Category: Energy Medicine

Legislative Alchemy: State licensing of “the profession of reflexology”

Following the playbook of other practitioners of pseudoscience, reflexologists aim to become state-licensed health care professionals, a status they've already achieved in four states. With bills pending in New York and Nebraska, they move closer to their goal of legitimizing their quackery in all 50 states.

/ March 25, 2021

Who Is Amy B. Scher?

Amy B. Scher is a proponent of energy medicine and things like astrology and homeopathy. She claims to be a "science geek," but how could anyone who understands science think that tapping on the breastbone will fix the thymus?

/ March 23, 2021

Energy Medicine Pain Relief Patches Are Laughable Quackery

There's no acceptable scientific evidence that these patches work to relieve pain. The advertising features pseudoscientific energy medicine gibberish. Good for a laugh, but not to be believed.

/ March 9, 2021

Biofield Tuning: Another Example of Tooth Fairy Science

Biofield tuning uses tuning forks to assess the health of clients. This study of inter-rater agreement is a prime example of Tooth Fairy science.

/ November 3, 2020

Osteopathic Medicine – What Is It?

What is the difference between an MD and DO? Let's take a look at the history and the present practice of osteopathic medicine.

/ October 7, 2020

Taopatch Offers Everything… Except Science

Taopatch promises all kinds of vague benefits, but the mechanism of action is implausible and what they call scientific proof is no such thing.

/ September 1, 2020

Tension and Trauma Releasing Exercises (TRE)

TRE exercises can supposedly cure PTSD by inducing tremors. Not credible. And there's no science to support the claims.

/ April 14, 2020
Reiki

No, editors of The Atlantic, reiki does not work

Over the weekend, The Atlantic published an article by Jordan Kisner touting the benefits of reiki and arguing that you shouldn't listen to all those nasty skeptics calling it woo-woo. Unsurprisingly, the article is a credulous mess citing only token skepticism and relying on weak evidence. The Atlantic's embrace of quackery continues.

/ March 9, 2020

BioCharger’s Claims Are Too Silly to Take Seriously

The BioCharger is a subtle energy device based on fantasy, not science. At $15,000, pretty expensive for a placebo.

/ January 21, 2020

Crystal Healing

Crystal healing is back and growing in popularity. What does that reveal about our society and alternative medicine?

/ September 18, 2019