Simon Singh threatened with legal action again

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Ian Pegler
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Chiropractors take media-skeptic to court

Post by Ian Pegler »

TV-skeptic Simon Singh (author of Trick or Treatment? Alternative Medicine On Trial) is being sued for libel by the British Chiropractic Association.

CLICK HERE to read the article.

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Re: Chiropractors take media-skeptic to court

Post by Helen-Healing »

Best news I've heard in ages. (Pity the Guardian doesn't know how to spell chiropractor. :roll: )

An anecdote...

Very recently, just before I had to have my beautiful dog put to sleep, I wanted to take her to a McTimoney chiropractor to see if she could 'mend' her back - something that a practitioner had been able to do more than once when I lived on the Isle of Wight, merely by working for 5 minutes on her spine..after a vet had told me she would have to be euthanised. That was in the 90s - this time, I discovered I had to have the vet's written permission to use a chiropractor! Unless, of course, that same chiropractor was a qualified vet!! How many chiropractors are vets?? :shock: Anyway, the whole process would take a week or more, and I would have to pay for the permission! :x It was all a Catch 22 situation, and my dog just didn't have the time.

So...humans can choose the therapy they want, but animals are bound by the restrictive codes & practices of the veterinarian world, much to their detriment. I also found that no McTimoney chiropractor working with animals (and there are dozens of them all over the country) would dare to touch my pet without the relevant vet permission - so they've got the practitioners by the balls as well.

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Re: Chiropractors take media-skeptic to court

Post by Lorraine »

Sorry to hear about your dog, Helen... Yes, it is illegal to treat an animal without the vet's knowledge and permission. Even reiki cannot be given with that.

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Re: Chiropractors take media-skeptic to court

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It looks as if the High Court has ruled against Dr. Simon Singh.

CLICK HERE to read the article.

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Re: Chiropractors take media-skeptic to court

Post by Helen-Healing »

Good to see that Singh has had to cough up the £23000 costs at least. :twisted:

According to Singh's own self description on his website -
I am an author, journalist and TV producer, specialising in science and mathematics, the only two subjects I have the faintest clue about,
he really should avoid all those things he's clueless about.
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Re: Chiropractors take media-skeptic to court

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It looks like Simon Singh is appealing against the decision.

The BCA have issued statements concerning the case which may be downloaded as PDFs from their website:

CLICK HERE for the download page.

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Science writer Simon Singh wins libel appeal

Post by simonwheeler »

A science writer has won the right to rely on the defence of fair comment in a libel action, in a landmark ruling at the Court of Appeal.
Simon Singh was accused of libel by the British Chiropractic Association over an article in the Guardian in 2008.
Dr Singh questioned the claims of some chiropractors over the treatment of certain childhood conditions.
The High Court had said the words were fact not opinion - meaning Dr Singh could not use the fair comment defence.
As reported by the BBC
British scientific organisation the Royal Institution welcomed the judgement.
Director of programmes Gail Cardew said: "It will encourage scientists and the public to discuss evidence freely without fear of legal threat."
Defending a statement of opinion, so as long as it is honestly held, is much less onerous and far cheaper.
This judgement strongly endorses the view that scientific controversies should be settled by scientific debate, rather than litigation.
It may be interesting - long-term- to see the implications of this judgement.
Don’t be so open-minded that your brains fall out. LAWRENCE FERLINGHETTI

www.simongordonwheeler.co.uk

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Re: Chiropractors take media-skeptic to court

Post by Ian Pegler »

Clive Coleman wrote:This judgement strongly endorses the view that scientific controversies should be settled by scientific debate, rather than litigation.
Just one question: when the shoe is on the other foot, does this now mean that the skeptics, pharmaceutical companies etc. etc. will NOT use legal action against their "opponents" ???

I'm all for keeping lawyers poor, partly because, unlike Mr. Singh and the BCA I don't have the money to spend on expensive lawsuits lasting years. The civil law courts are the privilege of the rich. Those of us who are not must take it on the chin with no means of response - a form of legalised bullying, IMHO.

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Re: Chiropractors take media-skeptic to court

Post by Ian Pegler »

from the BBC...
Case dropped against Simon Singh

The British Chiropractic Association has dropped its libel action against the science writer Simon Singh.
CLICK HERE to read the article.

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Re: Chiropractors take media-skeptic to court

Post by Ian Pegler »

from the BBC...
Nature journal libel victory prompts libel reform call

Scientific journal Nature has won a libel case over an article that was critical of a scientist.
CLICK HERE to read the article.

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Simon Singh threatened with legal action again

Post by Ian Pegler »

(Mod - two threads merged from this point - 12/18-GG)

from the Guardian...
Simon Singh threatened with legal action for criticising health magazine

Writing on Twitter, Singh accused WDDTY magazine of promoting health advice that could potentially harm readers
CLICK HERE to read the article.



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Re: Simon Singh threatened with legal action again

Post by Ian Pegler »

A recent blog from Lynne McTaggart concerning the above:
I have not, ever, threatened Simon Singh with libel. I would not ever threaten anyone with libel. If I wanted to sue someone I would just do it, as I successfully did when a book of mine got plagiarized by a well-known author.
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Re: Simon Singh threatened with legal action again

Post by Ian Pegler »

An interesting item from this week's Private Eye....(no 1325, picture of the BBC test card on the front cover). p.11.
LEGAL NEWS

For a self-styled "advocate for free speech", Simon Singh is spending a strange amount of time trying to silence others.


Singh won a justified libel victory in 2010 over the chiropractors (see Eyes passim), and now he claims he is again
on the receiving end of a libel threat. This time, however, his martyr status is on shakier ground.

In an attempt to get the alternative and complimentary health magazine What Doctors Don't Tell You off the shelves, he has been
haranguing Comag, its distributor (which circulates the Eye and many other well-known magazines), sending bumptious
emails because he disapproves of the magazine's "sensationalist and pseudoscientific " comments.

When Comag politely pointed out that it was not responsible for the content of magazines it distributes, Singh refused to accept this argument
and continued his campaign until an exasperated Comag said it had taken legal advice and would if necessary defend its reputation against anything
defamotory he might publish.

In focusing his attention on a magazine's distributor, Singh is starting down a path trodden by the likes of Robert Maxwell and Sir James
Goldsmith - hardly fitting company for the "advocate for free speech".
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