Open letter to my GP

[Blog of Reason]

Discussion thread for the blog entry "Open letter to my GP" by rabbitpirate.

Permalink: http://blog.leagueofreason.org.uk/reason/open-letter-to-my-gp/

 

[Josan]

Hi there RabbitPirate, great blogpost as always! I have to be getting to work so this will just be a short post. I am glad you are concerned about those advertisments, and I am glad you have chosen to do something about it, instead of just complaining to your friends.

I just recently came across ear candling, I had been having some problems with me ear, so a friend recommended ear candling (which I had never heard of before) and talked quite a lot about them. I was a bit suspicious, as he already swears by reflexology, but he claimed they sold them at the norwegian (state-run) pharmacy, so I though they might have some reasurring information about the subject. A week later when I actually visited the pharmacy, it turned out they didn't sell anything related and I would have to check at the local "natural medicine" shop the apothecary said, barely concealing a giant facepalm. Knowing that other shop was both selling crystals (for crystal-theorpy), tea that cured cancer and homeopathic remedies I knew something was off, so I bought a normal ear-cleaning fluid. The second I came home I checked out ear candling on wikipedia and was shocked that I had almost fallen for something that idiotic. If my local hospital (or that pharamcy) had been advertising for it, I might have tried it out. So thank you for being a voice of reason!

 

[xman]

What a great letter letter rabbitpirate.

"Now while the medical centre itself does not offer any of these unproven and potentially dangerous treatments the inclusion of adverts for them on your appointment cards implies a level of endorsement on the part of the centre as well as a legitimacy that the treatments themselves have not earned."

This sentence especially makes the case for descriminating as to who medicine should and should not align with and the potential for people to misunderstand the difference between science and psudoscience.

Please keep us posted as to any response. I'm keen to know what effect this might have.

 

[Breakyerself]

Very interested to hear how they respond. Please keep us updated. very well worded letter by the way.

 

[fuerve]

I had never heard of ear candling before. Every now and then, something comes across that is truly just bizarre, disconnected even from the prescientific traditions of ancient cultures in which many such therapies place their trust. Ear candling is like something a couple of fifth-graders thought up after they got bored with passing out by hyperventilating with their heads between their legs.

 

[rabbitpirate]

Ear candling is like something a couple of fifth-graders thought up after they got bored with passing out by hyperventilating with their heads between their legs.

Perfectly put.