Committee for Skeptical Inquiry

[SkeptInq@aol.com]

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 CONTACT: Kevin Christopher
 Phone: (716) 837-3123
 E-mail: SIKevinC@aol.com

 One step forward, two steps back:
 Dr. Scholl's Magna-Energy™ Insoles

 May 16, 2000

 General Motors has not yet made a car powered by a perpetual motion machine.
And your local electric utility is not yet promoting Dennis Lee's source of
"free electricity." But you may not have to wait too much longer: Dr.
Scholl's now sells insoles "combining magnet therapy with performance proven
comfort technology."

 Magnet therapy may be a good marketing tool, but it is bad science, which
may explain why Dr. Scholl's carefully avoids any claim that the magnets in
these new insoles offer any benefit. "Of course, new insoles make feet feel
better with or without magnets," says Benjamin Radford, managing editor of Ske
ptical Inquirer magazine. "But this will likely lead many consumers to think:
'I used the magnetic insoles, and my feet felt better, therefore the magnets
worked."

 Noting that the Dr.Scholl's Web site (www.drscholls.com) links to the
American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA) site, Radford contacted the
APMA by e-mail to ask whether they had any scientific proof that magnet
therapy has any therapeutic value. APMA's reply was that they had "no
position regarding the use of magnetic insoles."

 Magnet therapy has enjoyed wide popularity in recent years, and companies
like Meridian Magnetics International in Grass Valley, California produce
glossy brochures filled with magnet therapy products ranging from magnetic
contour cushions for the back to magnetic jewelry to magnetic brushes
designed to "stimulate the head and hair." These brochures tout magnets as
effective pain relief for many people, but are careful not to make direct
claims as to just how these products work to reduce pain.

 Scientists, however, have yet to find consistent evidence that magnet
therapy has any sort of therapeutic effect. On March 8, 2000 the Journal of
the American Medical Association (JAMA) published a study where 20 back-pain
patients wore either a belt loaded with magnetic material or a demagnetized
"placebo" belt. Belts were switched after a week. Neither the magnetized nor
the placebo belts provided any pain relief or improved range of motion.

 A "News and Comment " piece by Benjamin Radford on Dr. Scholl's
Magna-Energy™ Insoles will appear in the July/August 2000 issue of Skeptical
Inquirer.

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 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 CONTACT: Kevin Christopher
 Phone: (716) 837-3123
 E-mail: SIKevinC@aol.com

 Dr. Paul Kurtz' June 2000 Speaking Schedule

 May 16, 2000

 Dr. Paul Kurtz, chairman and founder of the Committee for the Scientific
Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), and professor emeritus of
philosophy, State University of New York at Buffalo, has two speaking
engagements at skeptics organizations in Europe in June 2000.

 On June 8, Kurtz will be travelling to Brussels, Belgium, to give a talk
entitled "The Future of Skepticism and the Skeptical Movement" at the 10th
Anniversary Meeting of Belgian Skeptics, sponsored by the Belgian skeptical
organization SKEPP.

 From June 13 to June 18 Kurtz will be attending a skeptics conference in
Russia where he will deliver a talk entitled "Skepticism and Critical
Thinking." The conference is being cosponsored by the Russian Humanist
Society, the journal "Commonsense," and the Center for Inquiry International
in St. Petersburg.

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