A new post at the Quackometer says exactly the things I wish I could put together on subjects like this. Specifically, it’s about the latest rather feeble babblings from the British Chiropractic Assocation, on their legal case against Simon Singh, and Professor Edzard Ernst’s evisceration of the supposed “plethora” of evidence they recently put forward.
I’m starting to feel actually quite hopeful about all this. The BCA so clearly don’t have a leg to stand on, as regards evidence and basic practices of scientific criticism. Le Canard Noir even suggests that it might be possible for Simon Singh to make a case within the interpretation ruled by Justice Eady at the preliminary hearing. Given the trials with significant negative results of which the BCA must have been aware when they cherry-picked their own supporting references, this is looking less depressingly unlikely than it once did.
It was quite a serious blow when that ruling was made – that Singh’s particular choice of language implied deliberate deception on the part of the BCA – but although he’s still got options to fight against that, his position is looking stronger and stronger. It’s becoming clearer that the evidence the BCA want to think backs them up just isn’t there, and there’s ever more insightful editorialising going on, explaining why it’s ludicrous to try and stifle scientific criticism like this anyway. (Remember that the BCA were offered a right to reply by the Guardian a year ago, but chose to go after Simon Singh personally with a libel suit. And then complained that they “neither wished nor intended this matter to end up in the courtroom”.)
I don’t really have anything new to add to this, just keeping myself in the game.
The Sense About Science campaign is also making good progress, and Jack of Kent mentions the possible legal ramifications of this development.
It is crystal clear to me, at least, that the BCA happily promoted Bogus treatments, in either interpretation of the legal definition.
Such has been plainly obvious to any rational scientific observer from day one.
[…] Rube has a blog post discussing the BMJ’s editorial and even daring to announce some slight feelings of optimism about the case in light of these […]