Edzard Ernst will be choosing his words carefully at tonight's Skeptics in the Pub meeting at the Penderel's Oak. Only two days ago, over 200 people, including MPs, comedians and TV stars, crammed into this same basement for an 'emergency meeting' to support Simon Singh - a journalist successfully sued for calling chiropractic techniques 'bogus'. The whole debate about the efficacy of complementary and alternative medicine is now conflated with arguments about the British libel system. If there's no scientific evidence for a practice such as homeopathy, can you get away with calling it nonsense? Apparently not under British law. So while tonight's talk might deal more with the effectiveness of complementary medicine, expect most of the questions to be about freedom of speech and litigation. Literally, alternative medicine on trial. The talk starts at 7pm in the basement of the Penderel's Oak, Holborn. Entrance is free.
