Committee for Skeptical Inquiry

[SkeptInq@aol.com]

An interesting e-mail and supporting articles sent in from Patrick Curry.
Author of a series of articles that appeared in the Scientific Review of
Alternative Medicine (SRAM).


From:   patc79@idt.net (Patrick Curry)

 CSICOP,

 I thought I would bring to your attention a positive item for possible
 inclusion into your Skeptical Briefs or Skeptical Inquirer news.  Every
 once and a while skepticism wins a victory.  We should report these,
 shouldn't we?

 Influenced by the publication of my three articles in Prometheus's
 Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine criticising the practices of a
 nationally prominent alt-med guru, Dr. Lewis Mehl-Madrona, the
 University of Pittsburgh Medical Center has now asked for and received
 Dr. Mehl-Madrona's resignation.  Mehl-Madrona is a "Native American"
 fixture on the national holistic medicine conference scene.

 I am the skeptical consumer advocate who is the author of all three
 articles.  This story broke when I brought these articles and supporting
 documentation to the hierarchy of the University of Pittsburgh Medical
 Center, where Mehl-Madrona had been Medical Director of UPMC's Center
 for Complementary Medicine for 2 and a half years.

 Here is the initial article where the story broke about his "medical"
practices.
SRAM is credited with the exposure.  I am quoted as well.

 http://www.post-gazette.com/regionstate/20000206mehlmadrona1.asp

 Here is the article announcing that he had resigned two  days later.

 http://www.post-gazette.com/healthscience/20000212mehl2.asp

 Here is one of the three SRAM articles about the history of UPMC's
 Center for Complementary Medicine and Mehl-Madrona's research that is now
available on the Medscape web site:


http://www.medscape.com/prometheus/SRAM/1999/v03.n01/sram0301.04.curr/sram0301
.04.curr-01.html

Victories for reason are hard to come by these days,

 E. Patrick Curry
 Pittsburgh