Cocksy, a celebrity builder on New Zealand TV, has cancer and is currently on an experimental new treatment. In an article on the NZ Herald, Cocksy spoke about how until recently he's been self ... (123 words)

SleepDrops is a New Zealand based company offering herbal/homeopathic products that are supposed to help you to sleep, although there's absolutely no evidence that they work. Last month SleepDrops ... (318 words)

A new study of over 1,000 cancer patients in the US has shown that a choice to use alternative therapies alongside conventional therapy leads to a higher chance of dying from cancer. This is a very ... (327 words)

The NZ Herald has published a story about a woman whose terminal cancer was cured after she took cannabis oil. Of course, there's more to this story - isn't there always. In this case, the woman used ... (112 words)

In Canada, a man has been selling bottles of medicinal hot dog water for $38. The organic beef hot dogs were boiled before being added to unfiltered water and poured into a vial shaped like a test ... (278 words)

The NHS recently decided to stop funding homeopathy. Until recently, taxpayers' money was used in the UK to fund homeopathic hospitals (in London, Bristol, Glasgow, Liverpool and Tunbridge Wells) and ... (206 words)

Breakfast on 1 recently hosted a physiotherapist advertising the Shakti Mat - a yoga mat covered in plastic circles, with each circle consisting of 20 or more sharp spikes. The mat is supposed to ... (228 words)

As we talked about at the end of last year, there's been a real push to sell Kangen Water devices in NZ recently. An article in the Herald recently has detailed Ainsley Brunton's efforts to sell the ... (333 words)

Stuff had an article this week about personalised vitamins. Companies who require you to talk to a dietician before being recommended vitamins have been around in NZ for a while, but two companies ... (416 words)

Healing crystals have become very popular recently, with people buying many different crystals to either wear or place in their homes and help with physical and mental health issues, monetary ... (301 words)

There's been some interesting local research on people with health conditions doing their own research. The Southern Cross Health Society has looked into whether people look up their symptoms on ... (257 words)

An organised group of homeopaths offering bogus treatments for autism has been written about in the Guardian newspaper in the UK. The article talks about how more than 120 homeopaths in the UK are ... (346 words)

There's a new fad to put mushroom in your coffee. Claims are being made that these powdered mushrooms can help your health and wellbeing. "purportedly an anti-inflammatory, and is supposed to ... (214 words)

Tanya Filia​, who has beaten the odds and outlived doctors' estimates of her life expectancy, is now pushing for the government to subsidise natural treatments. Unfortunately this kind of story is ... (166 words)

A new locally made diet pill has gone on sale in NZ, and will soon be available in the US as well. Its makers are promoting the product at the moment After a $20 million government grant, the company ... (350 words)

A Reiki meeting has been deemed newsworthy by the Taranaki Daily News. For those who are not sure what reiki is, it's a form of alternative "healing" where it's very unlikely any healing actually ... (204 words)

Companies in the US are selling "raw" water, which means the water has been untreated. At $50 for 9 litres, it seems pretty expensive for something that's likely to leave you sick. The idea seems to ... (197 words)

Georgian College in Toronto has cancelled a course in homeopathy, due to negative feedback. The proposed new course was going to cost about $5,000 a term, and included a module on homeopathic ... (93 words)

An Australian woman, Shona Leigh, has publicly spoken about how she supposedly cured herself of cervical cancer with cannabis oil. This story seems to be popular in NZ because of the new Labour ... (221 words)

This story comes from listener Stu. A couple of bears were injured recently in California's wildfires. They were delivered to UC Davis, a respected university in California. Unfortunately they were ... (237 words)

One of the issues with fundraising sites like IndieGogo and Kickstarter is that there's a lack of adequate oversight to ensure that the products being offered are actually plausible. Sometimes things ... (267 words)

Britt Hermes used to be a naturopath. She graduated and treated patients in the US, before realising that naturopathy was all bluster and no substance, and she wasn't helping anyone with their ... (408 words)

A new pharmacy called Wellworks, focussing on natural health products, is due to open in Wellington in January. The store is hoping to offer kombucha to drink at a "wellness" bar, along with many ... (128 words)

There's lots of nonsense at this year's Go Green expo, and I'll be there today sampling the weird and wonderful. The Expo seems to contain more and more alternative health products each year, and ... (395 words)

Mark Hanna of the Society for Science Based Healthcare and I had an exchange over IM a few months ago, where we realised that there are so many bad claims being made for alternative therapies that if ... (1163 words)

An osteopath in Christchurch has been disciplined for treating a patient's toothache by touching her breast. He said that tightness in her chest muscles was causing problems with her jaw. This is the ... (593 words)

The NHS are advertising for a spiritual healer. We are seeking a Reiki Therapist/Spiritual Healer to work within the Breast Unit at St Margaret's Hospital Epping. The therapist will provide ... (199 words)

The Pharmacy Council is trying to change part of its Code of Ethics: Here is the old code: 6.9 Only purchase, supply or promote any medicine, complementary therapy, herbal remedy or other healthcare ... (259 words)

One in 13 men will develop prostate cancer before the age of 75. Frustrated by misinformation and a lack of medical emphasis on clinically-proven natural preventative treatments, Mr Matthews speaks ... (228 words)

Matthew Dawson-Clarke, 24, from Auckland was in Peru and took part in a cleansing ceremony. Ayahuasca (pr. Ayuwasca) is hallucinogenic and illegal in many countries. It is popular amongst new age ... (108 words)

A Southern Cross survey suggested some 1.56m New Zealanders regularly took the products. About 750,000 had done so for at least five years. University of Otago's Professor Jim Mann said: "It's ... (140 words)

A new website shows stats for ASA complaints. There are lots of companies making unsupported claims, such as Life Energy Designs - who tell us that the earth poisons us with Electromagnetic Waves ... (46 words)

Waisake Naholo's miracle healing Waisake Naholo has a cracked fibula - the smaller of the lower leg bones (alongside the tibia). All Blacks coach Steven Hansen said: "he was weight-bearing on it and ... (175 words)

Do we really need a name change? Given that we're called the NZ Skeptics in virtually all instances-our website, journal, the flyers, the publicity posters etc-do we need to go through a formal ... (775 words)