
Posted in Paranormal, Pseudoscience0 Comments
14 January 2011 by Kim Hebert
Benefiting from the Atlantic Time Zone, I got to be one of the first to watch CBC Marketplace on Friday night (darn you, Newfoundland!) where they covered the topic of homeopathy. Here are my impressions. First, I want to praise Marketplace for not offering false balance on the issue. Homeopathy is not something about which [...]
Posted in Alternative Medicine, Canada, Featured, Health, Media, Pseudoscience, Reviews37 Comments
07 January 2011 by Kim Hebert
Ginseng: So awesome, The Star doesn’t even have to tell you how it’s actually supposed to work. News coverage of alternative medicine is often abysmal, but Toronto’s The Star offers far more words to a fluff piece than I ever thought possible. After a long and irrelevant personal story about a woman’s personal experiences with [...]
Posted in Alternative Medicine, Canada, Health, Media11 Comments
25 November 2010 by Kim Hebert
About 12.5% of Canadians are using complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)…or are they? CAM practitioners have been making gains in the Canadian Health System (for example, naturopaths in Ontario were last year given the right to prescribe certain medications) and homeopathic, herbal, and other CAM products line pharmacy shelves with questionable approval from Health Canada. Alt [...]
Posted in Alternative Medicine, Canada, Health, Medical Conditions, Science1 Comment
02 November 2010 by Kim Hebert
This week has been declared Vaccine Awareness Week. You might think this involves advice on where to get flu vaccines, boosters, and other scheduled shots. Perhaps with some discussion about safety, pros and cons, and why vaccination is important. But you would be wrong. This week is dedicated to showing the public how very dangerous [...]
Posted in Health, Skepticism, Vaccines2 Comments
24 September 2010 by Kim Hebert
British Columbian taxpayers saw a bad situation turn worse recently. Not only is the provincial Ministry of Health subsidizing acupuncture, but practitioners are administering other alternative-health treatments and falsely billing them as acupuncture. For example: A staff member at the Ha Chinese Medicine Wellness Clinic in Richmond said they would apply the subsidy to Chinese [...]
Posted in Alternative Medicine, British Columbia, Health9 Comments
08 September 2010 by Kim Hebert
Today’s post is brought to you by a guest, Yoni Freedhoff, of the blog Weighty Matters. Yoni is a family doctor and founder of Ottawa’s Bariatric Medical Institute – a multi-disciplinary, ethical, evidence-based nutrition and weight management centre. Front-of-package food labelling. In theory it’s there to help you make healthier choices in the supermarket without [...]
Posted in Diet and Nutrition2 Comments
02 September 2010 by Kim Hebert
The phrase “scientifically proven effective” is thrown around a lot in the marketing world. But in the case of a product making a health claim, what value is there in such a statement? One might reasonably think it means the vast body of scientific literature supports the treatment. But what about when it means that [...]
Posted in Alternative Medicine, Health Policy, Medicinal Advertising4 Comments
23 August 2010 by Kim Hebert
A few weeks ago, I wrote an article critical of Bryce Wylde’s appearance on Canada AM where he indicated that homeopathic treatments were of benefit for cuts, bruises, burns, and bug bites. Mr. Wylde responded in the comments section of that post (leading to further discussion here) where he provided a list of his “favourite [...]
Posted in Alternative Medicine, Canada, Health, Ontario33 Comments
Kim Hébert is an occupational therapist. She is interested in the promotion of science and reason, particularly regarding therapeutic health interventions. She blogs occasionally about occupational therapy and other health topics at Science-Based Therapy. Her hobbies are art and astronomy. **All views expressed by Kim are her personal views alone, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of current or former employers, associations, or other affiliations. All information is provided for discussion purposes only, and should not be used as a replacement for consultation with a licensed and accredited health professional.
