Quackbuster busted

It seems that Dr Wes has dubbed angry doc 'Singapore's Quackbuster'.

angry doc thinks himself undeserving of that title. Here's why...

Bonus Real-life Story (see Disclaimer)

Yesterday I saw a teenaged girl with the complaint of chronic joint pain. I noticed she was wearing a bracelet that looked exactly like the Q-Ray bracelet pictured in this previous post, down to the flattened knobs at the ends.

I just had to ask.


angry doc: Why are you wearing that bracelet?

girl: Er... my mom bought it for me.

angry doc: Did she say what it's supposed to do?

girl: Er... it's supposed to improve my circulation or something.


I could have told her that her pain was not due to an impaired circulation and that it was probably a waste of money and time to wear the bracelet.

But I didn't.

angry doc did not doubt that the bracelet did not confer benefits above that of a placebo.

angry doc did not doubt that the placebo effect in this case is ineffective (or else the patient would not have been here to see him).

But most importantly, angry doc did not doubt that in this case, wearing the bracelet was a daughter's way of acknowledging her mother's concern.

So you see, angry doc doesn't always practise what he blogs.

Besides, the bracelet looked good on her.