Edzard Ernst

Professor Julien Nizard, vice-dean of Nantes University’s medical school, becomes the 28th member of my “ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE HALL OF FAME”

Edzard — Mon, 06 Jul 2026 06:53:03 +0000

I must admit that, in recent months, I neglected my ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE HALL OF FAME. As my regular readers will know, this is an assembly of extraordinary researchers – extraordinary in the sense that they all have been busy studying so-called alternative medicine (SCAM) without ever managing to publish a single negative result. At present, […]

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Is tolerance unethical when applied to homeopathy?

Edzard — Sun, 05 Jul 2026 08:28:07 +0000

Tolerance is widely regarded as a moral virtue, a cornerstone of pluralistic societies and a safeguard against dogmatism. Yet, tolerance can sometimes be misplaced. Thomas Mann suggested that “tolerance becomes a crime when applied to evil”. In a similar vein, I propose that tolerance can become unethical when applied to homeopathy. Homeopathy presents itself as […]

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Research Ethics and Integrety in So-Called Alternative Medicine (SCAM)

Edzard — Sat, 04 Jul 2026 10:48:21 +0000

A recent paper entitled “Research Ethics and Integrity and the Different Forms of Misconduct: Applications and Challenges in Traditional, Complementary, and Integrative Medicine Research” caught my eye. As the subject is close to my heart and often covered on this blog, I studied it carefully. Here is the abstract: Research ethics and integrity are foundational […]

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WORLD CUP: England vs Mexico – my medical concerns about this game

Edzard — Sat, 04 Jul 2026 07:39:52 +0000

I have never commented on football before on this blog (I am not even a big fan, yet I have been involved in doctoring for a team many years ago). Today, I make an exception because, in the very early hours of 6 July (UK time), England will be playing Mexico in the World Cup. […]

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US researchers face restrictions on publishing with foreign collaborators

Edzard — Fri, 03 Jul 2026 10:55:11 +0000

In the US, scientific research is facing a new bureaucratic obstacle marked by a stringent escalation in research security enforcement by major federal funding bodies. Traditionally, the US has positioned itself as the vanguard of open, globalized scientific inquiry, a model predicated on the understanding that breakthrough discoveries thrive on cross-border intellectual synergy. However, recent regulatory […]

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Iridology: it’s dangerous pseudo-diagnostic

Edzard — Fri, 03 Jul 2026 08:04:13 +0000

A position paper of the Associazione Pazienti Malattie Oculari (APMO) evaluated IRIDOLOGY. Here is its abstract: Iridology is an alternative diagnostic practice that claims to identify systemic diseases and organ dysfunction through visual inspection of iris features, including pigmentation patterns, crypts, furrows, and discolorations. Despite its continued presence within complementary and alternative medicine, iridology has […]

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What effects did Brexit have on our health?

Edzard — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 10:22:32 +0000

Ten years after Brexit, it seems reasonable to ask what effects Brexit has caused on health-related matters for the UK and beyond. Here is my attenpt to provide an answer; these are the 8 issues that come to my mind: Workforce Disruption and Recruitment Shift: The ending of free movement led to a sharp drop […]

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An excellent BMJ editorial sharply criticised the WHO’s stance on so-called alternative medicine (SCAM)

Edzard — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 07:10:35 +0000

The WHO’s supportive stance on so-called alternative medicine (SCAM) has been discussed on this blog many times before. Now a BMJ editorial criticized the WHO for uncritically promoting SCAM within mainstream health systems. It argues that WHO’s new strategy gives undue legitimacy to interventions whose evidence base is often weak, inconsistent, or absent. The author’s main […]

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Is Elon Musk – with the help of Donald Trump – going to kill millions?

Edzard — Wed, 01 Jul 2026 10:57:46 +0000

The claim that Elon Musk might be “killing millions” sounds like hyperbolic rhetoric, but it is an entirely predictable mathematical projection of his policy choices. Peer-reviewed global health modeling showed that the systematic dismantling of USAID—spearheaded by Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)—will result in over 14 million preventable deaths by 2030, millions of whom […]

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Plausibility and SCAM – what’s all the fuss about?

Edzard — Wed, 01 Jul 2026 07:13:41 +0000

Critics of so-called alternative medicine (SCAM) often point out that much of it lacks plausibility. Proponents of SCAM tend to think that this is an irrelevance. So, what is plausibility, and why does it matter? Think of scientific plausibility as a reality check. Before scientists spend time and money testing a new idea, they ask […]

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