This was a meeting set up at fairly short notice by SAME (La Sociedad de Acupuntura Médica de España). It was an exercise designed to get media attention on the fact that there is a lot of scientific support for the practice of acupuncture. It was successful in that it got onto the national news outlets by noon on the day of the event – Friday 18th January 2019.
In November 2018 the Spanish ministers of Health, Maria Luisa Carcedo, and Science, Pedro Duque, announced the approval of a plan for the protection of health against ‘pseudotherapies’, which could include acupuncture.
On 14th November 2018 the Guardian in the UK wrote the following:
The [Spanish] government said it wanted to eliminate alternative medicine from health centres, where all treatment must be given by recognised professionals.
It also wants to avoid alternative medicine being taught in Spanish universities by developing alliances with deans, chancellors or Spanish regional authorities to end the awarding of diplomas linked to these practices.
The issue has taken centre stage in Spain recently, with health and science professionals pressuring the health ministry to take action after several high-profile deaths.
One such case, as reported by Spain’s Association to Protect Patients against Pseudo-scientific Therapies, involved 21-year-old Mario Rodriguez, who died after stopping his hospital treatment for leukemia in favour of a supposed naturopath who said he could cure cancer with vitamins.
“Dad, I made a mistake,” his father, Julian Rodriguez, quoted him as saying on his deathbed.
a witch hunt… fuelled by the religious zealots of “Sciencism”
So here we have a clear case of individual unprofessional behaviour resulting in the launch of a witch hunt directed at the unrelated therapeutic approaches of CAM, instigated and fuelled by the religious zealots of “Sciencism”…
Well that is a short summary of the situation as I see it.
The BMAS Blog 
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