#3016: John Hicks

John Hicks is a California-based MD who has decided, instead of practicing medicine, to dedicate “himself to the art and science of integrated holistic medicine. Using a cooperative medical, nutritional, emotional and energetic approach.” Yes, Hicks offers “holistic medicine”, including “energy medicine”. Perhaps we should let him try to explain it himself?

 

“Cutting edge quantum physics and ancient mystic traditions tell us the same thing: The universe and everything in it, including the human body, is made up of energy. Pure energy is unmanifested potential. When that energy is manifested, it takes on physical form. Our bodies, therefore, are manifested energy. Each of us has our own unique energetic vibration and energy field that is connected to the energy of the universe. Energy flows from us, through us and to us every minute of every day.”

 

Needless to say, this is not what cutting edge quantum physics tells us. It is baldfaced quantum woo, of course, and it touches on an impressive array to technobabble mainstays in just a few sentences. Oh, but Hicks isn’t done:

 

“Energy Medicine works with this energetic footprint and uses the innate wisdom of the body to shift negative energy, release blockages and restore balance and energy flow. The body always wants to heal itself. As energy medicine healers, we engage and facilitate the body’s own healing capacity. Because we believe that human beings are an energetic matrix of mind/body/spirit, energy medicine plays a role in all of our work.”

 

There are, to put it mildly, some metaphors in there that effectively insulates his choprawoo from pesky scientific testing or accountability. Indeed, this is rarefied pseudoscience.

 

Hicks also uses modalities like the raindrop technique and various fad-sensitive nutrition nonsense. Indeed, Hicks also appears to be the author of The Medicinal Power of Cannabis: Using a Natural Herb to Heal Arthritis, Nausea, Pain, and Other Ailments, which we are sure had the potential to become a commercial success and equally sure is completely bonkers. It is probably noteworthy that Hicks was a speaker at the 2014 version of the annual autism quackfest known as AutismOne together with antivaccine luminaries like Kerri Rivera and Andrew Wakefield.

 

Note that our John Hicks appears to be a different guy from John Hicks, author and cofounder of the College of Integrated Chinese Medicine (CICM) in Reading, UK, which “integrates Five Element and TCM theory and involves an integrated treatment”, and who apparently trained in Chinese herbal medicine with Ted Kaptchuk.

 

Diagnosis: Amazing bullshit, and although Hicks is genuinely an MD, he has completely gone over to the dark side – his bullshit is probably lucrative, and notice that he rarely says anything that is close enough to being meaningful that it could risk landing him in any kind of legal trouble. 

 

Hat-tip: Respectful Insolence