... of Prayer for pregnancy.
Dr Bruce Flamm, a clinical professor at the University of California, states that ‘We are concerned this study could be totally fraudulent. It is an amazing saga,’ and that, ‘IVF is a very difficult procedure. Increasing the success rate by 100 per cent would be a huge breakthrough, a revolution.'
The perpetrator of the study, which asserted that by simply praying, an infertle woman could increase her chances of pregnancy via in vitro fertlization (IVF) by up to 100%, was Daniel Wirth. The question apparently is "how someone with Wirth's background was able to persuade Columbia University Medical Center" to go public with the pseudoscience study, as well as how Wirth was able publish in the Journal of Reproductive Medicine.
The amazing thing about the study is the methodology! It's easy enough to imagine that someone gullible enough to believe in the "power of prayer" might be able to have some psychosomatic effect upon their health, but this study involved separate groups in the U.S., Canada, and Australia who were shown photographs of women in an IVF program in Korea and asked to pray for them.
The FBI revealed that Wirth assumed a series of false identities, including that of a deceased child in New York. Wirth pled guilty to defrauding a major telecommunications company and he has no medical qualifications. Wirth's degree is in law with a master's in "parapsychology" from John F. Kennedy University in California.
The study presents a classic example of the dangers of pseudoscience. Granted, these aren't simply a couple of people with half-baked ideas looking for someone on the interenet to argue it with, but the difference is financial. The fact that it lent justification to the religious biases of officials in the University and the staff at the journal may very well be the reason why it escaped peer-review. The goals of these two kooks is clear: status and money. Perhaps they even believed their wild claim(s). Religious fanatics have been faking religious experiences to support their belief systems for centuries (the Nekromonteion of Hellenic Greece, Shroud of Turin, etc.).
Pseudoscience isn't just UFO/ETI believers. It invades every discipline of science.
References:
Harris, Paul (Sunday May 30, 2004). Exposed: conman's role in prayer-power IVF 'miracle.' The Guardian Unlimited
Cha, K.; Wirth, D.; and Lobo, R. (September 2001). Does Prayer Influence the Success of in Vitro Fertilization-Embryo Transfer?: Report of a Masked, Randomized Trial. Journal of Reproductive Medicine. [article apparently retracted].
Dr Bruce Flamm, a clinical professor at the University of California, states that ‘We are concerned this study could be totally fraudulent. It is an amazing saga,’ and that, ‘IVF is a very difficult procedure. Increasing the success rate by 100 per cent would be a huge breakthrough, a revolution.'
The perpetrator of the study, which asserted that by simply praying, an infertle woman could increase her chances of pregnancy via in vitro fertlization (IVF) by up to 100%, was Daniel Wirth. The question apparently is "how someone with Wirth's background was able to persuade Columbia University Medical Center" to go public with the pseudoscience study, as well as how Wirth was able publish in the Journal of Reproductive Medicine.
The amazing thing about the study is the methodology! It's easy enough to imagine that someone gullible enough to believe in the "power of prayer" might be able to have some psychosomatic effect upon their health, but this study involved separate groups in the U.S., Canada, and Australia who were shown photographs of women in an IVF program in Korea and asked to pray for them.
The FBI revealed that Wirth assumed a series of false identities, including that of a deceased child in New York. Wirth pled guilty to defrauding a major telecommunications company and he has no medical qualifications. Wirth's degree is in law with a master's in "parapsychology" from John F. Kennedy University in California.
The study presents a classic example of the dangers of pseudoscience. Granted, these aren't simply a couple of people with half-baked ideas looking for someone on the interenet to argue it with, but the difference is financial. The fact that it lent justification to the religious biases of officials in the University and the staff at the journal may very well be the reason why it escaped peer-review. The goals of these two kooks is clear: status and money. Perhaps they even believed their wild claim(s). Religious fanatics have been faking religious experiences to support their belief systems for centuries (the Nekromonteion of Hellenic Greece, Shroud of Turin, etc.).
Pseudoscience isn't just UFO/ETI believers. It invades every discipline of science.
References:
Harris, Paul (Sunday May 30, 2004). Exposed: conman's role in prayer-power IVF 'miracle.' The Guardian Unlimited
Cha, K.; Wirth, D.; and Lobo, R. (September 2001). Does Prayer Influence the Success of in Vitro Fertilization-Embryo Transfer?: Report of a Masked, Randomized Trial. Journal of Reproductive Medicine. [article apparently retracted].