This is great news for Simon, and for all those interested in free and uninhibited debate of scientific (and general) discourse. As you rightly said the costs issue is yet to be resolved – going off past form Simon may well still be left significantly out of pocket, not least because of the disastrous state of the BCA accounts. Well done Zeno of some bloody impressive blogging on this btw, I really hope we see more to come as this is far, far from over đ Reply
Maybe Simon Singh should now try to recover his costs from Richard Brown, rather than from the BCA? Reply
“Simon has still spent the last two years fighting this misconceived and unnecessary libel case” I disagree. I think it’s been a very very necessary libel case. It has not only led to far more people being educated in how corrupt and fraudulent the practice of Chiro is, but has also sparked a full-scale reform of libel laws in this country which has been a long time coming. Reply
Given we are now pretty much in agreement that chiropractic treatment cannot help with infant colic, I was rather dismayed to find the section below on a local chiropractors website (http://www.chiro.co.nz/doctor/chiropractor/274S/chiropractic-Wellington/colic.htm). However, once I read to the end, I was relieved to see that they very clearly say chiropractic is not a treatement for colic. I’m sure this advert for chiropracty won’t mislead anyone. Here’s the excerpt: Colic Your tummy hurts. You have a terrible headache. You canât sleep and youâre cranky. One more thing: you canât ask for help because youâre only two weeks old! So you cry. And cry. And cry. Infant with colic. Lacking the ability to speak, newborns cry, indicating that something isnât right. And your parents feel helpless. Indigestion? Infantile colic was first thought to be merely indigestion. The most widely accepted definition of colic today is âunexplainable and uncontrollable crying in babies from 0 to 3 months old, more than 3 hours a day, more than 3 days a week for 3 weeks or more, usually in the afternoon and evening hours.â Birth Trauma? If a baby is inconsolable, itâs hard to know if itâs a digestive disturbance. Consider another explanation. Upon examination, we often find spinal distortions in the babyâs upper cervical spine. These babies are probably suffering from head and neck pain. This is especially common if there was a difficult birth. A 67% Reduction in Crying The results of a randomized controlled trial published in the October 1999 issue of the Journal of Manipulative and Physiologic Therapeutics tracked a small group of 50 infants. Half received the drug dimethicone and the other spinal manipulation. At the conclusion of the two-week study, the babies being adjusted saw a 67% reduction in crying and the drug therapy group saw a 38% reduction. Little Research While large scale research results are lacking, and colic is considered a condition that resolves on its own with the passage of enough time, there are many case studies showing improvement, sometimes dramatic, among colicky babies with subluxations. Not a Cure Chiropractic isnât a treatment for colic! If subluxation is present, interfering with the proper function of any part of the body, restoring proper nervous system control often allows the body to heal. This may happen regardless of age and regardless of what the particular symptoms are called. Reply
Perhaps the BCA should also receive a prize: Lifetime Achievement Award for their contribution to Chiropractic given they are medipractors masquerading as chiropractors. Richard Brown is a confused adult who missed out on the grades for and fuller explanation of chiropractic – he obviously wanted to be a doctor when in fact his vocation was nursing. And so not to be one sided. Simon Singh is a self serving tosser who has whipped you arseholes in to his longer term PR ambitions. What a load of wankers. Reply