pretty good article on SCAM

[JoeTheJuggler]

A refreshingly well-written article on "natural cures" and such by an AP medical writer:

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/storie...TE&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2009-11-10-15-16-11


Though I think it overstated the placebo effect. (For example, near the end of the article, it relates an individual's "it works for me" anecdote and seems to attribute that to the placebo effect, when it could be any number of other explanations--which is why uncontrolled studies with a sample size of 1 aren't good ways to measure the effectiveness of a drug.)

But I really like the opening "Editor's note" that introduces this series of articles:

EDITOR'S NOTE: Ten years and $2.5 billion in research have found no cures from alternative medicine. Yet these mostly unproven treatments are now mainstream and used by more than a third of all Americans. This is one in an occasional Associated Press series on their use and potential risks.