BBC - Alternative remedies 'dangerous' for kids says report

A BBC story about the dangers of so-called "alternative remedies" which are, in fact, not remedies at all.

I get an email about "EFT"

See here for my earlier warning about EFT.

An email arrived regarding my rather dismissive comments as follows.  The email is in red.

Hi It's a shame people are so skeptical without giving something a chance. 

I haven't given shooting myself in the head a chance either, but that doesn't mean I should try it.

I've been using EFT for 7 years on myself, as a practitioner and trainer and I can honestly say that many of the claims for it are broadly true based on my experience and the shifts I see in others. I see some amazing things happening on a regular basis. 

"broadly true based on my experience"?  Is that meant to seem like evidence?

My background is in IT and I'm totally uninterested in fake or airy-fairy techniques that are not really delivering the goods. 

I'm not sure that qualifies you as an expert.  I would rather have decently constructed double-blinded scientific studies investigating the claims made by a treatment but perhaps I'm just old-fashioned?

This is the real mackoy and delivers well above placibo. So give it a chance and try it out. There are free manuals on the web. Thanks, Peter

The word is "placebo".  Forgive me if I don't try something that is based on pseudoscience, was invented by a charlatan and makes extraordinary claims but without any extraordinary evidence.

Peter's own web site include the following, remarkable statement:

"EFT is based on a revolutionary new discovery that violates most of the beliefs within conventional psychology. It contends that the cause of all negative emotions is a disruption in the body's energy system. With remarkable consistency, EFT relieves symptoms by an unusual (but scientific) routine of tapping with the fingertips on a short series of points on the body that correspond to acupuncture points on the energy meridians. Where there is an imbalance, there is a corresponding blockage in the flow of energy through the meridian system.

The tapping serves to release the blockages that are created when a person thinks about or becomes involved in an emotionally disturbing circumstance. When this blockage is released, the emotions come into balance. Once balanced, the person cannot get upset about the circumstance no matter how hard they try. The memory remains but the charge is gone."

Note: any particularly attractive people are welcome to come over to my place for a glass of wine and a vigorous "tapping" from either me or the wife!

Christopher Maloney is a quack

For more details of his deeply silly pseudo-legal threats against PZ Myers see here.  Seems like he doesn't have a natural remedy for being exposed as a quack who is simply NOT a doctor, despite the ridiculous laws in the US state of Maine where it looks like anyone can be called a "doctor" if they have a natural medicine "degree".

For Maloney's own laughable "medical" site, see here.