Medical practices are only called "alternative", the always fantastic Skeptic's Dictionary reminds us, "if it is based on untested, untraditional, or unscientific principles, methods, treatments, or knowledge." In view of this, not to mention the dangers, it is more than a little depressing that complementary and alternative medicine remains so popular. So it's heartening whenever some good news emerges on this front. It seems the campaign against CAM in the UK, led by David Colquhoun (DC's Improbable Science), Richard Dawkins (The Enemies of Reason) and Ben Goldacre (Bad Science), is starting to pay some dividends. Not only has the NHS been turning away from woo such as homeopathy, but recently the BBC health website removed their CAM section completely. (There is an article about the development from the quack perspective here).
Alas, the news might not be as good as it might seem at first. Reacting to complains, the BBC said, basically, that it removed the section for purely economic reasons. Apparently, it required too much effort for the amount of traffic they were getting.
Maybe if we continue our educational efforts, sometime in the far future quality news organizations like the BBC wouldn't even dream of carrying pro-woo content.
Hmm,well thats deflated my joy-balloon a little.I suppose we just have to keep on keeping on.
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