One massive mistake - two stories - natural health.

 

Two stories in the media today outlining the lead up to the death of a woman from an invasive brain tumor having been under the care of a quack, charlatan, confidence trickster.

Naturopath failed cancer patient - National - NZ Herald News.

Natural Health Treatment For 18 Months, Despite... | Stuff.co.nz.

One story lays bare the facts, including names:-

A naturopath who treated a woman for 18 months while an invasive cancer ate through her skull has been heavily criticised for not deferring to doctors.

Te Horo iridologist Ruth Nelson may face Human Rights Tribunal action over her treatment of Yvonne Maine, who sought treatment for what she believed was a cyst on her head in 2008.

Mrs Nelson carried out a variety of natural health treatments over the next 18 months, as the invasive carcinoma grew to 10cm by 11cm in size.

The other skirts the issue:-

A natural health practitioner treated a woman with a lesion on her head for 18 months, even though the practitioner recognised from the beginning that the lesion "looked cancerous".

The provider did not retain any records of the care she provided and no other health practitioner treated the woman's lesion during that time.

Despite being aware that the lesion was likely to be cancerous, the provider did not inform the woman of her opinions about the severity of the woman's condition or that the lesion was worsening during the course of the treatment, the HDC said.

I'm pretty sure this is the same story, with different spins by the media. One does not appear to hold back and name names, the other plays the story in a "we've heard" kind of way.

As far as I know anyone can be an Iridolgist - it's an alternative medicine technique whose proponents claim that patterns, colors, and other characteristics of the iris can be examined to determine information about a patient's systemic health. Practitioners match their observations to iris charts, which divide the iris into zones that correspond to specific parts of the human body. Iridologists see the eyes as "windows" into the body's state of health.

or  I might even  get into a bit of Naturopathy, or Naturopathic Medicine, is a type of alternative medicine based on a belief in vitalism, which posits that a special energy called vital energy or vital force guides bodily processes such as metabolism, reproduction, growth, and adaptation

How this isn't at one end manslaughter or even assault I can't figure out. If the "provider of care" couldn't provide care, but was taking money, not keeping records, and avoiding sending someone to a proper doctor with proper qualifications I don't know what it is you can be held responsible for. She may not have lived if she'd been a a qualified medical practitioner, but there would be records, and multiple opinions, not a quick glance in the eye, a fear of hospitals and some nonsense about "windows"

I'm convinced that there will be a lot of people who have faith and anecdotal evidence that looking in the eyes can cure you, that there is some "vital energy" that you can be tapped, the same people that think Reiki works, or that Acupuncture can clear your meridians, and that Ear Candles are effective in something or other. You all need to question why you have only "faith" and that you'll rely on an old wives tale as appropriate medicine.

Shame to you.

Related articles

• The insinuation of naturopathic quackery into law [Respectful Insolence] (scienceblogs.com)


• Iridology Update (theness.com)