Healers under the wing of the authorities

Pseudoscience on the March
Introduction to the tutorial

Roman Barashev, Weekly 2000, No.1-2 – 2012

"2000" has repeatedly covered the situation in the "branch" of pseudoscientific medicine, thriving not only in private but also in public hospitals, finding reliable patronage in the authorities. It seems to be developing at a much faster pace than traditional healthcare.

Let me remind you only some of the plots of last year's publications, which debunked pseudoscientific scams implemented in our country by scammers dressed in white coats.

In the article "Nightingale trills of "healers", with the help of our readers, we criticized the fashionable device "Shuboshi", "cleansing energy channels", working with "cosmic vibrations" and other "subtle matters", explaining that all its "healing properties" have nothing to do with the symptoms of diseases; told how "diagnosis by phone" can result in significant financial losses (advertising of diagnostic services from the Kiev Medical Center for Men's Diseases was played by the National Radio).

In the article "Quackery approved by the Ministry of Health", they refuted the information contained in the advertisement of a medical and technological novelty - "Dutch biocips", allegedly helping to normalize blood pressure, eliminate varicose veins, swelling of the legs and get rid of blood clots, saying that "chip treatment" can lead to pre–infarction or pre-stroke conditions.

We regret to state that these and many other projects of adventurers are being implemented with the full connivance of the Ministry of Health. But is it any wonder when qualified medical workers sin by falsifying statistical information, and even in professional publications they come up with untruthful articles that allow medical scams to be implemented at the highest state level – we wrote about this in the articles "Doctors of the People" and "The Director of the Institute of Epidemiology and Infectious Diseases of the AMN is at the head of the anti-vaccination campaign". The articles were devoted to adventures successfully implemented in an atmosphere of panic among the people during the "pandemic" of swine flu. This analysis received a lot of readers' responses, but it was also ignored by both the defendants themselves, who were presented with serious well-reasoned accusations, and by structures designed to stop corrupt activities. Continues to hold the post of Director of the Institute of Epidemiology and Infectious Diseases of the National Academy of Medical Sciences, the infamous "liquidator" of the influenza laboratory (shortly before the pandemic) Victor Marievsky.

The most resonant was our debunking of the "achievements" of the self-styled genius Andrei Slyusarchuk, and, by the way, the article "Tricks of Professor "pi-asa" (in which for the first time a critical assessment of the "phenomenal abilities" of Dr. Pi was given) took second place in the number of views of the materials "2000" for 2011 in the Internet version of the newspaper. Soon many media outlets, which had recently extolled the "Ukrainian genius", saw the light, and today the pseudo-professor, accused under the articles "fraud" and "forgery of documents", is waiting for the results of a pre-trial investigation of his illegal medical activities in a pre-trial detention cell. This activity, according to the investigative journalism of the Lviv newspaper "Express", has repeatedly led to the death of patients.

Recall that last year A. Slyusarchuk was awarded the State Prize in the field of education, but for some reason the Ministry of Education and Science is in no hurry to provide us with (at our written request) the materials of those of his (and other scientists of the National University "Lviv Polytechnic") scientific developments that were so highly appreciated.

Let's wait for what the court will say now, where we are forced to file a lawsuit, faced with such disrespect for the law on access to public information by the Ministry of Education and Science.

It seems that, like pop stars, pseudo-scientific "luminaries" have their own promoters who enter the highest offices of power and have sufficient influence and the necessary capital to solve problems that allow misleading gullible citizens and leading high-ranking officials by the nose.

How many more similar schemes exist aimed at pumping money both from sick people and from the state treasury, one can only guess. I think in our country, where medical workers, doctors, professors often have to be guided by the principle "Plato is my friend, but give me money better," there are a lot of them.

Open the Internet, and you can drown in the abyss of obscurantism: pseudoscientific research, services, offers of miraculous remedies – the sea. But critical materials supported by the opinions of authoritative experts, scientific arguments, are extremely rare. And, unfortunately, the Ministry of Health, the Prosecutor General's Office, and other organizations designed to protect the rights of consumers and the health of citizens and punish fraudsters prefer not to notice these facts.

And a whole galaxy of near-scientific and near-medical virtuosos continues to operate in Ukraine. Our story about them is in the "Aspects" section of this issue. There is also an interview with the head of the AMNU commission on combating pseudoscience and falsifications of scientific research, Isaac Trachtenberg.

(If you want to read the articles mentioned above, links to them are given in the original text – VM.)The Kursk submarine.

Blame the starsI found an interesting example of educational work directed against pseudoscientific outrage in the Russian segment of the Internet, and I believe that something like this simply needs to be implemented based on the rich Ukrainian experience.

This is the site of Fricopedia, it contains information that makes it possible to get general information about certain pseudoscientific directions, trace their history and the main stages of development. In addition, the Fricopedia is a reference book on pseudoscientists, astrologers, psychics, charlatans, which is constantly being updated.

There are many interesting facts presented here – it is quite possible to publish a textbook. Just one example that shows how powerful pseudoscience is today.

Russian professor A.N. Sinyakov invented a way to anticipate all "accidents" – from earthquakes to heart attacks. He announced that all of them are 90% due to external causes, namely: local geophysical resonance, which is formed due to the excitation of the vacuum by the movement of the planets. His system was completely reduced to astrological, that is, he used exclusively the visible movement of the planets to predict which place on Earth and at what moment could become deadly. For example, it would be enough for the Kursk submarine not to be in a particular place at a particular moment so that an accident would not happen.

To verify these data, a special commission was even organized, which included 90% of the military and several specialists from academic institutions, but the latter's statement that all this is devoid of the slightest foundation and represents obvious pseudoscientific nonsense, but using the terminology of the leading edge of science – high energy physics, without any understanding of it, without any content of the words used in this case... it was ignored. The Commission came to the conclusion that it is necessary to allocate money for further research of Sinyakov's remarkable predictions.

Collage "2000"

Well-known figures of the Ukrainian audience Grigory Grabovoi, Alan Chumak, Anatoly Kashpirovsky, Gennady Malakhov, Pavel Globa, etc. also got into the Fricopedia.

Our "legendary" countryman Viktor Petrik is also included here. The story of this inventor's research is developing in the Russian Federation no less scandalously than with Slyusarchuk in Ukraine, with only one significant difference, that Slyusarchuk is in prison, and Petrik is hoeing the Ukrainian space for equipping schools and hospitals with his exceptional water filters.

Don't try to understand anything! It is unrealistic to understand!Viktor Petrik was born in the Zhytomyr region, conducted mass hypnosis sessions, in 1984 was convicted under 13 articles of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR (fraud, attempted robbery, extortion, coercion to give false testimony, etc.), author of a number of controversial (non-academic) studies.

He claimed that he allegedly discovered a formula for a win-win game in a casino, then invented nanoaccumulators for cars, then a method of driving vehicles that does not require energy sources, designed an underground "pyramid of Cheops", from which rays emanate that prolong human life up to 140 years.

He heads the holding "Golden Formula". He became widely known during the "Petrikgate".

It all started in 2008, when a letter from Russian academician, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences Evgeny Alexandrov was published on the Internet with unflattering reviews of Petrik's activities. Soon, anonymous messages containing threats began to arrive on Alexandrov's answering machine:

"You are in an incredibly difficult situation, which is why all your weak mental abilities will be needed. You think you are very smart, but now you have climbed to a very high level. You are in an extremely difficult situation. I don't care what happens to you, but you are setting up, very seriously setting up other scientists from the Russian Academy of Sciences. And you still have the opportunity to call back, meet and make a decision..."

According to Alexandrov, the voice on the answering machine belonged to Petrik.

The same voice reported that he knew "20 ways of physical destruction without a trace." Alexandrov turned to the Russian Academy of Sciences for help. With the assistance of the President of the Russian Academy of Sciences Yuri Osipov, a meeting was organized between Alexandrov and an employee of the central office of the FSB. The FSB informed Alexandrov that "they cannot pursue this man for some reason, and advised him to leave the city just in case."

Alexandrov left, returned after a while. In March 2010, he reported that he "still doesn't feel safe." According to Alexandrov, "they want to close the commission on pseudoscience, and maybe even the academy, because the commission prevents "sawing" money to specific people... prevents rivers and cash flows from turning."

In the same year, it became known that Petrik's research was supported by the United Russia party, the Golden Formula became the winner of the EP party competition under the Clean Water program. It turns out that V. Petrik and Chairman of the State Duma B. Gryzlov have a joint patent "A method for cleaning radioactive waste".

After a visit to Petrik's laboratory by a delegation of the Russian Academy of Sciences on June 18, 2009, videos appeared on the website of the "Golden Formula" with academicians praising this inventor, and they caused a heated discussion on the Internet, other members of the Russian Academy of Sciences called these videos custom-made.

On October 21, 2009, Rossiyskaya Gazeta published an interview with the Chairman of the Commission on Combating Pseudoscience and Falsification of Scientific Research, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences E. Kruglyakov, where he mentioned that colleagues from Chelyabinsk sent a conclusion from which it follows that Petrik in the field of radioactive water purification gives wishful thinking, and in fact the technology does not exist. On November 12, 2009, the newspaper "Science in Siberia" published a large article by the academician entitled "The Fuss around Science", where Petrik's claims were analyzed in detail and noted:

"Any physicist who has overcome the revelations of the "genius of the XXI century" will immediately say that we are witnessing here a mixture of unfounded megalomania with depressing ignorance... By the way, in the history of the State Duma since tsarist times, this is the first time when the chairman of the parliament, burdened with many important state duties, still found time to issue a complex technological patent."

And on January 28, 2010, B. Gryzlov said that Russian science, represented by its main representative, the Russian Academy of Sciences, has no right to judge "what is pseudoscience and what is not" (at meetings of the Commission on Combating Pseudoscience of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the results of V. Petrik's research were discussed more than once, the resolutions noted that "the lack of a clear and coordinated position of the Academy on the "Petrik case" causes very serious and increasing damage to the authority of the Academy", "the Academy's leadership must urgently take measures to return the position of the country's chief scientific expert to the Academy").

On February 8, 2010, in an interview with the magazine "Results", Petrik accused the Commission on Combating Pseudoscience of unprecedented rudeness, rudeness and incompetence, and its chairman, Academician Kruglyakov, of "extremely limited scientific erudition."

He stated: "I have no doubt that the dirty history of the pseudoscience commission would have ended sooner or later without me. The only question is how many more human destinies would have been distorted, how many more talented scientists would have left Russia. The time has come to stop this disgrace: my case will be the last page in the activities of this commission!"

On April 21 , 2010 , the Russian Academy of Sciences published the conclusion of the commission for the examination of V. Petrika, in which she noted that "the activity of Mr. V. I. Petrik lies not in the field of science, but in the field of business and invention."

On May 25, 2010, at a personal press conference, Petrik accused the members of the Russian Academy of Sciences, who doubted his inventions, of doing it for a reward promised by US representatives.

On July 7, 2010, the consumer protection Society "Public Control" filed a lawsuit against the holding company "Golden Formula", in which it demands to prohibit the production and sale of its water filters on the territory of the Russian Federation. The lawsuit was filed on the basis of the results of an independent examination conducted by the Analytical Center for Water Quality Control of ROSA CJSC and showed that when filtering natural water and water contaminated with some metals, the filter resource turned out to be more than ten times lower than indicated by the manufacturer, and water purification from active chlorine and typical organic pollutants, contrary to advertising, did not it's happening.

In addition, the filter used for some time to purify contaminated water makes the clean water passed through it unusable. The trial continues.

The fact that the filters do not meet the requirements for microbiology was said more than two years ago by experts of SUE Vodokanal of St. Petersburg and the A. N. Sysin Research Institute of Human Ecology and the Environment. In their conclusion, it is said that filters based on HSR not only do not completely purify tap water from microorganisms, but also add new undesirable microflora to it. However, Petrik demonstrates the exact opposite to all such conclusions.

Meanwhile, Golden Formula has developed the Clean Water of Ukraine program, and the SES of Ukraine has issued the result of the examination that these filters can be installed in kindergartens and schools, and, according to official distributors, they have already been installed in some hospitals and schools in Kiev, Odessa, Bila Tserkva...

Statements by Ukrainian experts that there are no promised antioxidants in these filters, that they cannot purify water from heavy metals, etc., seem to be "filtered out" by suppliers.

However, this is a topic for a separate investigation. Here we have touched upon it only to give another example of the power of "depressing ignorance", which is ready to sweep away in its path everyone (up to official academic structures) who dares to debunk pseudoscientific projects.

And who knows if doctors and scientists have enough decency, strength and means to resist the "chemists" of the XXI century, or before we know it, the "slyusarchuk" will head the institutes of the brain, liver and lungs, and the academies will applaud the performances of "petriks". For example, such:

"What did I do? A generator that is powered from the mains. The losses are quite small. It forms... a certain wave... which is built around any desired object that you have specified... Imagine, there is a long fishing line under the asphalt. The wave self-organizes and self-consolidates around a given object. Standing wave. Don't try to understand anything! To understand is not real! And as soon as you attract knowledge, there will be a misfire... nothing will work out!"

"The Science of virginity"Collage "2000" (Peter Brueghel Sr.'s painting "The Blind" was used)

A misfire is certainly an unpleasant thing, especially in the intimate sphere. If even here "nothing will work out" – just "write it is gone."

Therefore, in another of our last year's articles – "Autograph of the first sperm" – we interviewed with special attention the famous Professor Fedor Dakhno, who heads the Institute of Reproductive Medicine and claims the 2011 State Prize in Science and Technology for the work "Assisted reproductive technologies for infertility treatment", and were very intrigued by his fascination with such a pseudoscientific direction as telegony.

"The first sexual contact leaves a trace in the system of genetic inheritance of a woman for life," the respected physician explained. – At the same time, there is a two-way energy-informational exchange of partners at the DNA wave level. In the future, both of them will carry "someone else's" DNA information, which they will pass on to future offspring along with their genes and the genes of their parents. Sometimes the wave program of the first partner can completely reformat the hereditary material of the physical (genetic) father."

Telegony (from ancient Greek. it can be translated as "born far away") refers to pseudoscientific concepts. It was especially widespread at the turn of the XIX–XX centuries among breeders. The myth of telegony contradicts modern knowledge about genetics and reproduction. But, of course, he is close in spirit to radical nationalists (to justify racist and chauvinistic actions from the standpoint of social Darwinism), and some Orthodox theologians use the idea of telegony as a "scientific argument" in favor of chastity.

Recently, the topic of telegony, which has been dubbed the "science of virginity", has become the subject of widespread discussion among Orthodox believers.

"There is no doubt that the conversation about chastity is very relevant, especially given today's realities, when the freedom of morals has exceeded all imaginable limits, and fornication and adultery have become recognized almost as the norm of human relations. And yet the question arises: can any argument be used? Is it permissible to base the education of Christian morality on unverified (read: unreliable) scientific facts?" one of the Orthodox forums asks.

And we, in turn, will recall the words of the Nobel Prize laureate, the famous physicist Lev Landau, which have become an aphorism, that "the superstition of an intellectual is a thousand times more disgusting than the superstition of an ignorant grandmother," adding that it is not good for a scientist to inflate pseudoscientific fever at all.

"Only one reasonable explanation: corruption"But scientists inflate, and how they inflate!

Back in 2003, in the article "Electromagnetic fears: real and imaginary", we criticized the research of domestic "specialists" concerning the so-called bioenergetic or torsion fields (the existence of which is denied by traditional scientific thought), and also pointed out that widely distributed products on the market (they were equipped with computers installed in Ukrainian schools), allegedly diverting the "torsion threat" emanating from mobile phones, computers and household appliances are pseudoscientific fakes that have nothing to do with technological developments capable of reducing electromagnetic radiation.

Corresponding member of the NASU Sergey Ryabchenko explained in "2000" that the "inventors" of these "lotions" ("Outposts" and "Spinors"), taking advantage of the lack of enlightenment of the people, moreover, artificially planting it, simply "shoe" simpletons, like other "chumaks", "information doctors", "healers of Irina", and these devices act as a "charging" generator... psychics.

But have there been any changes since the publication of this article? Has the conclusion of a professional scientific examination been given that allows us to speak out against this adventure on the same broad front as in the case of Slyusarchuk? Have those who supplied useless generators to schools for budget money been called to account? No, these products are still bought by gullible simpletons, a quite solid website has been developed for their implementation spinor.kiev.ua , most of the information on which is near–scientific nonsense aimed at clogging the brains in order to implement devices that "protect against radiation".

It is curious that the work on the mythical torsion lines of communication has been funded for a long time by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and, possibly, is still being funded (it is difficult to establish: such work is carried out in secret).

"But the fact itself," writes Academician Eduard Kruglyakov, chairman of the commission of the Russian Academy of Sciences on combating pseudoscience, "that for almost 10 years closed work has been carried out on the fifth type of interaction unknown to world science, which only a small handful of initiates know about, looks ridiculous and can have only one reasonable explanation: corruption.

We have a lot of hunters to profit at the state expense. And until the state decides to restore order with the scientific expertise of projects, we will only watch from the sidelines as budget funds flow into the pockets of near-scientific cheaters and their patrons."
The more fantasies, the more buyers

It's no secret that popular people who do not disdain such a kind of part-time work as unfair advertising are involved in cheating games.

During the year on the Ukrainian radio we heard the voice of the popular TV presenter Yuri Nikolaev, who told how with the help of a remedy called "Shilentin" he was cured of a serious illness. Advertising of this dubious drug, which supposedly cures cancer, with a portrait of Nikolaev was also published in a free newspaper distributed in the metropolitan metro, and in other publications.

However, Nikolaev himself told a different version of the cure: he was saved by an operation performed at the cancer center on Kashirka. I wonder if the TV presenter himself wondered how many people who believed in the healing power of an incomprehensible medicine suffered without contacting professional oncologists in time?

Another widely promoted product in Ukraine is the golden pyramid of Yu Shinse. What kind of tall tales are not written about her! That ordinary people lived for about 30 years, and the pharaohs – 70, because they were under the influence of the pyramids. That people who will regularly use the golden pyramid from childhood will be able to live up to 150 years, and this is not the limit.

Collage "2000"

That this miracle pyramid significantly strengthens the immune system, blocks malignant processes in the body, has a powerful anti-stress effect, neutralizes electromagnetic radiation. The calculation is obvious – the more fantasies, the greater the reach of buyers: "the pyramid improves baby food, neutralizes harmful additives in products, meat placed in the pyramid is completely cleared of antibiotics, and vegetables and fruits – from pesticides and herbicides."

And the version about the healing effect of pyramids is very funny and was published in the journal "Science and Life" back in 1985. Once the famous American popularizer of science Martin Gardner placed a parody of a "sensational" pseudoscientific article in a scientific journal. He chose "the mysterious forces of the pyramid" as the theme.

The article claimed that the pyramid-shaped cap slows down the aging of the person wearing it, increases the value of the food products placed under it and returns the sharpness to old razor blades. A number of other, unusual and mysterious, fictional properties of the pyramid were advertised from beginning to end. After the article was published, M. Gardner received a call from the owner of a publishing house specializing in the production of cheap books describing near-scientific sensations, and offered a contract for the publication of a book about the wonders of the pyramid.

But the writer explained that the article was just an invention, a joke. The publisher was not discouraged by this. "So much the better," he said. – You will first publish one book with me – about the mysterious forces of the pyramid, and then the second – with a revealing criticism of this pseudoscientific theory!"

"I give the installation. Kneel in front of Slyusarchuk"Here is another example of using a well-known name in order to implement pseudoscientific scams.

These quotes from Andrei Slyusarchuk's public congratulations on his birthday look funny today:

"Dear Andrey Tikhonovich! Happy birthday to you!
...You are a scientist and you are most concerned about the practical implementation of these ideas. One of them is the strengthening or weakening of memory. And in other cases, even erasing it in the specified directions. For example, erasing the memory of cravings for drugs, smoking, alcoholism, overeating. An amazing insight has come to you long ago that all this can be practically implemented and created according to your methodology drugs of the strongest action capable of relieving thousands and thousands of people from severe, harmful, hard-to-treat addictions.
...Who is Andrey Slyusarchuk really? He is the rarest unique, the darling of Nature, to whom she, having been infinitely generous, gave an extraordinary memory. This memory allows him to easily remember huge amounts of information. He has accumulated especially a lot of it in the field of medicine. There is no diagnostician equal to him in the world. When he comes to the bedside of a patient, then in fact he does not come alone. There are thousands of medical books, encyclopedias, manuals, dissertations in his head that he knows by heart. Therefore, it is an unimaginable walking council in its composition, consisting of several thousand specialists of the highest class in a wide variety of areas of medicine.
He never makes a mistake in making a diagnosis. For that would just be a paradox.
The time will come, and not only Ukraine, but the whole world will be proud of him. But in the highest degree it would also be fair for him to be provided with a large apartment with a huge library, computers, and communication facilities in addition to the Brain Institute. And all this is not for dancing or parties, but for work. And he must also have a personal driver, assistants, and security attached by the state. And you, gentlemen, chess players and non-chess players, kneel before him. And be silent.
A. Kashpirovsky 09.05".

These words were published on the official website of the famous psychologist-healer and soon after the beginning of the "Slyusarchukgate" were deleted, but the cache of the Yandex search engine still remembers them, it is worth typing the surnames of Kashpirovsky and Slyusarchuk.

By the way, we remind you that Anatoly Mikhailovich is also our countryman. In 1962 he graduated from the Vinnytsia Medical Institute, worked for 25 years as a "psychotherapist" in the Vinnytsia Psychiatric Hospital named after him. Academician Yushchenko, in 1987 – a psychotherapist of the USSR national weightlifting team, and in 1989 his name thundered throughout the Soviet Union thanks to several sessions of "hypnosis" on television.

In February 2009, the media reported that Kashpirovsky was going to host a talk show on the NTV channel. On this occasion, the director of the State Scientific Center for Social and Forensic Psychiatry named after Serbian Tatiana Dmitrieva said that his sessions can harm the health of viewers. In 2006, an outstanding hypnotist was brought to administrative responsibility for illegal healing, packages with "charged" salt were seized from him on tour in Chelyabinsk, which was not sold for pennies.

Meanwhile, Kashpirovsky's website reports that he "carried out an unprecedented in scale cure of about 10 million people (!) – in just 6 hours of television broadcast. (No one has ever made such a fantastic gift to humanity.)"And there is as much trust in this information as there is in the millions of signs of the number "pi" from Slyusarchuk. But more than ever, I believe in the existence of pseudoscience promoters and organized international near-scientific business.

"Malakhov is missing! Where is he? What will happen to us?"Speaking about the pseudoscientific television space, it is impossible not to mention the Russian-made program, which until recently was broadcast to the Ukrainian audience by Inter and hosted by the folk healer Gennady Malakhov.

Now he does not appear on the big screen, runs his own web channel, sells health-improving drugs via the Internet and publishes the newspaper "Malakhov Pro". He explained his unexpected disappearance from Channel One by saying that he was just tired of the frenzied rhythm of filming in Moscow. Although who knows – maybe Malakhov's health was undermined by urine therapy, the healing power of which he so fervently preached, or by excessive use of kerosene?

There are other versions. The famous Russian science fiction writer and poet Leonid Kaganov composed an "Ode of Concern for Gennady Malakhov" on this occasion, where the following questions are posed:

«...Or maybe he ate the wrong mushrooms? Shit and onions? Or maybe he has love? Longing, separation? Hung in a noose among the aspens like a flying bird? Or maybe he drank kerosene and struck a match?
Or maybe horsetail and celandine rubbing into the shoulders, he wanted to bring out the stones, but brought out the liver? Or maybe, breathing deeply with a decoction of oak, he sneezed – and the soul escaped through his mouth and teeth?
The press is crying, groaning everywhere, people are sick. Malakhov is missing! Where is he? What will happen to us?"

But, seriously speaking, really, what will happen to us if all this bacchanalia continues to gain momentum? Moreover, the rational explanation for this barbarism is not only the continuing decline in the level of science and education in Ukraine, but also, of course, the growing corruption that is interconnected with this process, entangling scientific, medical and journalistic circles.

Oh, it is not by chance that Petrik conjured (I will remind his words):

"Don't try to understand anything! To understand is not real! And as soon as you attract knowledge, there will be a misfire... nothing will work out!"

But if we do not try to understand, we will all have to kneel before them, as A. Kashpirovsky urged.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru
17.01.2012