News headlines from Europe about skeptical activism, mythbusting, science related policy decisions, consumer protection, frauds, health scams, alternative medicine, bad scientific practices, pseudoscience etc.
ESC is returning in 2026!
Planning has started for the European Skeptics Congress for 2026. Dates and venue will be announced in October.
Earlier this year Liverpool CCG stopped funding homeopathy thanks in large part to Michael Marshall and the Good Thinking Society. (In England, Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) are responsible for the planning and commissioning of health care services for their local area. There are now 209 CCGs.) It has just been announced that Wirral CCG have confirmed their decision to end funding, following a public consultation which found a 95% majority in favour this action. The only remaining English CCGs that provide the treatment are North Somerset and South Gloucestershire, near Bristol – where, until recently, there was a homeopathic hospital – Bristol itself, and some London CCGs.
El Pais, on 3 October, published an editorial supporting Spanish pharmacists who want to get homeopathy kicked out of pharmacies.
The author clearly states the opinion (that skeptics share) that homeopathy has no place being sold in establishments that have the right to dispense medicines. Why not? Because homeopathy isn’t medicine.
FarmaCiencia’s campaign by ethical pharmacists to get homeopathy kicked out of pharmacies received a great tweet of support by none other than Edzard Ernst. Please retweet to your heart’s content.
The 4th edition of this course was held this September and dealt with a wide range of topics of skeptical interest: what is and isn’t medicine, the psychology of irrational belief, the scientific method in everyday life and many others.
This is a great resource both for skeptics and students of Spanish.
The Good Thinking Society has just reported that ‘Following a lengthy public consultation by NHS Wirral CCG on the funding of homeopathy and Iscador therapy (mistletoe extract), the CCG has published a full report highlighting “an overwhelming majority consensus from the consultation respondents to cease funding Homeopathy and Iscador treatments in Wirral, from NHS funds.” The report will be discussed at the CCG’s Governing Body meeting on Tuesday October 4th, where the CCG will decide whether to join NHS Liverpool CCG in ending funding for these ineffective therapies’.
Roland Düringer – a comedian who has entered politics and spreads all kinds of conspiracy theories;
Krebszentrum Brüggen-Bracht – the alternative cancer clinic of Heilpraktiker Klaus Ross, where at least three patients died recently after receiving fatal injections that have stirred up controversy.
The website www.zentrum-der-gesundheit.de receives the Golden Board Lifetime Achievement Award (Goldenes Brett fürs Lebenswerk).
The annually awarded Golden Board honours “the most bizarre, most outrageous, brashest pseudoscientific nonsense contribution of the year in German-speaking countries.” This year’s winner will be presented on 11 October in Vienna, Austria.
The Dutch Society against Quackery, Vereniging tegen de Kwakzalverij (VtdK), will hold its annual symposium on 1 October 2016 at De Nieuwe Liefde in Amsterdam. This year, the conference will focus on the tax-exempt status of many alternative therapists, which might lead to the promotion of quackery, and giving it undue legitimacy.
Speakers:
– Prof. dr. René van der Paardt, professor in excise taxes at Erasmus University Rotterdam
– Dr. Cees Renckens, honorary chair of the VtdK and emeritus gynaecologist
– Mr. Saskia Huizer, tax advisor, specialises in VAT, Rotterdam
The symposium will start with the presentation of the Master Quack Award to whoever promoted quackery the most this year in the Netherlands (read here who were nominated). Also, the Bruinsma Brothers Medal will be awarded to Henk van Gerven, MP for the Socialist Party, who has a long record of questioning and criticising dubious medical practices both within regular medicine as well as numerous alternative therapies.
Entrance fees are high for non-members; they are recommended to join the Society, or go along with a member as an introducee.
A group of Portuguese skeptics has established a new national association to coordinate their activism and build a community of critical thinkers across the country. COMCEPT, or the Comunidade Céptica Portuguesa (Portuguese Skeptical Community) has existed informally as a group of friends with a love for science education ever since 2012, but now the tedious process of registering legally has finally been completed.
The first formal general assembly of the Portuguese Skeptical Community was held on 24 September 2016, where the three boards were elected. (Photo: António Vilas–Boas)
Josep Pàmies, a notorious proponent of MMS (a product more commonly known as industrial disinfectant) for therapeutic purposes was due to give a talk extolling the benefits of this dangerous practice at Science Week (Madrid).
Happily his participation will no longer be required. More information about this unscrupulous individual:
Friends of the Earth (FOE) misled the public in a leaflet which claimed fracking can cause cancer, UK’s advertising watchdog the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has said. A leaflet issued by FOE also featured a photo of Grasmere in the Lake District – despite there being no plans for fracking in the area. A draft report from the ASA said that the charity failed to substantiate its claims about the dangers. The provisional ruling, which was apparently leaked to The Times newspaper, was produced after the ASA received a complaint from energy firm Cuadrilla.
The Dutch Society against Quackery, Vereniging tegen de Kwakzalverij (VtdK), will hold its annual symposium on 1 October 2016 at 