VERITAS
"Alternative Medicine"
By Craig Branch
September - October 2006

Sociologist Marilyn Ferguson “prophetically” penned in The Aquarian Conspiracy, “The impending transformation of medicine is a window to the transformation of all our institutions.” (1) Ferguson, herself a proponent for the advancement of new age spirituality in culture, was not engaging in idle speculation. Only a few years before her book, so-called holistic medicine and philosophy was relegated to a marginalized group of quacks, kooks, Indian medicine men and “witchdoctors.” But then a few respected doctors and social commentators like Dr. Jonas Salk (polio vaccine inventor) and Norman Cousins began to promote some radical new techniques for healthcare which quickly gained a following and has since grown into a surprisingly strong movement today.

The Nature and Importance of the Issue
The terms frequently used today to describe many ancient and sometimes new methods and modalities for healthcare are “Alternative Medicine,” “Complimentary Medicine” or “Integrative Medicine.” Many of these approaches are based in new age and occult mysticism. In our previous journal issue (“Engaging the New Age”) we explained the foundational beliefs and errors of new age spirituality. We will not repeat everything discussed in that issue, but as a brief review we should note that new age spirituality is a synthesis of Hinduism, Buddhism, Gnosticism, occultism, witchcraft and paganism, along with a heavy dose of Western narcissism and hedonism.

The central belief of new age spirituality is monism, the belief that everything is a vast, undifferentiated, impersonal unity. The essence of this unity is energy which goes by different names such as Universal Consciousness, Life Energy, Prana, God, the Force, etc. As it applies to health, new age spirituality involves the recognition that sickness occurs when our true perfect Self is out of balance with this cosmic energy. Overcoming sickness, then, is a matter of aligning the flow of our own individual energy with the flow of the universal life energy.

Why is this such an important issue as to warrant an entire issue of Areopagus Journal? There are a number of reasons why we should be concerned about the growing use of Alternative Medicine (AM). First, as you will see in the articles in this journal, AM can be dangerous and deceptive both spiritually and medically. Though there are some alternative remedies that have genuine medical efficacy, some kinds of AM can draw people into the occult and can often cost time, money or even lives in the pursuit of bogus cures. Second, AM’s growth reflects the acceptance of a worldview with a penchant for the irrational and purely experiential, and can produce resistance to the objective truth claims of Christianity.

With the continuing expansion of postmodern relativism and the retreat of the Church from engaging the culture, there has been created an intellectual greenhouse to aid the growth of the new age movement, and its offspring, AM. This topic has or will affect everyone in some way. It has even affected many Christians. In fact, recently listening to the Christian network, Salem Broadcasting, I heard a regularly scheduled program, “Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise,” produced by Hope Inspiration Ministry, which promotes natural health products, especially herbs and supplements as a prevention or cure for just about anything.

Both the popularity and confusion surrounding this movement is enhanced by (1) a culture whose number one priority is personal health and fitness, (2) a less than perfect scientific medical solution to illness, (3) a cultural of universal pluralism, postmodern relativism, and new age spirituality which reduces both discernment and resistance to deception, and (4) the fact that a few AM practices do have some medical efficacy can mislead the undiscerning to think that all of them do.

As a result, there appears to be growing acceptance of alternative or complimentary medicine by a number of hospitals, medical research institutions and universities, and insurance companies. How can this be if it is mostly bogus? We have even seen the creation of a government agency, the National Center for Complimentary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), a subdivision of the National Institute of Health (NIH).

What are we talking about when we refer to AM? What are the specific therapies and modalities that go under this heading? Here is a partial list of AM modalities that are of questionable medical value:

We should also mention that acupuncture, chiropractic, herbal therapy, hypnosis, certain myofascial release techniques, and some vitamin and dietary supplements are therapies that have some proven effectiveness, but claims for them are often quite exaggerated.

Some of the prominent spokespeople and leaders in the AM movement are Andrew Weil, Deepak Chopra, Maharishi Mehesh Yogi, Carolyn Myss, Larry Dossey, John Barnes, Bernie Siegel, Kevin Trudeau, Herbert Benson, and David Eisenberg.

History of the Movement
So how did such a dramatic shift in worldview thinking take place with regard to AM? How did so many techniques that were once relegated to a lunatic fringe gain credibility? The holistic health movement first began to make inroads into the mainstream through the nursing profession and chiropractic. The nursing profession in particular was receptive because techniques like therapeutic touch gave nurses a sense of empowerment. Now they, like doctors, could assume a position as a healing agent, not merely their traditional support role. But the facts are that therapeutic touch is based on occult premises and has no scientific evidence of effectiveness.

Chiropractic originated with the occult theories of D.D. and B.J. Palmer which were based on magnetic healing, mysticism, and a form of energy manipulation called “sublaxations.” They believed that their techniques could cure almost any disease and condition. Later some chiropractors sought a more scientific approach and have been effective in spinal pain syndrome treatments. Nevertheless, most chiropractors are not medical doctors and there are diverse opinions among chiropractors as to which manipulation techniques work, on what basis they work, and to what extent they are to be applied.

Apart from these two non-conventional practices, holistic or alternative medicine made little headway—that is, until three major events opened the door for the acceptability of these obscure and controversial therapies. The first of these three was in 1992 when Senator Tom Hankin (D-Iowa), the chair of the subcommittee that funds healthcare research, convinced his colleagues to allocate $2 million to create the Office of Alternative Medicine (OAM) under the NIH. Hankin himself is a believer because an alternative modality was apparently successful in curing his resistant allergies. Today the OAM has been changed to the National Center for Complimentary and Alternative Medicine with a budget of nearly $123 million.

The second event was the publication of a study in the respected New England Journal of Medicine in 1993 by Dr. David Eisenberg. The article was based on a survey which Eisenberg claimed showed that at least one-third of Americans were already using some kind of alternative modality and that they spent close to $14 billion on these practices. And Eisenberg claimed that more visits were made to unconventional practitioners (425 million) than were made to primary care physicians. (2)

The results of Eisenberg’s study became popular knowledge when Norm Anderson, a director in the NIH, appeared before the Senate Appropriations Committee (then under Tom Harkin’s charge) at the close of the 105th Congress (1997). Anderson projected that spending on our nation’s health care was likely to double to $2.1 trillion by 2007 and that already “proven” mind-body therapies could eliminate 37% of doctor’s visits and save $54 billion annually. He also stated that 60-90% of visits to doctors are related to stress and other psychosocial factors. (3)

The third cause propelling the radical shift toward acceptance of AM was the influence of the media. For example, respected journalist Bill Moyers produced and promoted a PBS series on Joseph Campbell’s bestselling book, The Power of Myth in 1988. Then in 1993 Moyers produced another PBS series and subsequent bestselling book, Healing and the Mind, giving apparent credibility to new age spirituality in healing methodologies.

Oprah Winfrey is another prominent celebrity who plowed the ground of public receptivity for AM. Oprah has given lots of airtime on her show to many new age and AM proponents. Oprah herself has embraced and communicates many new age beliefs. Two other new age personalities who the media (especially PBS) featured during these formative years for alternative medicine were Andrew Weil, author of the bestseller Spontaneous Healing, and Deepak Chopra, proponent of Transcendental Meditation and Ayurvedic healing.

Because of these major factors, the cultural acceptability of AM came of (new) age, reaching a critical mass in the 2002-2004 period. In March of 2002, the Clinton administration’s White House Commission on Complimentary and Alternative Medicine issued a “Final Report” which recommended expanded federal funding and other policy initiatives to integrate complimentary or alternative methods (CAM) across-the-board into the nation’s medical, medical education, and insurance institutions. What is not well known is that the Commission was headed by Dr. James S. Gordon, a professor of psychiatry at Georgetown University School of Medicine, who is far from unbiased. Gordon is not only a major proponent of AM, but has significant alignments with very prominent and flaky new age personalities and practices.

Gordon began using yoga, meditation, herbs, acupuncture, and martial arts early in his practice. Ironically, while practicing yoga in 1974, he “threw his back out” and only found relief from “intense pain” through acupuncturist Shyam Singha who prescribed Epson salt baths, pine apple diet and osteopathic treatment. Singha also introduced Gordon to the notorious Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh who was later deported from Oregon to India when it was discovered that he ordered his followers to poison the water reserve in Antelope in an attempt to take over the local government. Gordon began a long relationship with Rajneesh that stretched from 1979 through his 2002 chairmanship of the Clinton Commission. Moreover, Gordon served on the advisory board of Harvard psychiatrist John Mack’s Program for Extraordinary Experience Research, a program that embraced the belief that hundreds of thousands of Americans were abducted by aliens and needed “alien abduction therapy.” (4) This is ample evidence of Gordon’s attempted convergence of the occult and science.

That Gordon’s own religious bias made its way into the final report of the Commission is the opinion of the National Council against Health Fraud. They petitioned the Bush administration “to disclaim and reject the final report…because the Commission failed in its mission” by failing to “appropriately assess CAM methods, lacks objectivity, and was principally the opinions of the Commission leader.” (5) Moreover, some members of the Commission itself issued a significant dissent to the Commission’s methods and recommendations, and protested that the majority of the members had not seen the final copy before submission. (6) Unfortunately, the public is not aware of all of this. What they understand is what the propaganda machine of AM proponents feed them.

Also in 2002, the OAM was changed by Congress to the National Center for Complimentary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM). The NCCAM charter reads in part, “to encourage and support investigation of alternative medical practices with the ultimate goal of integrating validated alternative medical practices into health and medical care.” Please note the criteria of “validated” in the charter as we will momentarily focus on the gap between hype, subterfuge, and fact.

In May of 2004 the NCCAM released a mega-study stating that 36% (cf. 33% in the Eisenberg study) of the U.S. population use alternative medicine. As a result of this apparent validation of effectiveness, congress has continued to raise the funds for this agency so that its budget has grown from $12 million in 1992 to almost $123 million in 2006. (7)

The Perceived Failure of Conventional Medicine
Thus far I’ve surveyed multiple factors and events that have led to a quantum shift in attitudes toward AM. But another factor contributing to the growth of AM is the fact that conventional Western or “allopathic” medicine is not perfect. Doctors make mistakes. Diseases sometimes go undiagnosed and are sometimes misdiagnosed. Moreover, much allopathic medicine focues on the treatment of disease, illness, and injury with little or no concern for wellness and prevention. Also in our capitalistic, consumer-oriented, profit-driven culture, health care costs have driven many doctors to spend less time with patients in order to see as many as possible in a day. This, in turn, causes many people to view the medical profession as concerned more about the profit margin than patients.

Alternatively, AM practitioners put an emphasis on a combination of biology, psychology (which often includes spirituality), social science, behavioral factors, and nutrition. This “holistic approach” is much more appealing to patients. And if people have inadequate or even harmful experiences with scientific medicine, they naturally will be open to other approaches. Pain or desperation can trump common sense or facts in many cases.

Ironically, as AM has grown more and more popular, the profit-driven market has itself begun to contribute to the acceptability of AM. For example, the NY Times reported that the number of U.S. hospitals offering AM therapies doubled from 1998 to 2000 according to a survey by the American Hospital Association. Now 15.5% of hospitals used them. (8) The article goes on to note, “With a market that has been estimated at around $27 billion and affluent customers who generally pay full price for these services up front, hospitals are eager to try alternative medicine.” But the article also quoted Dr. Joseph Fins, a medical ethicist at New York Weill Cornell Center who “argues that while hospitals should have more of a healing persona, they need to avoid lending an imprimatur [official seal of approval] of clinical effectiveness to practices that are more in the spiritual realm.” Yet in 1994, the Congress, under heavy pressure from lobbyists, exempted dietary supplements and herbal remedies from FDA regulation. As a result there are many ineffective, harmful or even deadly products circulating. (9)

Even business is jumping aboard the AM band wagon. Corporate America is experiencing staggering health care costs, consuming more than 15% of our gross domestic product, approximately $1.85 trillion. So the assumption is that promoting AM will enhance prevention and wellness, combating stress related illness, injury, and absenteeism. Major companies like Apple, IBM, General Mills, AT&T, Chrysler, Johnson and Johnson, Hughes Aircraft and more offer wellness accounts, giving employees up to $1000 to use for modalities like Yoga, massage, and reflexology. (10)

These phenomena, coupled with the fact that many medical institutions have been really struggling financially (some are bankrupt) and are laying off significant percentages of faculties and employees, have forced many doctors, administrators and corporate executives to suddenly pay attention to the trends consumers are embracing—regardless of their medical merit.

As Pat DeLeon, past district president of the American Psychological Association wrote, “Educated consumers, not health care providers or insurance payers, will ultimately determine what type of clinical services will be reimbursed, under society’s definition of ‘quality health care’.” (11)

A Prime Time Example
You have probably seen him on countless infomercials over the years promoting a whole range of self help programs like the Mega Memory System and various natural cures. His name is Kevin Trudeau and his latest venture is the promotion of his recent self-published books, Natural Cures “They” Don’t Want You to Know About, and More Natural Cures Revealed. Trudeau positions himself as a crusader for the consumer, fighting against the conspiratorial control of the drug companies and medical profession over the pharmaceuticals market. He claims to have alternative cures for virtually any ailment.

Trudeau’s infomercials and books point you to his website which costs $10 per month for access ($499 for a lifetime membership). His latest book has been on the New York Times bestseller list for 14 months (as of September), and he has sold over 4 million copies—which reveals something about the obsession and gullibility of the public.

My first exposure to Trudeau’s scams came via a weekly infomercial aired on a popular Christian radio station here in Birmingham. I was working with the late Dr. John Renner, then head of the National Council Against Health Fraud, to expose fraud taking place in therapeutic touch research by professors in the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing. Dr. Renner had heard Trudeau’s infomercial while here and told me that Trudeau was a convicted con artist who had a history of scams. He provided documentation which I passed on to the local station manager. Eventually, the program was removed.

Trudeau has a steady history of legal problems and sanctions. He was sent to prison twice. In 1990 he swindled a bank by posing as a doctor in order to deposit $80,000 in false checks, and again in 1991, when he was convicted of cheating his customers by using their own credit cards for his personal use. In 1996 Trudeau was sanctioned by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and was banned from operating in Michigan because of an illegal multi-level marketing scheme. In 1998 he was forced to pay $500,000 in consumer redress to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for making false claims in infomercials. Then in June 2003 Trudeau was served an FTC injunction that prohibited him from making false medical claims for coral calcium (a cancer “cure”) and Biotape. (12) But in 2004 Trudeau violated that injunction and was fined $2 million for civil contempt—though he settled with a $500,000 payment and forfeiting a luxury home and automobile. The settlement “broadly bans him from appearing in, producing, or disseminating future infomercials that advertise any type of product, service, or program to the public, except for truthful infomercials for informational publications.” (13)

But now Trudeau is at it again. In response to his “Natural Cures” book, the New York State Consumer Protection Board began warning consumers that his “natural” cure for cancer and other diseases was bogus. Chairperson Teresa Santiago stated, “From cover to cover this book is a fraud. . . .This book is exploiting and misleading people who are searching for cures to serious illnesses.” (14) Trudeau is suing the Consumer Protection Board, claiming $30 million in damages to sales and character.

But the real damage is to his customers. There have been hundreds of angry posts on sites like infomericalscams.com from people who felt cheated because there were no specific natural cures described in his books. Worse, there are many lies. For example Trudeau claims that the government and pharmaceutical industry spend virtually no money on researching natural remedies. But as you have already read, the NIH has spent millions in research. 

Trudeau claims that the alternative medicine proponent Dr. Andrew Weil concurs with many of his claims, yet Dr. Weil has said that is not accurate. Trudeau claims the same for Dr. Richard Axel who responded that his research has nothing to do with Trudeau’s claims. Trudeau claims that the American Medical Association published a report that 900,000 people died through drug administration, but the AMA says that is a lie. Trudeau also made a false claim about University of Calgary studies. He even promotes Scientology and its methodologies in his book—yet another example of how dangerous Trudeau is.

Dr. Sidney Wolfe of Public Citizen, a Ralph Nader consumer protection group, has long complained that drug companies push bad drugs. But when asked by ABC reporter John Stossel if he concurred with Trudeau that drug companies were all bad, Wolfe did not agree. Wolfe said, “I think it’s possible to be critical about the drug industry, and yet say that they do some very clear good for which there is clear evidence.” Wolfe went on to critique Trudeau’s book by stating, “10 percent of it is common sense and 90 percent is quackery.” (15)

We point all this out about Trudeau not to suggest that alternative “medicine” is all bogus, but to illustrate the seductive attraction of “natural” cures and how susceptible people are to deception in this area. Trudeau has not gotten rich and had the influence he has had because people have been discerning!

The Transpersonal Psychology Factor
As another example and to show that the sphere of AM extends beyond concern for physical health and disease, let me mention the growing influence of “transpersonal psychology,”—a movement embraced by a number of psychologists who are heavily connected to new age spirituality.

Transpersonal psychology seeks to transcend the normal parameters of mental functioning to explore altered states of consciousness, mystical experiences, and self-actualizations. Abraham Maslow, a major figure in psychology, taught such a view. In Toward a Psychology of Being, Maslow wrote, “I consider humanistic Third Force psychology to be transitional – preparation for a still higher Fourth Force psychology, which is transpersonal, trans-human, centered in the cosmos rather than in mere human needs, going beyond humanness, identity, self-actualization and the like.” (16) Meditation, which allegedly connects one to this Higher Self, is a common practice in transpersonal psychology. Supposedly, meditation brings about a state of enlightenment and perfect health as one’s “energies” are aligned.

Now the Rest of the Story
One of the major deceptions in the Alternative Medicine movement is that its proponents make few if any distinctions in the various modalities. They group the quack modalities in with the few that have some efficacy and assume that they all have efficacy. Another dishonest pattern we see is that most of the studies on AM therapies have been conducted by proponents of AM with very few peer reviewed and replicated studies. This is especially true of transcendental meditation.

Some of the studies conducted are downright fraudulent. For example, several years ago I was personally made aware by an insider that two nursing professors at the University of Alabama-Birmingham were cheating and manipulating research on therapeutic touch from a grant of over $500,000 given by the Department of Defense. We were able to expose it.

Recall as well the influential study by Dr. Eisenberg which reported that 33% of the U.S. population had utilized an AM modality. Timothy Gorski, an official with the National Council Against Health Fraud, pointed out how the study’s data has been deceptively distorted by Eisenberg and by the media that reported on it. Gorski explained how Eisenberg used broad generalizations and a subtle form of term switching to make his findings appear to support a wider range of unconventional AM modalities. For example, Eisenberg alternated the terms “alternative methods” and “unconventional medicine” as if they referred to the same thing, but they do not. The bulk of the alternative modalities used by his 33% population were relaxation techniques, chiropractic, massage, and weight loss programs. Others that were listed as used by this population were hypnosis and biofeedback. While these modalities may be classified as “alternative” in a broad sense, they are not generally considered “unconventional” in the way that therapies such as energy healing, homeopathy, and acupuncture are—but these more unconventional practices were not used by Eisenberg’s 33% population. (17)

In the 2002 study released by the NCCAM in 2004, a few of the more controversial modalities were listed. The less controversial modalities like natural herbs and nutrients (19% use), deep breathing (11.6%), chiropractic (7.5%), massage (5%), diet based (3.5%), and mega vitamins (2.8%) were 6 of the top 8 listed. Among the the more controversial, meditation (7.6%), yoga (5.1%) were listed in the top 8. But, homeopathy, qi gong, Tai Chi, folk medicine, energy healing, naturopathy, chelation, ayurveda and even acupuncture were negligible.

In short these key studies leave out some of the quack therapies and the ones that are mentioned receive relatively little usage. Yet, the summaries and reports of the studies usually do not make those distinctions clear. Moreover, some studies give mixed results. Consider the practice of acupuncture. Acupuncture is the “poster boy” of Chinese energy healing, based on the unproven theory that the body has unseen energy fields called “meridians.” The limited efficacy of acupuncture is attributed by many of its practitioners to the manipulation of these energy meridians. However, Dr. Isadore Rosenfeld reported that a recent German study on 300 migraine patients revealed no difference in results between a correctly needled group and the group that had random needles in areas not on the meridian map. This means that the placebo effect was in operation. Another study on irritable bowel syndrome patients yielded the same results in both the true and sham groups. Studies like these serve to demonstrate that even studies that show limited positive results in acupuncture could actually be caused by a placebo effect. (18) It is important to point out, even laying aside the placebo effect, that no one has ever scientifically demonstrated that the meridians exist, and other explanations for acupuncture’s efficacy are available (e.g., that the pain reduction caused by acupuncture is due to the release of endorphins in the brain when the needles prick the skin).

A rather balanced view of AM was expressed by Dr. James Dillard, clinical professor at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons, medical director of the AM programs at Oxford Health Plus, and author of the book Alternative Medicine for Dummies. Dillard responds to the grandiose views of AM leader Andrew Weil who predicts that AM therapies will save American medicine. Dillard states less exaggeratedly that over the next 20 years consumers and companies will increasingly incorporate evidence-based parts of these therapies, reject those that wither under scientific scrutiny, and find ways to use those that are neutral or cost-reductive. (19)

In This Issue
The article in this journal, “Alternative Medicine and the Need for Discernment” will take you deeper into the topic of AM so that you will “be prepared to give a reasoned answer.” The authors, Dr. Donal O’Mathura and Dr. Walt Larimore are especially qualified in this area. Donal, whose Ph.D. is in chemistry, has been a professor in schools of nursing and is currently a scholar in Health Care Ethics and Bioethics. Walt is clinical professor of Family Medicine at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. Together they have co-authored, Alternative Medicine: The Christian Handbook which is reviewed and highly recommended in this Areopagus issue. Their article covers a brief history of the movement and points out its dangers. They also provide a biblical basis to help sort out the true from the profane.

Additionally, apologist Robert Velarde, co-author of the book, Examining Alternative Medicine, has contributed an excellent article in this issue explaining the new age underpinnings of much AM. His “Energies from the East: The Influence of the New Spirituality on Alternative Medicine” will help you discern the false religious ideas that provide the impetus and attraction of many alternative therapies.

Also included in the journal is a Clete Hux’s “Against Heresies” column in which he examines the claims of the Reverend George Malkmus’s Hallelujah Diet which has lured many Christians into the sphere of AM.

AM presents a mixture of spiritual deception and/or activities and products which can be physically harmful, and financially wasteful. But, we need to add that there are also a few helpful positive contributions that are not in conflict with Christianity. Yes, health and illness do involve physical, psychological and spiritual dimensions—aspects often ignored in conventional medicine. This is all the more reason that we must “test or examine everything carefully and hold on to that which is true” (1 Thess. 5:21), and “not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead, expose them” (Eph. 5:11).

Craig Branch is director of the Apologetics Resource Center, Birmingham, Alabama.

NOTES
1 Marilyn Ferguson, The Aquarian Conspiracy (Los Angeles: J.P. Tarcher, 1980), 241.
2 Some proponents of AM clam that Eisenberg’s study states that 62% of the population practices alternative modalities rather than the more modest 33% figure. However, the 62% figure comes about only when prayer is listed as an AM modality.
3 Anderson also noted that the number of CAM health professions had dramatically increased while forecasting that there would be surpluses of 100,000 conventional doctors, 200,000 nurses and 40,000 pharmacists by 2010. He projected the number of chiropractors to double from 55,000 to 103,000 and doctors trained in oriental CAM would increase to 24,000 by 2010, as well as the populations usage of CAM would climb to two-thirds (see http://heal1.com/body/altmed/future/statistics.html.
4 For more on Gordon’s connection to new age thinking and quackery, see articles http://quackwatch.org/11ind/gordon2.html and www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0820 /is_n246/ai_2085725/print.
5 See article at http://www.ncahf.org/news/whc2.html.
6 See http://www.whccamp.hhs.gov/sfc.html.
7 As another example of the significant shift in thinking among Americans regarding AM consider the attitudes Americans have toward the work of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). A recent Wall Street Journal/Harris poll (May 26, 2006) revealed that the majority of U.S. adults believe that the FDA is not honest or objective in its pronouncements on the efficacy and safety of new prescription drugs. 70% gave the FDA a negative rating. Just two years ago, the statistics were reversed with 56% believing that the FDA did a good job while only 37% did not believe so (See www.harrisinteractive.com/news/allnewsbydate.asp?newsID=1060).
8 See “Alternative Medicine Is Finding Its Niche in Nation’s Hospitals,” NY Times (April 13, 2002).
9 See “Alternative Medicine: The Risks of Untested and Unregulated Remedies,” Skeptical Inquirer (Jan/Feb 1999).
10 See Melissa Chessher, “Cubicle Karma,” Southwest Airlines Spirit (October 2005): 68-69.
11 Pat DeLeon, “A Leap into an Interesting Future,” article found at www.nevadapsychologists.org/messages/pd_leep.html.
12 See https://www.ftc.goveopa/2003/06/trudeau.htm.
13 See http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2004/09/trudeaucoral.htm.
14 See http://www.consumer.state.ny.us/presreleases/2005/August505.htm.
15 See http://abcnews.go.com/2020/print?id+1527774.
16 Abraham Maslow, Toward a Psychology of Being (New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1968), 3-4.
17 See www.quackwatch/11Ind/eisenberg.html.
18 “Acupuncture Treatment No More Effective than Sham Treatment in Reducing Migraine Headaches,” Parade, (July 9, 2006), 16, cited from The Journal of the American Medical Association (May 4, 2005).
19 Southwest Airlines Spirit (October 2005).

(top)