John W. Bender - Waterloo naturopath takes aim at science with an eye focused by iridology
The debate continues in the Kitchener-Waterloo Record with a broadside against reason and science by one of the areas most outspoken and opinionated naturopathic artists, John W. Bender. He shares an office with another naturopathic artists by the name of Richard Tunstall near the University of Waterloo.
Check many sources
24 September 1998
John W. Bender
ŠThe Record - Kitchener-Waterloo Sun Media Corporation
| John W. Bender's view | Canadian Quackery Watch's view | | In Jeffrey Shallit's Sept. 2 letter, Eyes Aren't Windows, he quotes an iridology study which illustrated that iris diagnosis did not correlate with conventional blood tests. This study was designed to fail because it is impossible to determine the level of creatinine in the blood through the iris. |
I won't comment on this until I get the original article from Shallit, who is an academic computer expert who teaches at the University of Waterloo. |
| Iris diagnosis is a valuable adjunct to standard methods of diagnosis. It is quick, non-invasive, inexpensive and, as thousands of my patients will testify, helpful for evaluating organ weaknesses. | In the hands of a charlatan, anything is valuable, and lemmings will follow them wherever they go, and believe whatever they see. |
| Unfortunately, some therapists have made unsubstantiated claims based on iris diagnosis. Always check the "iridologist's" credentials. | When those quacks also wear the cloak of a regulated drugless therapist, it begs the question, doesn't it? |
| Shallit suggests visiting www.quackwatch.com, as Web site to expose medical quackery. Quackwatch is full of inaccuracies and omissions. For example, it states: "All food is health food in moderation; any food is junk food inexcess." Common sense alone indicates this statement is inaccurate. | Common sense indicates that he who holds on to a duck, starts to sound like one, no matter what they eat. |
| The homeopathy section quotes a study showing that homeopathic remedies worked no better than a placebo but omits a study from Lancet, a reputable medical journal which found homeopathic medicines had a 2.45 times greater effect than placebo. | Well John, what about the hundreds of other studies that agree with Quackwatch? I don't know about you, but can the K-W Record Life Editor actually read? |
| Quacks can be found in both conventional and complementary medicine. | I wonder what side of the fence John and his friends in naturopathy sit on this one? |
| People seeking medical help should educate themselves through as many sources as possible to decide which treatment is appropriate to their condition. | I suggest that the first thing people should do is learn latin. The word "caveat emptor" means, let the buyer beware. It's an easy word to say, don't you think? |
What does the government of Ontario intend to do with quacks and charlatans who also happen to hold a license in a regulated profession?
The government of Ontario has regulated the practice of naturopathy since 1925, when the legislature brought forth on the citizens of Ontario the Drugless Practitioners Act. It wasn't until the later part of this century that there have been any substantial changes in the Act.
The Revised Statutes of Ontario, 1990 Chapter D.18 is the present Act today.
The Ontario Health Professions Regulatory Advisory Council (HPRAC) actually sent a report to the Minister of Health in August 1996, and there it sits today, with not a single bit of legislation underway.
Naturopaths are indeed supposed to be regulated by their own body, separate from the other regulated health professionals. In 2006 it was recommended that naturopaths become regulated by joining with homeopaths. Unfortunately for both of their groups, the government doesn't seem likely to put any of this into effect because of the consideration that much of what naturopaths do is unlikely to be supported by modern science, and if homeopathy becomes regulated, we are going back 200 years of medical progress. That's not what the people of Ontario need right now.
We need all health professions, regulated and unregulated to base their assessment on clinical observation, thorough evaluation, and then plan appropriate therapies based on science. The art of medicine should not support quackery in any shape or form.
The Board of Drugless Practitioners - Naturopathy may be reached at:
BDDT - N
112 ADELAIDE STREET EAST
TORONTO, ONTARIO
M5C 1K9
TEL: 416 866 8383
FAX: 416 866 2175
Toll-free: 1-877-361-1925 (in Ontario)
E-mail: office@BDDTN.on.ca
Web site: www.boardofnaturopathicmedicine.on.ca/
Naturopathic links
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