The CNHC have released the minutes of their July board meeting, and the contents provide a fascinating insight into the actions of the alternative medicine regulation company dubbed 'OfQuack' by critics. In this post I'll trawl through a wealth of titbits concerning their response to criticism, openness, and the activities of Mandate, the PR company they're spending public money to hire.

Transparency:

Andy Lewis of Quackometer fame has obtained documents from the Department of Health under the Freedom of Information Act indicating that the Complentary and Natural Healthcare Council, dubbed OfQuack by critics, will receive a further £409,300 of taxpayers' money to bail them out after their failure to establish a sustainable business model. Meanwhile, the regulatory body have issued a frankly ridiculous statement calling out a certain "Mr. Smith" for writing about them on the internet.

[bpsdb] Accounts filed with the Charities Commission and noticed by the Republic blog show that Prince Charles' alternative medicine charity, the Foundation for Integrated Health (from which the problem child OfQuack was spawned) has over a million pounds' worth of investments, including shares in Shell, GlaxoSmithKline and BAE Systems (via the "Artemis UK Special Situations" fund). (HT: @lecanardnoir).

[bpsdb] Recently, I joined a number of other bloggers in writing about the new alternative medicine "regulator" (to use a very liberal definition), the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council, nicknamed OfQuack. Observers like me were somewhat puzzled by the idea of the Department of Health paying substantial sums of money to enable industry lobbyists to set up a regulator their own industry. Our concerns appear to have been justified by the current outbreak of censorship on the site.