Fw: [ACA-Members] FW: Edzard Ernst stepping down

[Guest guest]

Good news....Vern Saboe

[ACA-Members] FW: Edzard Ernst stepping down

.... And not a decade too soon.

Dan Redwood

From Reuters Health Information

Medicine Professor Calls Prince , Others " Snake-Oil Salesmen "

By Kate Kelland

LONDON (Reuters) Jul 25 - A leading professor of complementary medicine

accused Britain's heir-to-the-throne Prince and other backers of

alternative therapies on Monday of being " snake-oil salesmen " who promote

products with no scientific basis.

Edzard Ernst, who is stepping down from his post as Britain's only professor

of complementary medicine at Exeter University, also said a long-running

dispute with the Prince about the merits of alternative therapies had cost

him his job -- a claim Prince 's office denied.

" Almost directly, Prince has managed to interfere in my professional

life and almost managed to close my unit, " Ernst told reporters at a

briefing.

A spokeswoman for Prince told Reuters the royal heir was not

involved in the dispute with Ernst and that she would not respond to

professor's comments about snake-oil salesmen.

Ernst's complementary medicine research unit at Exeter's Peninsula School of

Medicine had been threatened with outright closure, but the university has

now offered it a reprieve and says it is seeking a successor to Ernst to

lead it.

" It looked as though I had to go, and that was the price for the unit to

continue, " Ernst said. " I pay the price gladly as it is a small price to pay

for the unit to continue. "

Ernst said that during his 18 years of researching the efficacy of hundreds

of different types of alternative medicine -- from acupuncture, to herbal

remedies, to homeopathy and chiropractic therapy -- he has found that

" snake-oil salesmen and pseudo-science are ubiquitous and dangerous " .

Asked whether he included Prince in that category, he said, " yes " .

He said Prince , a long-time advocate of alternative and integrated

medicine and sustainable agriculture, was one of the main obstacles to

allowing proper scientific analysis of the efficacy of complementary

therapies.

Referring to the prince's Duchy Originals food company as " dodgy originals, "

he said the firm's promotion of a " detox " tincture made from artichoke and

dandelion was an example of how the prince peddled scientifically unproven

therapies.

In 2009 Ernst accused Prince of " outright quackery " for promoting

the detox tincture and other such products " under the banner of holistic and

integrative healthcare. "

The 62-year-old prince founded Duchy Originals in 1990 to promote organic

food and farming, with profits going to charity.

Duchy Originals describes the product as " a food supplement to help

eliminate toxins and aid digestion " and a spokeswoman for the firm said it

had no comment about Ernst's remarks.

Ernst's dispute with Prince dates back to 2005, when the professor

was asked to look at a report by an economist, Smallwood, who

was investigating whether alternative remedies were cost-effective and

should be offered more widely on Britain's taxpayer-funded National Health

Service (NHS).

Ernst objected to the report and decided to voice his concerns before it was

published. In one section, the report said the NHS could save billions of

pounds if some doctors could switch from prescribing conventional medicines

to offering alternative therapies. " That was so unspeakable to me that I had

to speak out, " Ernst said.

Ernst was accused in a letter from an adviser to Prince ,

Peat, of having breached a confidentiality agreement on the report and an

investigation was launched. Ernst was cleared of wrongdoing, but he says he

had by that time lost the support of his institution and its commitment to

raise more funding for his work.

A spokeswoman for Prince said he " had no knowledge that a letter was

being sent to the University of Exeter by Sir Peat about Edzard

Ernst's breaching of confidence of the Smallwood report in 2005 " and was not

involved in the dispute.

Ernst and his team have run many clinical trials and published more than 150

meta-analyses of complementary and alternative medicines.

He says he has identified around 20 such therapies which " demonstrably

demonstrate more good than harm " including the herbal remedy St 's Wort

for the treatment of mild depression, hypnosis for the relief of labor pain,

and hawthorn for the treatment of congestive heart failure.

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[Guest guest]

About bloody time!...............let's hope his successor isn't as bigoted.

God save the Queen,

Simon Agger, D.C.

Vern Saboe <vsaboe@...> wrote:

>Good news....Vern Saboe

> [ACA-Members] FW: Edzard Ernst stepping down

>

>

>... And not a decade too soon.

>

>Dan Redwood

>

>

>From Reuters Health Information

>Medicine Professor Calls Prince , Others " Snake-Oil Salesmen "

>By Kate Kelland

>LONDON (Reuters) Jul 25 - A leading professor of complementary medicine

>accused Britain's heir-to-the-throne Prince and other backers of

>alternative therapies on Monday of being " snake-oil salesmen " who promote

>products with no scientific basis.

>Edzard Ernst, who is stepping down from his post as Britain's only professor

>of complementary medicine at Exeter University, also said a long-running

>dispute with the Prince about the merits of alternative therapies had cost

>him his job -- a claim Prince 's office denied.

> " Almost directly, Prince has managed to interfere in my professional

>life and almost managed to close my unit, " Ernst told reporters at a

>briefing.

>A spokeswoman for Prince told Reuters the royal heir was not

>involved in the dispute with Ernst and that she would not respond to

>professor's comments about snake-oil salesmen.

>Ernst's complementary medicine research unit at Exeter's Peninsula School of

>Medicine had been threatened with outright closure, but the university has

>now offered it a reprieve and says it is seeking a successor to Ernst to

>lead it.

> " It looked as though I had to go, and that was the price for the unit to

>continue, " Ernst said. " I pay the price gladly as it is a small price to pay

>for the unit to continue. "

>Ernst said that during his 18 years of researching the efficacy of hundreds

>of different types of alternative medicine -- from acupuncture, to herbal

>remedies, to homeopathy and chiropractic therapy -- he has found that

> " snake-oil salesmen and pseudo-science are ubiquitous and dangerous " .

>Asked whether he included Prince in that category, he said, " yes " .

>He said Prince , a long-time advocate of alternative and integrated

>medicine and sustainable agriculture, was one of the main obstacles to

>allowing proper scientific analysis of the efficacy of complementary

>therapies.

>Referring to the prince's Duchy Originals food company as " dodgy originals, "

>he said the firm's promotion of a " detox " tincture made from artichoke and

>dandelion was an example of how the prince peddled scientifically unproven

>therapies.

>In 2009 Ernst accused Prince of " outright quackery " for promoting

>the detox tincture and other such products " under the banner of holistic and

>integrative healthcare. "

>The 62-year-old prince founded Duchy Originals in 1990 to promote organic

>food and farming, with profits going to charity.

>Duchy Originals describes the product as " a food supplement to help

>eliminate toxins and aid digestion " and a spokeswoman for the firm said it

>had no comment about Ernst's remarks.

>Ernst's dispute with Prince dates back to 2005, when the professor

>was asked to look at a report by an economist, Smallwood, who

>was investigating whether alternative remedies were cost-effective and

>should be offered more widely on Britain's taxpayer-funded National Health

>Service (NHS).

>Ernst objected to the report and decided to voice his concerns before it was

>published. In one section, the report said the NHS could save billions of

>pounds if some doctors could switch from prescribing conventional medicines

>to offering alternative therapies. " That was so unspeakable to me that I had

>to speak out, " Ernst said.

>Ernst was accused in a letter from an adviser to Prince ,

>Peat, of having breached a confidentiality agreement on the report and an

>investigation was launched. Ernst was cleared of wrongdoing, but he says he

>had by that time lost the support of his institution and its commitment to

>raise more funding for his work.

>A spokeswoman for Prince said he " had no knowledge that a letter was

>being sent to the University of Exeter by Sir Peat about Edzard

>Ernst's breaching of confidence of the Smallwood report in 2005 " and was not

>involved in the dispute.

>Ernst and his team have run many clinical trials and published more than 150

>meta-analyses of complementary and alternative medicines.

>He says he has identified around 20 such therapies which " demonstrably

>demonstrate more good than harm " including the herbal remedy St 's Wort

>for the treatment of mild depression, hypnosis for the relief of labor pain,

>and hawthorn for the treatment of congestive heart failure.

>

>

>_______________________________________________ Chirosci-list mailing list

>Chirosci-list@...

>http://lists.netlojix.com/mailman/listinfo/chirosci-list

>

>

>

>______________________________________________________

>

>ACA-Members Mailing List

>

>To post to the list: ACA-members@...

>

>List policy

>

>NOTE: The ACA does not accept requests/inquiries through the listserv. The

>listserv is for peer-to-peer collaboration only. If you have an

>insurance-related question/concern you wish to bring to the attention of the

>ACA, please email insinfo@...

>

>Technical questions or to request to be removed from the list, please

>contact dmillard@...

>