Conference Announcements

Bravo Awards

Rob Stock

For the article “Don't waste money on superfoods and supplements” published in Stuff, 29th Sept 2017.

Thank you Rob for using your experience of waiting in the pharmacy for meds to treat your lung infection to write a great piece bemoaning the huge amount of money wasting pills and 'superfoods' such places seem to sell. You also brought up Merlin Thomas's book the Longevity List which talks about the real things people can do to live longer which encouragingly include eating chocolate and spending time with friends.

Duncan Grieve

For the article “Sensing Murder a ‘grotesque sham'” published in the NZ Herald, 3rd March 2017.

Thank you Duncan for crystallising in such an entertaining way why this show is “morally bankrupt”, thin on facts and manipulative while also explaining how the change in format makes it even more frustrating and pointless as a form of “entertainment”.

Simon Maude

For the article “Naturopathy under microscope after cancer sufferers speak from under shadow of death” published in Stuff, 27th August 2017.

Thank you Simon for reporting on two New Zealand women who died from cancer this year after trusting in and then losing trust in a Naturopath. You report in an affecting piece how both women ended up buying more and more ointments, powders and pills at huge expense (at hiked up prices) before giving up after no improvement was made. You explain how both women showed more kindness for their fellow human beings that the person treating them by reaching out to the Naturopath herself in the end to ask her to reform and get help. You reported that Naturopaths are not regulated, unlike those in other countries and this gap is allowing anyone to set up shop and make money from the vulnerable, and that is costing lives.

Bent Spoon Award Runners Up

Go Green Expo

You have won the dubious honour of the Bent Spoon for allowing the amount of non-science-based products to grow at the expense of science-based products.

Vern Coxhead & Dr Mitch Feller

For making money selling bleach to New Zealanders with cancer.

Libby Weaver

In the book “What Am I Supposed to Eat?” Published in 2017, not only did Libby use the word “mongolism” to describe children with Down Syndrome, it would seem that she committed plagiarism by copying from the article “A bitter Pill to Swallow—The Oral Contraceptives Betrayal” by Dr Sherrill Sellman written in 1997 for Nexus magazine. Incidentally Wikipedia describes Nexus as an alternative news and conspiracy theory magazine which has been criticised (among other things) for its anti-Semitism.

Here is an example:

In 2017 Libby Weaver wrote: Since folate is required by the body to facilitate cell division, a process that begins immediately after conception, if this nutrient is deficient there is a much higher risk of abnormal synthesis of DNA and congenital abnormalities including neural tube defects, spina bifida, deformed limbs and mongolism.

In 1997 Sherrill Sellman wrote:

Since folic acid is required by the body to facilitate cell division (a process that starts immediately after conception), there is a much higher risk of birth defects, including neural tube defects, spina bifida, deformed limbs and mongolism, if this nutrient is deficient.

Bent Spoon Award Winner

The NZ Veterinary Association

For introducing a “complementary and alternative veterinary therapies” policy.

This is apparently their way of encouraging the public to seek those types of therapies from real health professionals rather than unscrupulous untrained sellers out to make money and potentially cause harm to animals by denying them a real treatment they actually need. Instead it seems like a thinly veiled way of being able to make money from these alternative therapies, and lighten the pockets of unsuspecting New Zealanders who just want the best for their animals.

Skeptic of the Year Award

The 2017 Denis Dutton award for New Zealand Skeptic of the Year is jointly awarded to:

Helen Petousis-Harris and Lance O'Sullivan

Thank you for your amazing work promoting immunisation and vaccination in New Zealand.

Dr Helen Petousis-Harris is a Senior Lecturer, Department of General Practice and Primary Health Care at the University of Auckland, and Academic Head, Immunisation Research and Vaccinology at the Immunisation Advisory Centre. Helen is also a member of the World Health Organization's Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety.

She writes excellent articles for SciBlogs which have often been picked up and republished by the mainstream media.

Dr Lance O'Sullivan is a medical doctor based in Kaitaia. He was named New Zealander of the Year in 2014 for his work in rural healthcare.

He drew international attention for protesting at a screening of VAXXED in Kaitaia in 2017 where he performed a haka and famously said “your presence here will cause babies to die”.