Pills & Potions at the Cotter Medical History Trust, by Claire le Couteur. Otago University Press, 2014. RRP $25. Reviewed by Vicki Hyde. I didn't know whether to laugh, cry or wince as I paged ... (427 words)

The world-wide panic over the MMR vaccine was sparked by the actions of one doctor who breached several standards of scientific practice. This article is based on a presentation to the 2010 NZ ... (1927 words)

Chiropractic has had a colourful history since its invention in the 19th Century. Chiropractic has had an extraordinary history, but the vehement response of its practitioners to criticisms of its ... (2981 words)

The 'Unfortunate Experiment' at National Women's Hospital has entered the national folklore as a notorious case of medical misconduct. But there is still disagreement about what actually happened. It ... (2575 words)

"Dr Jaz" Dies Dr Neil McKenzie, better known to music lovers as Dr Jaz, died in May following a long battle against a brain tumour (Bay of Plenty Times, May 15 2003). Neil McKenzie was also a ... (1323 words)

The World Health Organisation has issued a new warning against non-essential travel to the entire Western Hemisphere following renewed concerns about the spread of Severe Loss of Perspective Syndrome ... (242 words)

These are nervous times. By an astounding coincidence, as I wrote that line and paused to think of what to put next, I had a call from a friend to tell me there was a Sars case at the Waikato ... (425 words)

Alternative Child Healthcare The following correspondence between nursing lecturer Sue Gasquoine and Skeptics' chairentity Vicki Hyde is reproduced with the permission of the participants -ed. Hello ... (1343 words)

Insecurities about water quality have led to a boom in sales of bottled water. But the health benefits of the phenomenon are probably minimal. We were surprised to hear recently that sales of ... (976 words)

Ritalin and ADHD Professor JS Werry deserves thanks for his contribution in these pages regarding the present use/abuse of methylphenidate (Ritalin) and ADHD. Despite the Professor's reassurances ... (443 words)

Mass screening programmes have generated considerable controversy in this country. But these programmes have inherent limitations, which need to be better understood In 1996 the Skeptical Inquirer ... (2096 words)

Dummy pills just the trick The best paper in New Zealand (Waikato Times, May 6 - and it's got nothing to do with the fact that I work there) reports that depressed patients tricked into thinking they ... (614 words)

Snake Oil And Other Preoccupations, by John Diamond. Vintage, 2001, $29.95 I recently reviewed for NZ Skeptic this author's previous book (C: Because Cowards Get Cancer Too), which described his ... (377 words)

In the second of a two-part series, Jim Ring looks at what evidence means to different people Scientific evidence is often difficult to interpret, in medicine in particular. 'An Unfortunate ... (1322 words)

The placebo effect has long been of interest to skeptics for its presumed role in alternative medicine. The Skeptics' Dictionary (http://www.skepdic.com) has a lengthy entry, describing a placebo as ... (527 words)

Because Cowards get Cancer too, by John Diamond, Random House, 1998 So John Diamond is dead; at age 47 killed by his tongue cancer. He may not be well known in New Zealand, but was a popular ... (922 words)

More Brocken sightings I enjoyed Jim Ring's "the Spectre of Kahurangi" (Autumn 2001). In Kahurangi National Park there is a bridge called "Brocken Bridge", quite close to Ghost Creek. Could this be ... (932 words)

No Medical Ghetto In the last issue I warned of the dangers of a medical ghetto developing on the Auckland North Shore. Fifty new doctors set up practice in Auckland last year and even more overseas ... (1361 words)

Lately -- my last few airline flights -- I've been listening to the in-flight comedy channels. This was how I discovered Bob Newhart and his monologues. These are things where he takes one side of a ... (841 words)

The New Zealand Herald of 5 September carried the headline "Ozone gap to lift skin cancer 7 per cent". Then followed a report from Dr Richard McKenzie of the National Institute of Water and ... (522 words)

MSG Myth Laid to Rest Another sacred cow from my medical school days has been laid to rest. A letter in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1968 triggered a rash of anecdotal reports about facial ... (1690 words)

What is the link between chemicals and cancer? Forty years ago, Bruce Ames was a young microbiologist working at NIH in the day and enjoying Scottish country dancing in the evening, when he had an ... (2498 words)