What's The Harm?

The largest outbreak of Hib meningitis in this state since 1992 has occurred among several infants who were unvaccinated due to parental refusal. One infant died, several others were injured.

http://whatstheharm.net/vaccinedenial.html#5_minnesota_infants_1228

He and his mother traveled 30 miles to a shrine to a Muslim saint. The tradition is to offer food to the crocodiles in the pond and to bathe in the water. When he waded into the water, he was att...

http://whatstheharm.net/religiousfundamentalism.html#rubel_sheikh

After stepping on an electric plug, he self-treated the wound on his foot using honey on the advice of his homeopath. A diabetic, his foot became gangrenous. He died, but doctors said if he'd sou...

http://whatstheharm.net/homeopathy.html#russell_jenkins

They believed the child was possessed and tried to rid her of demons. They allegedly bludgeoned her and bit her more than 20 times. She died. Her mother and a man were arrested and held on $2 mil...

http://whatstheharm.net/exorcisms.html#amora_bain_carson

After being mauled by a bear, he received a rare face transplant operation. His doctors prescribed immune-suppressing drugs, but he refused them in favor of herbal remedies. He died two years aft...

http://whatstheharm.net/herbalremedies.html#li_guoxing

He was injected with a mineral solution by his homeopath/naturopath. He died the next day of a heart attack, and it was ruled a homicide. The naturopath faces charges.

http://whatstheharm.net/naturopathy.html#john_doe_1223

A woman was bound and gagged and set on fire because villagers suspected her of being a witch. Authorities say 50 people were killed in similar fashion here last year.

http://whatstheharm.net/witchcraft.html#jane_doe_1222

She denied that HIV caused AIDS and refused to take medications for her herself or give them to her children. Her daughter Eliza Jane Scovill died in 2005, and she died in 2008.

http://whatstheharm.net/hivaidsdenial.html#christine_maggiore

A study by Harvard researchers estimates that if the South African government had abandoned its President's AIDS denialist policies and provided antiretroviral drugs, it could have prevented 365,...

http://whatstheharm.net/hivaidsdenial.html#365000_south_african_aids_patients_1220

She distrusted conventional medicine, so she decided to self-medicate using pills purchased from a Canadian online pharmacy. What she didn't know was the pharmacy was not actually Canadian and th...

http://whatstheharm.net/internetmisinformation.html#marcia_bergeron

She was in labor for four days. She died of a massive infection after rupture of the fetal membrane. Authorities said she would have survived if she had delivered in a hospital.

http://whatstheharm.net/faithhealing.html#jacqueline_k_beagley_her_baby

This study of 78 patients in a South African hospital suffering from kidney failure who had recently used folk remedies, found that in the majority of cases the folk remedy itself was the most li...

http://whatstheharm.net/folkremedies.html#51_african_patients_1217

He had fever and congestion. Members of his church anointed him with oil and laid hands upon him, praying for 46 days. A medical examiner later said the boy would have been "overwhelmed with feve...

http://whatstheharm.net/faithhealing.html#alex_dale_morris

His wife found him collapsed in their stairwell. He had had a chiropractic adjustment 3 hours earlier. His stroke was ruled to have been caused by the adjustment. He died 6 days later.

http://whatstheharm.net/chiropractic.html#john_hoffman

She had been sick for weeks. Her father distrusted conventional medicine and was feeding her an alternative cure sold through a mutli-level marketing program. She actually had a heart infection. ...

http://whatstheharm.net/alternativemedicine.html#jane_doe_1214

In the midst of allegedly embezzling money from his own clients, this stockbroker received an email from someone claiming to have an inheritance for him. He lost $400,000 to the fraud scheme.

http://whatstheharm.net/nigerianemails.html#michael_axel

She says she wasn't a sucker or easy mark, but she was curious about an email concerning large sum of money and an alleged lost relative. Over two years, she lost thousands and now is in debt.

http://whatstheharm.net/nigerianemails.html#janella_spears

He said "he did what he was told" by his GPS and his car ended up stuck on the same train tracks as Bo Bai nine months earlier. A commuter train hit the car and hundreds of commuters were delayed...

http://whatstheharm.net/gpsnavigation.html#jose_silva

He followed an instruction to turn right from his GPS putting him on a train track in front of an oncoming train. The resulting accident destroyed his rental car and delayed commuters for hours. ...

http://whatstheharm.net/gpsnavigation.html#bo_bai

All but two members of this family died when they were administered a deadly herbal concoction during a cleansing ritual by a 17 year old trainee healer.

http://whatstheharm.net/rituals.html#13_family_members_1209

Seeking a cure for her cancer, she was sold vitamin and herbal treatments for thousands of dollars. Finally she was injected with cesium chloride as part of an ozone therapy, and she died.

http://whatstheharm.net/ozonetherapy.html#leslie_bramston

He was vaccinated against pertussis, but vaccines are never 100% effective. He caught the disease from an unvaccinated playmate. "He was as sick as any child I've ever seen," his mother said, and...

http://whatstheharm.net/vaccinedenial.html#daniel_rae

A football club was losing to its local rivals. The goalkeeper incated some “fetishist” spells to weaken the opposing team. Many in this country believe in witchcraft, and the subsequent riot...

http://whatstheharm.net/witchcraft.html#13_soccer_fans_1206

She was suffering from colitis but her mother chose to treat it homeopathically. She was down to 50 pounds when child services intervened. She was hospitalized and her colon had to be surgically ...

http://whatstheharm.net/homeopathy.html#katie_ross

After an astrological prediction of a planetary alignment that would cause a devastating cyclone, over 60,000 workers fled this port town in fear. This caused the ship-breaking yard there to shut...

http://whatstheharm.net/astrology.html#alang_town_india

Suffering from blurred vision, bleeding from her breasts and memory loss, she was diagnosed as a hypochondriac by her doctor. Instead he put her on HGH (illegal here) as an anti-ageing regimen. A...

http://whatstheharm.net/alternativemedicine.html#elizabeth_orchard

They were visiting family members when a male relative suggested their habit of smoking (and other ills) could be cured by being ritually beaten. The beating resulted in their deaths and several ...

http://whatstheharm.net/cults.html#mohamed_ibrahim_kader_mydin_rosina_mydin_pillay

When a "citizen journalist" posted a report on a CNN-affiliated website that Apple CEO Steve Jobs had suffered a heart attack, the value of the company's stock dropped as much as 11% but later re...

http://whatstheharm.net/internetmisinformation.html#apple_computer_shareholders

She felt a lump in her breast and turned to her local naturopath. He used an energy machine to diagnose it as non-cancerous, and maintained this as it grew to 24cm in size. When she finally saw a...

http://whatstheharm.net/naturopathy.html#jane_doe_1200

This mother of two saw a chiropractor for relief from headaches. After the fourth visit, she felt dizzy, lost sight in one eye and could not concentrate. This was caused by a stroke. A government...

http://whatstheharm.net/chiropractic.html#mrs_a

His landlord needed him to move his shop to a nearby location. He sued because the new location did not have as good 'feng shui' as the existing one. He lost and had to pay £40,000 in court cost...

http://whatstheharm.net/fengshui.html#tak_ping_yeung

She said her therapist convinced her she had repressed memories of being part of a satanic cult by using hypnosis and other techniques. She eventually received $10.6 million in a settlement.

http://whatstheharm.net/repressedmemories.html#patricia_burgus

She was fooled by an online hoax that demanded a ban of "dihidrogen monoxide". (This is another name for water). She sent a letter to the Health Ministry asking for an opinion on banning the subs...

http://whatstheharm.net/internetmisinformation.html#jacqui_dean_mp

He was accused of ritual abuse of children during 90 minute Sunday school classes. There was no physical evidence and many allegations were physically impossible. He was acquitted of all charges ...

http://whatstheharm.net/satanicritualabuse.html#dale_akiki

This artist and mother of two had a lumpectomy for breast cancer, but doctors recommended mastectomy. She chose alternative medicine instead. Her cancer spread and she later died. Her story is to...

http://whatstheharm.net/alternativemedicine.html#rick_stray

According to Roger Friedman, it was representatives of Scientology that forced him to quit as Chef on "South Park" when the show lampooned the religion. "Isaac's income stream was severely impair...

http://whatstheharm.net/scientology.html#isaac_hayes_musician

She was adopted from Russia, but had problems adjusting to her new home. Her mother got a book on Attachment Therapy and used the techniques to calm a tantrum. The girl was smothered to death. Th...

http://whatstheharm.net/attachmenttherapy.html#jessica_albina_hagmann

A stock analyst misread a six year old online news story as if it were new, and released an advisory. This caused a flurry of trading in which the stock dropped from $12 to $3 in an hour. Trading...

http://whatstheharm.net/internetmisinformation.html#united_airlines_shareholders

She was traumatized by TV programs about the opening of the Large Hadron Collider, which talked about the end of the world. Her parents told her not to worry and diverted her attention to no avai...

http://whatstheharm.net/apocalypsefear.html#chayya_lal

He relied on energy bars and herbal supplements to ensure his nutrition. What he didn’t know was the combination of supplements was unhealthy. His blood pressure and sodium levels were too low ...

http://whatstheharm.net/herbalremedies.html#amit_zutshi

A religious community with a low rate of vaccinations was the source of a mumps outbreak. 116 Confirmed and 74 suspected cases occurred in a region that normally has 10. Mumps is easily preventab...

http://whatstheharm.net/vaccinedenial.html#190_canadian_children_1188

The were "ghost hunting" on the grounds of an abandoned amusement park. Someone called the police, and they were charged with criminal trespassing.

http://whatstheharm.net/ghosts.html#felipe_ochoa_5_friends

She was given a mixture of alcohol, salt, water and sugar (a Haitian folk remedy) for fever and diarrhea. She died. Her parents were convicted of child abuse, spent three years in jail, and were ...

http://whatstheharm.net/folkremedies.html#makeisha_dantus

His name was on the permits for the peaceful Anonymous demonstrations at Scientology in Boston. Because he is one protestor that can be identified by name, the church has filed spurious charges a...

http://whatstheharm.net/scientology.html#gregg_housh

He was the head of the development agency for the oil-producing Niger Delta. He spent millions on witchcraft and burnt millions more in rituals to secure his position. He was fired from his job f...

http://whatstheharm.net/witchcraft.html#samuel_edem

Her mother was charged with murder after telling police that she was trying to exorcise the child of demons. The child drowned.

http://whatstheharm.net/exorcisms.html#signifagance_oliver

He saw a "natural health practitioner" famous for treating celebrities. He was given nutritional advice and massages. Later, he was taken to a hospital where his legs had to be amputated. He is s...

http://whatstheharm.net/naturopathy.html#raj_bathija

He came to Canada from the Philippines, and patients came to him in a hotel room for healing. He was using psychic surgery (actually a slight of hand trick) to take $135 from each of them. Police...

http://whatstheharm.net/psychicsurgery.html#600_canadian_patients_1181

She was told she had a hormonal imbalance and was prescribed acupuncture and herbal remedies for her acne. After several treatments, her skin got worse. A doctor later told her the diagnosis was ...

http://whatstheharm.net/acupuncture.html#yesim_mckeag

Josh's parents were contacted by a police detective investigating allegations made through facilitated communication. There was no supporting physical evidence, but the family spent their life sa...

http://whatstheharm.net/facilitatedcommunication.html#josh_johnson

This case report tells how several people were hospitalized after drinking herbal "Paraguay tea". It was found that the raw leaves had been contaminated with belladonna.

http://whatstheharm.net/herbalremedies.html#7_new_york_tea_drinkers_1178

Because of parental resistance to vaccinations in this area, an outbreak of pertussis (whooping cough) has occurred. This has caused cancellations of events such as the local Little League All St...

http://whatstheharm.net/vaccinedenial.html#65_children_1177

She claimed a dingo took her baby in the night. An expert testified a test indicated blood in the family car, conflicting with her story. Evidence emerged years later which exonerated them.

http://whatstheharm.net/expertwitnesses.html#lindy_michael_chamberlain

Her chiropractor over-rotated her neck during a routine adjustment, tearing tendons and muscles. This painful injury even limited her ability to eat, mere weeks before the world championships. Sh...

http://whatstheharm.net/chiropractic.html#samantha_cools_athlete

After a lumpectomy for her breast cancer, the doctor recommended she forgo chemo and radiation in favor of antioxidants and vitamins in the "Ukraine protocol". Other doctors disagreed, but she we...

http://whatstheharm.net/vitaminmegadoses.html#carol_jean_rubick

Measles cases reached their worst levels in over a decade in the U.S. in 2008, with 131 cases including 15 serious enough to be hospitalized just in the first half of the year. 90% of these peopl...

http://whatstheharm.net/vaccinedenial.html#131_people_1173

In just 2006 and 2007 there were 2,000 cases of measles in the UK. That's more than the previous decade, a surplus of roughly 1,600 cases. The increase is blamed on parents reluctant to vaccinate...

http://whatstheharm.net/vaccinedenial.html#1600_british_children_1172

He travelled to Melbourne and paid AUS $23,000 for six weeks of treatment including ozone therapy. He died a mere three weeks later. The clinic had been investigated in 2005 but somehow remained ...

http://whatstheharm.net/ozonetherapy.html#brendon_johnson

The neighbors both believed in feng shui, but didn't get along with each other. When one put a mirror on their house to reflect bad luck, the other did the same and the feud escalated. The argume...

http://whatstheharm.net/fengshui.html#loh_futt_keong

A magistrate and another official in Shanxi province practiced feng shui to dispel "negative qi" from their offices. This included rebuilding the police station because it blocked a view. They we...

http://whatstheharm.net/fengshui.html#2_local_government_officials_1169

As a feng shui expert he believed the banyan, willow and bamboo trees in the adjacent apartment complex were blocking the flow of qi to his house. He cut them down without asking permission. He w...

http://whatstheharm.net/fengshui.html#lo_puyi

The father was distraught to find his daughters "as thin as Holocaust victims" under the strict vegan diet administered by his ex-wife. He complained to the Ministry for Children and Families.

http://whatstheharm.net/childvegetarianism.html#2_canadian_girls_1167

She falsely accused her father of rape after "recovered memory" therapy, and it ruined her life. She sued. An settlement for £20,000 was reached with no admission of guilt.

http://whatstheharm.net/repressedmemories.html#katrina_fairlie

He was diagnosed with sinus cancer, and found an alternative cure involving hydrazine sulfate on the internet. He bought it over the net and treated himself. He was hospitalized and died with (am...

http://whatstheharm.net/alternativemedicine.html#john_doe_1165

She was convicted of murdering two of her children based in part on an expert's testimony that multiple SIDS deaths (aka "cot deaths") in one family are very unlikely. She was later exonerated an...

http://whatstheharm.net/expertwitnesses.html#angela_cannings

An expert testified there was only a "one in 73 million" chance that her two children both died of cot death (aka SIDS), and therefore she must have murdered them. Statisticians later called this...

http://whatstheharm.net/expertwitnesses.html#sally_clark

Twenty-six friends in four vehicles were travelling in Utah on vacation. After viewing Grosvenor Arch, they used GPS directions to head for Arizona. It led them down unpaved roads and to the edge...

http://whatstheharm.net/gpsnavigation.html#26_california_vacationers_1162

This New Zealand woman travelled to Thailand for a cancer cure involving "ozone therapy." The treatment made her so sick she passed out and was hospitalized. The practitioner had served prison te...

http://whatstheharm.net/ozonetherapy.html#melissa_taylor

When he had pains at the base of his spine, a friend recommended cranial osteopaths. They treated him for five weeks, and told him he was healed. His pain continued and he was rushed to a hospita...

http://whatstheharm.net/craniosacraltherapy.html#michael_arditti

This veteran trucker lost control of his truck one morning and died in the accident. An investigation found a rare and powerful tranquilizer in his blood. He had been taking an herbal sleep aid t...

http://whatstheharm.net/herbalremedies.html#michael_berggren

She traveled to Utah to be treated by a holistic naturopath. She received large doses of vitamin C, chelation therapy and colonics among other things. Within weeks she was suffering from kidney f...

http://whatstheharm.net/vitaminmegadoses.html#anne_m_adkins

This New England Journal of Medicine report is on an outbreak of amebiasis spread by colonic irrigation equipment at a chiropractic clinic in Colorado. Six patients died, thirty others required s...

http://whatstheharm.net/coloncleansing.html#36_colorado_patients_1157

This computer expert believes that the U.S. government has captured UFOs and is covering them up. Seeking to expose this, he hacked into computers seeking information. In July 2008 it was ruled h...

http://whatstheharm.net/conspiracytheories.html#gary_mckinnon

The U.S. Department of Energy spent time and money testing a system called PMRAM that was clearly based on dowsing. The Inspector General investigated and included the technology was "implausible...

http://whatstheharm.net/dowsing.html#us_taxpayers

He had a stiff neck. His doctor tried to treat this with cupping. The alcohol used in the cupping procedure caught fire, and he was burned. He will need treatment for at least a month.

http://whatstheharm.net/cupping.html#oddinge_haagensen

He programmed his destination of the Rock of Gibraltar as he left Antakya, Turkey. But because Gibraltar is technically part of the UK, the device routed him to another Gibraltar – a shore town...

http://whatstheharm.net/gpsnavigation.html#necdet_bakimci

Eric is a church youth counselor who is in fantastic physical shape. Following a routine spine & neck adjustment for "wellness" he experienced dizziness, impaired vision and headache. He'd had a ...

http://whatstheharm.net/chiropractic.html#eric_sass

She did not believe in traditional medicine. When she became pregnant she took the herbal remedy pennyroyal to induce an abortion. When complications arose, she had to go to the hospital. She wen...

http://whatstheharm.net/herbalremedies.html#kris_humphrey

While on a diet she was advised to drink more and more water, up to 5 liters per day. She had epileptic fits and was hospitalized. She recovered, but still feels the effects years later.

http://whatstheharm.net/detoxification.html#pauline_major

The district attorney believed conspiracy theories about the JFK assassination and thought Clay was involved. He was arrested and prosecuted. The jury exonerated him in less than one hour.

http://whatstheharm.net/conspiracytheories.html#clay_shaw_businessman

After two documented cases of kidney failure caused by Aristolochia, the Department of Health banned the importation of this Chinese herbal remedy into England. It had earlier been banned in seve...

http://whatstheharm.net/herbalremedies.html#2_british_patients_1147

She was sold Chinese herbal tablets for her psoriasis for three years. But they contained Aristolochia, which had been banned in England. The herbalist who sold her the tablets was prosecuted.

http://whatstheharm.net/herbalremedies.html#sandra_stay

This study found 105 patients who had taken a Chinese herbal weight-loss pill that contained Aristolochia. They developed kidney disease and in cases cancer. Aristolochia was later banned in seve...

http://whatstheharm.net/herbalremedies.html#105_belgian_patients_1145

Up to 30 patients were infected with the potentially deadly Hepatitis B virus at a London alternative medicine clinic. They were given an unproven procedure called autohaemotherapy, which is base...

http://whatstheharm.net/alternativemedicine.html#30_london_clinic_patients_1144

A sample of an herbal treatment for asthma was sent to her house. She tried it and stopped using her medications. Within two days she was in a hospital where she stayed for 6 weeks.

http://whatstheharm.net/herbalremedies.html#jacqueline_jones

When a book accused him of being a Holocaust denier, he sued for libel. He lost, and was bankrupted by the ruling. He continued to write and speak on the same topics, and was jailed in Austria wh...

http://whatstheharm.net/holocaustdenial.html#david_irving

After a suspended sentence in 1995 for inciting Anti-Semitic hatred, he fled to the U.S. and fought extradition. He was finally extradited, tried and convicted of Holocaust denial in Germany.

http://whatstheharm.net/holocaustdenial.html#germar_rudolf

He is a former schoolteacher who runs an Australian based website that denies the Holocaust. He was convicted of violating a German law regarding such claims and sentenced to prison. He was also ...

http://whatstheharm.net/internetmisinformation.html#fredrick_t%C3%B6ben

Steve was paralyzed in a pool accident, his doctors hold out little hope for recovery. He sought out a new therapy from a naturopath in Idaho. It turns out the treatment he was sold was bogus, an...

http://whatstheharm.net/naturopathy.html#steve_crowder_100_others

This French professor of literature is a Holocaust denier. This is illegal in France. He was removed from his university chair, and later tried under this law and fined €7,500.

http://whatstheharm.net/holocaustdenial.html#robert_faurisson

Her very first colonic resulted in a severe injury that resulted in her death four months later. Her death and serious injuries to four others resulted in successful prosecutions by the Texas Att...

http://whatstheharm.net/coloncleansing.html#laverne_burrell_4_others

This case report is of a woman who was diagnosed with pelvic abscesses and other complications six months after having colonic hydrotherapy. These were treated surgically and with antibiotics, an...

http://whatstheharm.net/coloncleansing.html#jane_roe_1136

Belief in magic potions and amulets is common here. This has led to grave robbing, as human skulls & bones are used as raw materials. Eight suspects were arrested on charges of grave robbing, and...

http://whatstheharm.net/magick.html#9_deceased_gabon_citizens_1135

Web sites which post instructions for mixing chemicals to commit suicide are common in Japan. A man who used this info vomited in the hospital and 23 patients and 31 staff were sickened by the fu...

http://whatstheharm.net/internetmisinformation.html#54_hospital_workers_1134

When post election violence erupted in Kenya, he abandoned his farm for a refugee camp. In the camp he was given an herbal remedy for "blood purification" and died within minutes. Two others were...

http://whatstheharm.net/herbalremedies.html#john_kimani_2_others

They drove to visit friends on Christmas. Their journey turned into an odyssey. While they were gone, the family turned to a dowser (using a map) to try to find them. The dowser failed, but they ...

http://whatstheharm.net/dowsing.html#russell_ruby_grafton

He was convicted of the murder of his 9 year old neighbor on the basis of exaggerated hair and fiber evidence. A DNA test later proved he could not have been the killer. An exhaustive inquiry lat...

http://whatstheharm.net/expertwitnesses.html#guy_paul_morin

When she was abducted, psychics and dowsers flooded the police with tips to her location. Meanwhile a credible eyewitness report of a girl struggling in a car went uninvestigated for weeks. An in...

http://whatstheharm.net/dowsing.html#christine_jessop

Belief in numerology is strong in China. This bank employee was caught taking bills with lucky serial numbers after exchanging them with other bills. Although no money was actually stolen, it was...

http://whatstheharm.net/numerology.html#lee_mukyiu_2_others

She was injected with bismuth as an "alternative" treatment for lyme disease. A year later she was dead. Another patient was injured by the same treatment.The doctor surrendered his license and w...

http://whatstheharm.net/alternativemedicine.html#beverly_a_wunder