Tag CAM

A case of sexual abuse by one of the biggest personas of the Czech psychiatric community is now seeing its day in court. Dr. Jan Cimický, once a prominent psychiatrist who helped establish the field in the country (and also novelist, poet, translator, playwright and screenwriter), is currently on trial facing charges relating to 39 accounts of sexual assault and misconduct spanning decades.

At the beginning of the trial, the prosecutor read the text of the indictment for one whole hour.

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For the last month, the Czech media have been running sensational articles about a new polio therapy practiced by Peter Olšák, MD, at the world-famous Vesna Children’s Hospital in Janské Lázně. On February 1, Czech Radio ran the headline “Czech doctor treats paralysis with a combination of acupuncture and electrotherapy. His method is in demand abroad”. A few days later, Dr. Olšák was sitting in the Czech Television studio and talking about “his” method of electroacupuncture.

It should be noted at the outset that for some reason acupuncture has been a lege artis method in the Czech Republic since 1981 and its practitioners are associated in the Czech Medical Acupuncture Society, which operates within the Czech Medical Association of J. E. Purkyně. Acupuncture can be performed by physicians who have obtained specialisation in one of the clinical disciplines, including general medicine, and have undergone special training.
The method of electroacupuncture has been used in patients for more than five years and in children for less than three years.

Olšák called his method Active ENF, or Electroacupuncture Neuromuscular Facilitation. In it, he pricks the patient with acupuncture needles and then uses his device to deliver an electric current to the acupuncture needles. This is perceived by patients as a tingling sensation, and with greater intensity there are also visible muscle contractions.
“The current helps pathways in the body that are damaged to function better.” Did he mean meridians?

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Czech folk singer Hana Horká (57) from popular folk band Asonance died after catching COVID-19 on purpose in order to start having a “free life “. Catching the virus (as she believed) would allow her to avoid needing the vaccine, leading to her celebration upon learning she had contracted the virus.
It should be noted that Horká did not fall for any conspiracy theories, she did not believe that there are nanochips in vaccines and similar nonsense which is spreading on the internet. She just thought that the Omikron mutation is not dangerous and it is more “natural” to have the disease and get the antibodies this way than to be vaccinated.

Her son, musician Jan Rek, blames her death on the stars of the Czech antivax scene – namely actor and self-proclaimed shaman Jaroslav Dušek (winner of the Erratic Boulder Award from the Czech Skeptics Club Sisyfos for “good shamanic advice for every day”) and molecular geneticist Soňa Peková (also winner of the Erratic Boulder Award, who claimed in October 2020 that “Covid-19 will really disappear by Christmas” and who collaborated with the political far right and disinformation media). Hana Horká has frequently shared Facebook posts by these two personalities.

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Homeopathy is not a medical service, there is no scientific evidence, the court ruled this month.

At the beginning there was a fine of almost €2.000 imposed by the Regional Council of the Zlín Region on a woman who provided homeopathy counseling.

The fine was confirmed by the Ministry of Health. Both administrative bodies assume that homeopathic services meet the definition of health care under the Health Services Act and can therefore only be provided by the holder of the authorization to provide health services issued by the Regional Council.

But the Regional Court in Brno annulled the decision of the Ministry of Health, and it filed a cassation complaint with the Supreme Administrative Court.

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Minister of Health of the Czech Republic cautiously opposes the TCM and fails to fight homeopathy.

Even worse, he advocates it.

Let’s take a quick look into modern history of homeopathy in the Czech Republic:

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Good news, everyone!

For three years the TCM ambulance has been operating at the Hradec Kralové’s University hospital. However, the planned TCM Center’s construction stopped.
The new large Center was originally planned as a part of the hospital structures, but in

March the Health Ministry’s expert group decided that it could remain at the originally planned site but only as a separate organization.
And recently members of Czech Parliament removed TCM from the list of medical disciplines. 

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“Endowment Fund to Support Traditional Chinese Medicine and Alternatives” in Prague is preparing commencement of operations of “TCM infocenter”.

20.6.2018 happened one of actions connected with this affair. It was Czech-Chinese meeting of people of various professions. Diplomats involved.Prof. JUDr. Ivo Telec, CSc. had a speech named “The present legal status of the TCM in the Czech Republic” which could be interesting resumé of TCM in Czech republic viewed from “the other side”.

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There is (not only) one alternative medicine case in Czech republic which could be the igniter for an strong effort to a legislation change.

The Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic is preparing a law on healers in these days.
The ministry also wants to be able to examine if the healers did not harm the patients by their activities so this law should introduce the registration of healers and the obligation to keep the documentation. Those who will practice healing without the authorization or duty to compensate or the damage caused will be punished.

The ministry came with this regulation of healing after Czech TV broadcasts a document “Health Business” about Prague’s fraudulent Alternative Medicine Center Aktip.
(AKTIP holds Sisyfos silver Erratic Boulder award in the category of teams for the year 2016.)

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Medicine sometimes snatches away health, sometimes gives it.
– Ovid

Center of Traditional Chinese Medicine was opened in Hradec Kralové’s University hospital in June 2015. Opening was in the presence of Chinese Vice-Prime Minister Liu Yandong, Czech and Chinese ministers of Health departments, and Hospital director Roman Prymula.
Big show.
Inauguration one year later was lead by the Chinese president Xi Jinping in personam.
Bigger show.

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