Skeptical reporter @ 2013-06-28

Skeptical Reporter for June 28th, 2013 In Scotland, the British Homeopathic Association intends to fight the NHS decision to no longer support homeopathy from public funds. The Association claims the unproven alternative medicine had been the victim of a “hate campaign”. The organization believes the removal of clinics, used by around 500 people a year in the region, constitutes a “major service change” and is therefore a decision for the Scottish Government, rather than NHS Lothian. Other groups have expressed delight that the service had been cut, calling the decision a victory for “evidence over superstition”. The decision to end funding had been largely based on a public consultation which found that almost three-quarters of Lothian residents did not think homeopathy should be free on the health service. In the United States, local New York City doctors are seeing a spike in requests for intravenous vitamin treatments. It is the new health fad that has taken over the preferences and pockets of Americans in the Big Apple who wish to keep up their energy, combat colds, stay youthful or simply look better. Though they are not FDA-approved as treatments, IVs are being administered at the offices of even prominent physicians. In many cases, patients first begin with a blood workup, to determine what nutrients they need. Then, they sit with a drip from 30 minutes to an hour, at a cost ranging from $130 to $1,000 per session. “It’s basic biochemistry; when the body has its building blocks, it works better,’’ says Morrison, who recommends weekly drips during particularly stressful periods for a span of four to six weeks. According to Morrison, IVs first started to become popular with athletes about five years ago, when Major League Baseball players were rumored to use them, because the treatments allowed them to enhance their performance legally. Though doctors in a large range of specialties are now offering the IVs, critics say they are nothing more than snake-oil salesmen. “There is no evidence-based medicine to support the use of vitamin drips; they are just moneymakers”, says Elizabeth Kavaler, a urologist and assistant clinical professor at Weill Cornell Medical Center. In his big speech on climate change, President Obama mocked Republicans who deny the existence of man-made global warming by derisively referring to them as members of “the Flat Earth Society”. As it turns out, there is a real Flat Earth Society and its president thinks that anthropogenic climate change is real. In an email to Salon, president Daniel Shenton said that while he “can’t speak for the Society as a whole regarding climate change,” he personally thinks the evidence suggests fossil fuel usage is contributing to global warming. “I accept that climate change is a process which has been ongoing since the beginning of detectable history, but there seems to be a definite correlation between the recent increase in world-wide temperatures and man’s entry into the industrial age. If it’s a coincidence, it’s quite a remarkable one,” he said. As for Obama’s dig at his group, which indeed thinks the world is flat, Shenton said he’s not surprised and doesn't take it personally. And Australians are making progress in their fight against anti-vaccination groups. The Senate recently voted in favor of a proposition that the controversial anti-immunisation Australian Vaccination Network should “immediately disband”. Greens health spokesperson Senator Richard Di Natale won the support of all major parties for the motion and says it is important the Parliament take the lead in expressing its disdain for the group's activities. “I think it is important that we take them on, that the community recognizes them as a group that is actively harming kids”, he declared. The motion approved by the Senate calls on the AVN to “immediately disband and cease their harmful and unscientific scare campaign against vaccines”.