|
Nominations and Campaigning for the 2024 RationalWiki Moderator Election are now open |
What's The Harm?
| Against allopathy Alternative medicine |
|
| Clinically unproven |
| Woo-meisters |
What's The Harm? is a website which anecdotally lists people whose deaths appear to have been caused, directly or indirectly, by alternative treatments. Anecdotes are, of course, not evidence of the safety or dangerousness of something, but the site is a counterexample to the many anecdotes used to support CAM, and a direct answer to the frequent question "What's the harm in _____?", which all too often goes unanswered.
WtH places a heavy emphasis on critical thinking.[1] However, the site itself should be examined quite critically, if you are attempting to use it as any quality reference regarding fatalities caused by alternative treatments. They include such things as people who knew they had N-stage, terminal cancer and went the alternative route "but died anyhow". Other deaths are linked to people who were victims of outright fraud, that had little or nothing to do with the alternative medicine world in general. These issues are somewhat addressed in the site's FAQ page.[2]
The lists do clearly show that some alternative medicine, like chiropractic medicine, toxic "cleanses", and herbalism, can bring actual real harm or death to patients, especially if not performed correctly and by certified practitioners.
See also[edit]
- See the Wikipedia article on What's The Harm?.
- What's the harm (logical fallacy)
- Iatrogenesis