The Stamford, CT Naturopathy of Bastyr ND Bowman: "Effective" Homeopathy, MSA, and CST

here, I share the marketing label "safe, effective healthcare" that's employed by ND Bowman in Stamford, CT on some particularly wooful stuff:

001. first, there's the banner of Bastyr ND Bowman's pages online, which states [2015 archived]:

"safe, effective healthcare for the entire family."

so, the claim is efficacy subset 'what he does'. 

"unlike other doctors, naturopathic physicians are especially concerned with restoring optimal health and removing causes of disease rather than simply treating the symptoms of disease."

so, there's that swipe at conventional medicine, the claim that it is usually incompetent and unethical.

002. then, there's the ND's page "Services" [2015 archived], which also has that 'efficacy' banner, which states:

"craniosacral therapy: a non-invasive and painless way to manipulate the flow of cerebralspinal fluid through the spine and skull. This is often used to treat mental or emotional stress, back and neck pain, migraine headaches, TMJ Syndrome and other chronic pain disorders [...]";

yet we are told at Quackwatch's "Why Cranial Therapy Is Silly": "I believe that most practitioners of craniosacral therapy have such poor judgment that they should be delicensed."  Ouch. 

"homeopathy: first defined by Samuel Hahnemann in the 18th century, homeopathy utilizes the belief that 'like treats like.' For example, if a patient came to see a classical homeopath with a bee sting the practitioner may give the patient diluted bee venom in order to invoke a healing response from within. A similar, modern parallel could be drawn to viral vaccinations where a small piece of the original virus is used to encourage an immune response against future exposure [...]";

and we know homeopathy is completely bogus.  And the analogy with vaccination is false because homeopathy doesn't do anything. 

"allergy testing and desensitization: using the MSA machine we can painlessly determine which of thousands of possible substances one might be sensitive or even allergic to [...]";

really!  What's MSA you ask?  Well, on the page there's an embedded video titled "Meridian Stress Analysis (MSA)" which states:

"meridian stress analysis is essentially the combination of different disciplines: physics, Eastern, and Western medicine. It's based on a relationship proven in the East over thousands of years between acupuncture points and various organs in the body [...] because all matter has its own unique atomic makeup, all matter is comprised of a unique charge.  In Eastern medicine, the chi flow refers to the flow of energy via meridians.  Acupuncture points correlate strongly with a particular organ, several of which in a series make up a meridian.  The control points for these acupuncture points are often located on the hands and feet.  Connecting the MSA machine to these points makes it possible for us to read the conductance of various organs [...]";

scientifically speaking this is bullshit.  All that's being read is skin conductance, which is a function of the moisture and salinity of the skin and how hard one pushes against the skin with the probe. 

"using the MSA machine, I can often find such imbalances long before they show up in your blood work and act to prevent problems before they become more serious.  The same concept of conductivity helps me to chose from thousands of possible supplements to find the exact protocol required to return your particular weakened organs to a state of health.  It is this approach that takes the guess work out of supplements, insuring the best possible program for each unique problem and individual [...]";

sounds like some very serious diagnostic and therapeutic promises.

"the MSA has only recently obtained FDA approval in the United States [...]";

in what context?

003. is this legal?

003.a. now, at sciencebasedmedicine.org:

there's the article "Electrodermal Testing Part I: Fooling Patients with a Computerized Magic Eight Ball": "electrodermal testing makes no sense and is not supported by any credible evidence. It is not based on science or grounded in reality."

and in "Electrodermal Testing Part II: Legal and Regulatory Aspects" we're told:

"the FDA, state attorney generals, professional licensing boards, and foreign regulatory agencies have all taken action to stop electrodermal testers."

003.b. and at Quackwatch, we're told in "Quack 'Electrodiagnostic' Devices":

"the devices described in this article are used to diagnose nonexistent health problems, select inappropriate treatment, and defraud insurance companies. I believe that EAV devices should be confiscated and that practitioners who use them are either delusional, dishonest, or both. If you encounter any such device, please report it to the practitioner's state licensing board, the state attorney general, the FDA, the Federal Trade Commission, the FBI, the National Fraud Information Center, and any insurance company to which the practitioner submits claims that involve use of the device."