Honest Universe

Green Party Health Policy

Mark Hanna • Sep 02, 2014

• Alternative Medicine,
• Green Party,
• Kevin Hague,
• Medicine,
• New Zealand,
• Politics,
• Sue Kedgley

There was a thread recently in one of the Facebook groups I’m a member of in which, among other election-related things, the Green Party’s Health Policy was being discussed. It was mentioned that the Green Party had been essentially pro-CAM, at least in the past. As I’d been considering voting for the Greens, this was […] … Read More

2

The Price of Painkillers Part 2: Only Misleading in Australia

Mark Hanna • Aug 29, 2014

• Australia,
• Friends of Science in Medicine,
• Medicine,
• New Zealand,
• Nurofen,
• Paul Rolan,
• Reckitt Benckiser,
• regulation,
• Therapeutic Goods Administration

Yesterday, I wrote about how various painkillers with the same active ingredients often cost different amounts. In particular I talked about Reckitt Benckiser’s “Nurofen” ibuprofen products, some of which are advertised as targeting specific types of pain even though it doesn’t seem plausible, given that they are essentially exactly the same, that they could target […] … Read More

2

The Price of Painkillers

Mark Hanna • Aug 28, 2014

• GlaxoSmithKline,
• Medicine,
• Morgan Tait,
• New Zealand,
• Nurofen,
• NZ Herald,
• Panadol,
• Panadol Rapid,
• Reckitt Benckiser,
• The Checkout

DISCLAIMER: Since I mention some specific branded pharmaceutical products in this article, I want to make it very clear that I don’t intend to promote any particular product and have no conflict of interests to declare. Last Saturday, the New Zealand Herald’s Consumer Affairs reporter Morgan Tait published a very good article about a topic […] … Read More

2

ACC and Acupuncture

Mark Hanna • Aug 25, 2014

• ACC,
• Acupuncture,
• Alison Campbell,
• Alternative Medicine,
• Daniel Ryan,
• FYI,
• Gold,
• Judith Collins,
• Mark Honeychurch,
• Medicine,
• New Zealand,
• Richard Easther,
• Society for Science Based Healthcare,
• Thomas Lumley

Over the past year or so, various Official Information Act (OIA) requests have been made via the website fyi.org.nz, which allows for these requests and their responses to be made public. I have written previously about the results of some of these requests regarding ACC and Alternative Medicine. I’ve also shared some more information on […] … Read More

Osmosis Skincare’s Drinkable Sunscreen Trial

Mark Hanna • Aug 10, 2014

• Alternative Medicine,
• Bad Science,
• Ben Johnson,
• Drinkable Sunscreen,
• Harmonized Water,
• Osmosis Skincare,
• Paul Ver Hoeve,
• Scepticism,
• Society for Science Based Healthcare

If you haven’t already read my post about Osmosis Skincare’s Drinkable Sunscreen, you might want to do that before you read this one. A brief overview is that Osmosis Skincare claims drinking their “harmonized water” prevents sunburn. I complained to the Advertising Standards Authority that this claim wasn’t backed up by evidence and the complaint […] … Read More

ASA Complaint: Osmosis Skincare’s Drinkable Sunscreen

Mark Hanna • Jul 28, 2014

• Alternative Medicine,
• ASA,
• Complaints,
• Drinkable Sunscreen,
• Harmonized Water,
• New Zealand,
• One News,
• Osmosis Skincare,
• Scepticism,
• Stats Chat,
• Thomas Lumley

In May this year, One News ran a story on a US skincare company releasing what it was calling “drinkable sunscreen”. Around the world, various sceptical websites also picked up the story, such as Doubtful News and Neurological Blog. The message was roughly that a “drinkable sunscreen” is a cool idea that isn’t entirely implausible, […] … Read More

July 2014 Auckland Skeptics in the Pub

Mark Hanna • Jul 14, 2014

• Alternative Medicine,
• ASA,
• Complaints,
• Juice Bar,
• New Zealand,
• Regulation,
• Skeptics in the Pub

Every month there’s a meetup at Juice Bar in Parnell, Auckland, of the Auckland Skeptics in the Pub group. This month, I was asked to be the speaker. The topic of my talk was the regulation surrounding medical advertisements in New Zealand, and what can be done by members of the public to counteract some […] … Read More

Ethical Pharmacy Practice and Homeopathic NO-JET-LAG

Mark Hanna • Jul 03, 2014

• Alternative Medicine,
• Andrew Criglington,
• ASA,
• Complaints,
• Homeopathy,
• Krishna Kumar,
• Miers Laboratories,
• New Zealand,
• NO-JET-LAG,
• Parnell Pharmacy,
• Pharmacy Council,
• Scepticism

Pharmacies are an integral part of the healthcare industry. They provide a valuable decoupling between the doctor you see for an examination and potentially a prescription, and the institution that stands to profit from the medicine you pay for. Without this separation, there’s the potential for a conflict of interest where the physician examining you […] … Read More

ACC and Alternative Medicine

Mark Hanna • May 24, 2014

• ACC,
• Acupuncture,
• Alternative Medicine,
• Chiropractic,
• FYI,
• Judith Collins,
• Medicine,
• New Zealand,
• Nick Smith,
• Osteopathy

The Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) is part of the healthcare system in New Zealand. To quote themselves on their purpose, they provide “comprehensive, no-fault personal injury cover for all New Zealand residents and visitors to New Zealand”. To put it simply, if you hurt yourself in an accident in New Zealand, ACC will likely pay […] … Read More

Fluoride in Onehunga

Mark Hanna • May 05, 2014

• FANNZ,
• Fluoride,
• Fluoride Action Network New Zealand,
• New Zealand,
• Onehunga,
• Onehunga Community News

In last month’s issue of my local community newsletter, Onehunga Community News, an article was published about water fluoridation. For those of you who are non-locals, Onehunga is a suburb of Auckland, and in general drinking water in Auckland is fluoridated. The article mentioned some of the recent national news about fluoridation, which I won’t […] … Read More