Red Clover comments leave a bitter aftertaste
June 13th, 2007
Last week, Professor David Colquhoun’s excellent Improbable Science blog was taken off the UCL servers following a complaint from Alan Lakin, acting on behalf of his wife Ann Walker. Ann Walker sells herbal remedies from her website, New Vitality. Amongst other things, she claims that Red Clover is able to “cleanse” blood, a statement Colquhoun branded “gobbledegook”.
This didn’t go down well with Walker, and she unleashed a multi-pronged attack on Colquhoun and his website, accusing him of “incorrect, misleading and defamatory” comments, copyright infringement, breach of data protection guidelines, misuse of IT resources, office space and secretarial facilities. The copyright claim was due to Colquhoun reproducing the image of red clover from the New Vitality site. I’ve done the same thing, and I’m claiming Fair Use on it.
Subsequently, the Improbable Science page was moved off the UCL servers whilst the university scrambled to check the veracity of Lakin’s claims. This unleashed a second storm as acadmics the world over criticised the university for appearing to cave in to a disgruntled herb seller. As most saw it, the university had a duty to stand by academic freedom of discussion, not distance itself from Colquhoun.
Happily, after a meeting with lawyers, and a few small concessions by Colquhoun, the Improbable Science page is set to move back to UCL servers.
The lessons here are manifold – for academic writers, universities and alternative therapists. For the writers, we have to be sure that a robust criticism of pseudoscientific gobbledegook doesn’t overspill into libel, which can be surprisingly easy (as I found out). For universities, a greater attention to academic freedom and what is published on their servers is a high priority.
For alternative therapists, the lesson is clear. If you don’t like when someone points out that you’re selling magic beans, don’t debate their science. In fact, don’t even write to them directly – complain to their employers about a myriad of arbitrary matters in the hope nobody will notice that you haven’t refuted their claims of magic bean-selling. Hope that the cost of hiring a very expensive lawyer will be too much and the site will simply be closed down. But above all, don’t mention the magic beans.
It didn’t work for Ann Walker, but that doesn’t mean that it never does. Gillian McKeith attacked a satirical song about her using the same methods. Science won this time, but not everyone has an employer with deep pockets. Ironically for Ann Walker, an attempt to silence criticism of her herbal remedies has now made the comments better known than Professor Colquhoun ever could have achieved by himself.
As a result of this increased interest, there is likely to be a surge of sciencepunkery in dealing with Walker’s claims. In fact, it’s already begun.
Entry Filed under: General
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12 Comments
1. Peter Horne | June 15th, 2007 at 8:33 pm
Good to see the ‘Mighty David Colquhoun’ come out of this so well. Well deserved.
Our town is infested with this type of anti-rational bollocks. Here’s my take on it
http://saltburnsubversives.blogspot.com/2007/06/spirit-of-tomatso.html
I think ridicule is by far the most effective method of shutting these people up. They can’t stand to be mocked
2. Bruce Temkin | June 22nd, 2007 at 4:58 pm
Everyone in Colorado Springs knows that blood cleaning herbal remedies work best when prayer is employed. I’m surprised Ann did not point this out.
3. Frank the SciencePunk | June 23rd, 2007 at 2:12 am
I’ll bet prayer doubles or even triples the efficacy of blood cleansing!
4. Ann Walker festival: &quo&hellip | October 4th, 2007 at 11:16 am
[...] of Ann Walker – to defend the freedom of bloggers to write and to criticise. Already, the excellent Science Punk and Quackometer blogs have began to look at Walker’s work. My own modest contribution is [...]
5. Texas Electricity | January 7th, 2008 at 7:56 pm
We have quite a few here in Tyler Texas as well. The herbalife people and several other companies like melaleuca, and shaklee are all MLM companies that have sales recruits that almost act like they are in a cult. They make claims like their products cure cancer and other nonsense. It’s a pain but what are you going to do?
6. Frank the SciencePunk | January 8th, 2008 at 10:02 am
Harass them ruthlessly.
7. The fallout from DC's de-&hellip | March 8th, 2008 at 10:01 pm
[...] “Red Clover comments leave a bitter aftertaste” Click here [...]
8. Duncan Knox | March 24th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
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Eka Saproen Photography
http://www.hedgescellars.com/
9. Elvien | April 27th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
In this site we can find scientific information about herbs, their use in pregnancy and many other things
http://herbalinformation.awardspace.com
10. Audrey Butterworth | July 6th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Ann Walker and her husband have blocked me from reading The Herb Society’s forum or posting, as I have criticised rhem. I was the Forum host from its inception for 6 years.
Alan Lakin (husband of Ann Walker) says that as a career-track academic of 40 years he believes in free speech but…..
Believing in free speech but is an oxymoron as any academic should know. He blocked both Prof David Colquhoun’s blog and “gagged” me last year.
Has he heard of Magna Carta.
Audre
11. Jack Catts | September 12th, 2008 at 8:13 pm
Subject : Cell Phones and Your Televisions
The Hubble Telescope has detected the largest recorded explosion to date.
Supernova Bella Prime in the Perseus Galaxy has exploded and has emitted a massive electromagnetic pulse, also known as an EMP, that could cause major disruptions to computers and communication systems here on Earth.
On March 13, 1989, in Montreal, Quebec, 6 million people were without commercial electric power for 9 hours as a result of a huge geomagnetic storm. Some areas in the northeastern U.S. and in Sweden also lost power.
Supernova Bella Prime is 1056 times stronger than the 1989 EMP and is expected to reach Earth later this year.
Scientists predict there will be major disruptions to computers and to most electrical devises here on Earth.
In order to protect your electrical circuits all cells phones, computers, televisions, and other electrical devises should be turned off for approximately 24 minutes as the EMP wave passes over Earth.
Persons traveling in vehicles using a navigational GPS are to ensure they have a traditional map available as all GPS devises will be affected when GPS Satellites Stations are turned towards the EMP and their signal turned off for the 24 minute duration.
Scientist also say that not all things will be doom and gloom as some of the newly designed battery operated toys will be activated during the 24 minute wave period even without batteries installed. Also of interest, the Earth’s magnetic field which naturally protects us from all EMPs will cause a spectacular show of the Aurora Borealis seen as far south as Mexico.
There is little health risk during this time as the narrow wave exposure is considered short.
Presented by Team Star
California Observatory
12. Natural remedies | September 18th, 2008 at 6:00 am
I think that is aload of rubbish people re busy butting into everyone elses business instead of just worrying about them selves.
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