Often crammed into a small section of a page, with variable quality of 'expert', and with the available space often given over to more than one question, I would argue that the medical / health columns in magazines are not conducive to provision of nuanced health advice with appropriate caveats.

Recently, claims have surfaced surrounding a Belgian coma patient - Rom Houben - who spent 23 years 'locked in', conscious but paralysed. It was only recently discovered that he had been conscious, and efforts were made to enable him to communicate using a controversial technique called 'Facilitated Communication'.

This is an article about Simon Singh, but more than that about the wider issues at stake. In recent months I've written about the BPS, BACP, GCC, BCA, CNHC, and other unimaginative groups of letters that act as regulators or professional bodies for auxilliary health industries in Britain. Simon Singh's battle against the BCA is one chapter in a broader story that links all these cases together. In this post, I want to take a step back, and explore that wider story.

There are four distinct but related stories that have bubbled along for months now (among many others). The CNHC ('OfQuack') are a hapless alternative medicine "regulator" set up by an alt med charity run by Prince Charles at considerable expense to the taxpayer.

I've already posted about some of the nonsense being propagated about oil reserves on the internet by campaign groups, but it seems the woo is spreading. Matt Nisbet at Framing Science has cottoned on to my point last month, that it seemed oil and conservative lobbyists had joined forces to make this a key election issue. Now the left-wing lobbyists at Media Matters have uncovered an increasing amount of Oil-Balls - "mis-speech" about oil - appearing in the media [1].

Take a look at Glen Beck in this 30-second clip from June 18th this year: