We got a great email from Phillip, which states, in part:

“Anyway, just to let you know, in your last show it was mentioned that acupuncture did no good nor any harm. Not so. There are many cases reported of death from infection, death from punctured hears and lung (using deep acupuncture) Most are from China but there are reports from many sources.
http://whatstheharm.net/acupuncture.html
(quote368,379 people killed, 306,096 injured and over $2,815,931,000 in economic damages)
Also anyone who says whats the harm in old Chinese medicines….the whole sale slaughter and near extinction of many animals and the cruelty inflicted on bears etc kept alive for bile.”

Let me respond. I love http://www.whatstheharm.net. I also like their linked article from skepdic, http://skepdic.com/acupuncture.html. What I was referring to was a New England journal of medicine article when I said “…it’s no better than a placebo, but doesn’t seem to do any harm.” I think I’m willing to back away from the “doesn’t do any harm” statement I made. You can find a really good discussion of the article here: http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=6391
Also, from the same http://www.scinencebasedmedicine.org article, a complete destruction of the idea that there are magic energy flows in our bodies: http://www.ivis.org/proceedings/aaep/2000/220.pdf

Anytime someone is hurt by a “treatment” that is bogus, that is a tragedy. But the alt-med crowd will point out (accurately) that thousands of people are hurt by doctors practicing science-based medicine, every year. So my main point is that we should point to the science that shows why a natural remedy doesn’t work. Acupuncture can be harmful, but so can chemotherapy. I think the stronger argument is “acupuncture doesn’t work. Here’s the science that shows why.” We should always try to have evidence and explanations for our claims. I think that this approach is better for the smarter religious people too. A thinking religious person probably won’t leave their religion because of the cruelty of the crusades. But they might leave when they understand cosmology, evolution, or abiogenesis. Understanding the way the world works leaves little room for gods. Understanding how science-based medicine finds real cures for diseases leaves little room for crazy woo (or “ancient” cures that involve torturing animals).

I totally agree with you the bear bile issue and needlessly killing animals for traditional cures. These practices are pointless and inhumane. This particular issue is exemplary of a common problem with many natural remedies, in that there is a tiny grain of truth in the claims-enough to trick people into falling for them. The active ingredient in bear bile does seem to be helpful in treating gallstones. But, for a real drug to get FDA approval, the ingredients must be as pure and carefully measured as possible, and go through rigorous medical trials. Do you have any idea exactly how much ursodeoxycholic acid is in 2.5 grams of bear bile you would get from a TCM practitioner? Exactly. You don’t know and neither does he. This situation seems even worse when you learn we can make a similar compound in a lab that treats the same diseases, without torturing bears. http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=432

Thanks for your feedback!