WIKIMEDIA, ALLYUNIONUpdate (September 29): The Los Angeles Times reported earlier this week that the website of UC Irvine Health has removed homeopathy from the description of services it offers. Both the Times and Ars Technica note that the university did not comment on the change.
Last week (September 18), the University of California, Irvine (UCI), announced that Susan and Henry Samueli had given $200 million to the university to fund a branch of the college focusing on “interdisciplinary integrative health.” The field incorporates unfounded alternative medicine practices, and critics accuse the university of letting big donors sway their scientific judgment.
According to a university release, “integrative health redefines the relationship between the practitioner and patient by focusing on the whole person and the whole community. It is informed by scientific evidence and makes use of all appropriate preventatives, therapeutic and lifestyle approaches, and healthcare professionals and disciplines to promote optimal health and wellness.”
As Inside Higher Ed reports, critics call “integrative health” a “rebranding” of a combination of ideas from ...
