Standing up for common sense
Science sets out to rigorously eliminate bias, not to assert it. The arguments mounted for the closure of complementary medicine courses in Australian universities by the Friends of Science in Medicine in a recent editorial in the Journal1 are highly emotive and, while having a gloss of superficial reasonableness, they do not stand up to critical review. In a letter sent to Australian vice-chancellors, the Friends of Science in Medicine do not provide an evidence-based curriculum review but selective and outdated anecdotes about chiropractic in a polemic with references to six websites (Peter Lee, Vice Chancellor, Southern Cross University, personal communication).
The full article is accessible to AMA members and paid subscribers. Login to read more or purchase a subscription now.
Please note: institutional and Research4Life access to the MJA is now provided through Wiley Online Library.
- 1. MacLennan AH, Morrison RG. Tertiary education institutions should not offer pseudoscientific medical courses [editorial]. Med J Aust 2012; 196: 225-226. <MJA full text>
- 2. Bensoussan A, Myers SP. Towards a safer choice. The practice of traditional Chinese medicine in Australia. Sydney: Faculty of Health, University of Western Sydney, 1996.
- 3. Lin V, Bensoussan A, Myers SP, et al, editors. The practice and regulatory requirements of naturopathy and Western herbal medicine. Melbourne: School of Public Health, Latrobe University, 2005.
- 4. Pariente J, White P, Frackowiak RSJ, Lewith G. Expectancy and belief modulate the neuronal substrates of pain treated by acupuncture. NeuroImage 2005; 25: 1161-1167.
- 5. Bowen WM, Schwartz M. The chief purpose of universities: academic discourse and the diversity of ideas. London: Mellen Press, 2005.
- 6. Komesaroff PA, Moore A, Kerridge IH. Medicine and science must oppose intolerance and censorship. Med J Aust 2012; 197: 82-83. <eMJA full text> <MJA full text>
- 7. Clinical Evidence. What conclusions has Clinical Evidence drawn about what works, what doesn’t based on randomised controlled trial evidence? http://clinicalevidence.bmj.com/x/set/static/cms/efficacy-categorisations.html (accessed Jun 2012).
- 8. Hill AB. The environment and disease: association or causation? Proc R Soc Med 1965; 58: 295-300.
- 9. Lewis M. Risk and efficacy in biomedical media representations of herbal medicine and complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). J Evid Based Complementary Altern Med 2011; 16: 210-217.
- 10. Cassidy JD, Boyle E, Côté P, et al. Risk of vertebrobasilar stroke and chiropractic care: results of a population-based case-control and case-crossover study. J Manipulative Physiol Ther 2009; 32 (2 Suppl): S201-S208.
We thank Nicola Gale (Research Fellow in Medical Sociology at the University of Birmingham), Jon Wardle (Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Technology Sydney), Jennifer Hunter (Doctoral Candidate at the University of Sydney) and John McDonald (Adjunct Senior Lecturer and Doctoral Candidate at Griffith University) for their scholarly review and input.
Kerryn Phelps is principal of a private integrative medicine clinic.