Reply #52: Really? [View All]

[Orrex]

Every time a proponent of "alternative" "medicine" tries to sell his product/service on the basis that it "balances chi" or "detoxifies the body" or "treats the whole person," he is implicitly asserting that conventional medicine doesn't pass muster in these regards. In effect, he's claiming that Alternative Remedy X is superior to conventional medicine, even if he doesn't come out and say "quit going to your doctor."

Kevin Trudeau and Hulda Clark are two of the leading offenders, hawking their products while claiming that "big medicine" doesn't want you to know about them. Even the vaunted Andrew Weil, in selling his alternative mindset, is working on the basis conventional medicine has failed in some nebulous capacity, so people should buy into whatever snakeoil he happens to be peddling at the time.

I have personally known three chiropractors in my life, all of whom spoke disparagingly (and in their professional capacity) about the evil AMA and its efforts to suppress the truth about subluxations and the value of chiropractic.

Even the whole idea that "at least Alternative Remedy X won't do any harm" is based on the assumption that conventional medicine will do harm, or at least that its effect will be unpleasant.

If you truly haven't encountered any alternative practitioners who disparage conventional medicine, then you should count yourself among the very few lucky ones.