By OLIVIA JUDSON - THE NEW YORK TIMES
Added: Tue, 15 Sep 2009 23:00:00 UTC

http://judson.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/15/cracking-the-spine-of-libel/
Several times this summer, science journalists in London have leaned over to me and said something along the lines of, “I was thinking of writing,” and gone on to describe an article that was going to be critical of someone. “But then,” the speaker would gloomily conclude, “I thought to myself, ‘Simon Singh,’ and I decided not to.”

Who is Simon Singh, and why is his name giving people the jitters?

First things first. Singh is a well-known writer, journalist and television producer. He received a doctorate from Cambridge University for work in experimental particle physics, and he’s the author of several best-selling popular-science books, including “Fermat’s Last Theorem” and “Big Bang.” Last year, he published his most recent book, “Trick or Treatment: Alternative Medicine on Trial,” which he wrote in collaboration with the world’s first professor of complementary medicine, Edzard Ernst. Their book is an accessible and rigorous investigation of the scientific evidence for or against the claims made about various forms of “alternative medicine,” from acupuncture to herbal remedies.

That, briefly, is the who of Singh.

Now the why. The reason his name is giving everyone the jitters is that he’s being sued for libel by the British Chiropractic Association (BCA) for an article he published in The Guardian newspaper last year. In the article, Singh argued that there is no evidence for some of the claims that the BCA makes about the health benefits of visiting a chiropractor.

He wrote, “The British Chiropractic Association claims that their members can help treat children with colic, sleeping and feeding problems, frequent ear infections, asthma and prolonged crying, even though there is not a jot of evidence. This organisation is the respectable face of the chiropractic profession and yet it happily promotes bogus treatments.”
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http://judson.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/15/cracking-the-spine-of-libel/

TAGGED: CAMPAIGNS, LAW, MEDICINE