British Chiropractic Association v Simon Singh

[Trinoc]

PDF version of judgement ...

Singh-BCA Apeal Court judgement 2010-04-01.pdf

[jimwalsh]

PDF version of judgement ...

Singh-BCA Apeal Court judgement 2010-04-01.pdf

"[Plaintiffs] cannot, by simply filing suit and crying 'character assassination!', silence those who hold divergent views, no matter how adverse those views may be to plaintiffs' interests. Scientific controversies must be settled by the methods of science rather than by the methods of litigation. … More papers, more discussion, better data, and more satisfactory models – not larger awards of damages – mark the path towards superior understanding of the world around us.

love it

[bindeweede]

Jack of Kent has made his first comments.

Simon Singh today won in the Court of Appeal.

The Court of Appeal held he was expressing "honest opinion".

It is a stunning judgment, which you can read in full here.

And so the British Chiropractic Association - which happily promotes bogus treatments even though there is not a jot of evidence - lost.

http://jackofkent.blogspot.com/

[smudge]

One happy looking Simon Singh...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/video/2.../press-freedom

Great news!

[davidrodway]

heard it on the radio today. first time i have heard the topic mentioned on national broadcast news. seems like the trouble for chiros is only just starting. a chiro said to me recently that we osteopaths seem to get a better press them than. i wonder why?

[DrS]

Absolutely brilliant news.

[davidrodway]

Absolutely brilliant news.

Unfortunately, and I wouldnt put it past them, I have heard the view propounded that the chiros sued to get the publicity -they would have liked to have won but are very happy with even the bad publicity as it has got the word chiropractor out there. Whatever the case costs them it is less than they would have had to pay for the same coversage. Cynical or what? Skeptics wouldnt have attended them anyway, but now they will have a great influx of the gullible, which is the sort of patient they like.

[DrS]

Well I accept that there are those who think any publicity is good, even when it's bad, but in this case, I really can't see a single benefit that has arisen for them out of this case. They're now apparently considering whether to appeal to the Supreme Court or whether to go to trial on the basis of this judgement, or whether to back down altogether. I can't see how any of this does them any good, even with the gullible!

[bindeweede]

Jack has posted his more detailed comments on The Court of Appeal's decision. Complicated.

http://jackofkent.blogspot.com/

[Blue Wode]

A few more updates…

A conversation with Simon Singh

Jack of Kent's brief *lay* summary of Court of Appeal Decision
http://jackofkent.blogspot.com/2010/04/bca-v-singh-brief-lay-summary-of-court.html

Jack of Kent's open letter to the BCA


Professor Stephen Curry of Imperial College writes about the nature of evidence and the Court of Appeal Decision:

This is not evidence that a scientist worth their mettle would consider to be of any real value. This is not evidence that I would tolerate in an argument from one of my undergraduates. This is not evidence that a child at primary school learning about science at key stage 1 of the national curriculum would consider to be derived from a "fair test".

The BCA is a professional organisation that represents the interests of chiropractors who claimed to be able to treat non-spinal childhood ailments by manipulating their spines. Those are bold claims given our modern understanding of human physiology. That the BCA is happy to cite the paper by Klougart and colleagues as worthwhile evidence supporting chiropractic treatments tells me they are far less critical, far less scientific, than the public has a right to expect them to be.

More...
http://jackofkent.blogspot.com/2010/04/guest-post-stephen-curry-on-evidence.html

Blog post: What would the BCA do?


Phil Plait's most recent post on the matter at his Discovery blog:

“The BCA is looking ever-more ridiculous, mean, and venal in this case.”

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2010/04/07/simon-singh-has-appeal/

And in addition to the above, the latest message from Simon Singh, published yesterday, can be read here:
http://www.senseaboutscience.org.uk/index.php/site/about/476

[Blue Wode]

The BCA throws the towel in:
http://www.elyplace.com/index.aspx?p=1&articleId=208


Congratulations to Simon Singh and his team for their outstanding tenacity.

[tolman]

The BCA throws the towel in:
http://www.elyplace.com/index.aspx?p=1&articleId=208

Congratulations to Simon Singh and his team for their outstanding tenacity.

Excellent news.

So if the BCA has just given in, who ends up paying whose legal bill?

It'll be interesting to see what happens in the BCA leadership, given that it looks like they've done far more damage to the business interests of their members than any critic could have done.

[skbuncks]

Excellent news . Shame its taken them so long.

skb

[Croydon Bob]

Shame its taken them so long.

Not really. The BCA have done more to destroy Chiropractic than Simon Singh and every skeptic in the world could have achieved without them.

Every extra day that they hung on was more bad publicity for their bogus profession.

[bindeweede]

Interesting snippet from the Indy.

Mr Justice Eady to be replaced as senior judge on libel and privacy

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk...y-2079634.html