#1702: Richard Hansen

Dental woo is an area that we may not have covered in much detail (it’s a rich field, and there is a good resource here), but Richard Hansen is a good example of the kind of pseudoscientific crackpottery and untested and unsupported claims you may encounter in that field. Hansen, together with Andrew Yoon, operates the Laser Dental Wellness Center in Fullerton, California, where he advocates “functional dentistry”, an invention of his own defined as “an approach to dental care that recognizes the complete integration of the mouth with all the functioning systems of the human body, identifying and treating any oral stressor that may adversely affect a patient’s overall health.” Like reflexology, really. Among his unsupported claims:

• “Mercury and other chemicals used in traditional dental treatments may be very harmful and toxic to the body in general, the mouth in particular, and interfere with many bodily functions.” (Oh, yes, the amalgam scare: The claim is false, of course.)
• “The mixed metals used in fillings, crowns and bridges produce voltage and electromagnetic fields which may influence brain function and brain rhythm patterns.” A normally reasonable person should already think “hold on”, but Hansen continues with “[a] Vegatest readout showing high voltage levels from metal fillings and crowns in the mouth.” The Vegatest is a quack device without any diagnostic ability whatsoever (apart from detecting gullibility, perhaps).
• “TMJ [temporomandibular joints] issues may negatively affect body structure, alignment, muscles, and our nervous system and can influence the whole body’s well-being.” There is no evidence for such claims either. A pattern emerges.

As for his background, Hansen does have a real degree in dentistry, but “[a]fter graduation, he received training in acupuncture, eastern medicine, and nutrition.” And his efforts are certainly not limited to dental health (though he claims, of course, that dental issues are the roots of many other health issues). Presumably, his book The Key to Ultimate Health (coauthored with lawyer Ellen Brown) outlines his basic view of health issues. It’s a critique of established medical care and endorsement of worthless “alternative” theories and methods, but there is no clear key anywhere, unless it’s his claim about teeth: “Many diseases, once thought to be irreversible, may be alleviated by eliminating energy blocks. Toxins, and ‘focal infections’ arising in the mouth.” He also contributed the second (2002) edition of Alternative Medicine: The Definitive Guide (2002). Apparently he has also been on “the advisory board of Fitness and Health Magazine” and made numerous TV appearances. It’s a bit harder to assess his claim that “his work in psycho-neuroimmunology and behavioral electroencephalography has led him to help establish the Society for Advancement of Brain Analysis,” since he has, unsurprisingly, published no research in these fields. The same goes for his efforts as Director of the Advanced Health Research Institute, which is “dedicated to research and education of the root causes of illness and the dysfunction of functional systems leading to a predictable process of disease.”

For a brief description of a relatively rich history of legal and financial issues, as well as disciplinary actions, you can go here. One interesting detail: In 2000, Hansen apparently registered an unincorporated nonprofit association called the Comprehensive Health Association (CHA), and for the past years patients who wish to be treated by him or Yoon must join CHA and agree to its bylaws, which for instance state that no member can sue any member or the association without filing a grievance and going through an informal hearing, an administrative mediation, and a formal administrative hearing, all of which would be controlled by CHS’s leaders and costs $750 (though in 2014 the Dental Board of California prohibited Hansen from working for or contracting with his Comprehensive Health Association to provide sevices to California consumers).

Diagnosis: Yeah, you should probably think twice about consulting one. Hansen probably knows a bit about dentistry, but he embellishes that knowledge with apparent commitment to a wide range of unsupported and ridiculous claims and pseudoscience. He should know better.

Note: I got most of the information here from Quackwatch’s entry on Hansen, which also provides further detail.

#1701: Peter Hansen

I don’t know if it’s really worth including these ones, but Peter Hansen is apparently trying his hardest to convert the good people of Oroville, California, from science to denialism, so here you go. Hansen is “rector of St. Augustine of Canterbury Anglican Church in Chico,” and an intelligent design creationist. There really isn’t anything in his arguments for creationism (i.e. against evolution) that hasn’t been refuted a thousand times before, except perhaps for his idiotic claim that “evolution actually bolstered the racism that subjugated blacks in the same hour Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation;” we suspect that Hansen knows he is lying, but the claim is at least pretty outrageously false. He is also unhappy that “[o]ur schools teach [Darwin’s] theory as fact” (not distinguishing “Darwin’s theory” from “modern evolutionary biology”, of course) and – apparently having watched the Expelled – that “[i]nstructors across the country have lost teaching positions for even mentioning any origin except evolution.” In reality, according to Hansen, evolution is silly because random processes couldn’t have led to the (irreducible) complexity of life; it’s also atheistic, and according to Hansen thus in conflict with current scientific developments: “Many scientific disciplines are coming to the conclusion: We are made of light,” like the Bible apparently suggests. So, no: He doesn’t understand evolution, nor science. Not much surprise, really.

Diagnosis: Yes, one of literally thousands of preachers who readily rejects scientific facts they don’t understand because they perceive them as threats to their fundamentalist faith, and who subsequently try to mislead others to do the same. Nothing original about that – it’s breathtaking arrogance, really – but as mentioned before we should probably cover a few of these people to stand as examples of a very common phenomenon.

#1700: Jonathan Hansen

Jonathan Hansen, of World Ministries International, is an End Times broadcaster of the kind who sees virtually any news event as fulfilling an endtimes prophecy and who goes on Rick Wiles’s show to discuss the immanent World War III that President Obama is planning in virtue of being the Antichrist. Oh, yes. Apparently the plans were detailed to Hansen by an unnamed congressman who contacted him to reveal that only people who get to a certain part of Idaho will survive the bloodshed. Why would Obama want to do that? Because of gay rights, of course. Obama is trying to silence his critics, such as Wiles and Hansen, and the congressman who allegedly contacted Hansen “said if we don’t stop this insanity, they are going to crash the economy, it’s going to crash and there’s going to be blood flowing through America,” before giving him “this grid coordinates” to a safe location where he could escape with his family. Wiles, somewhat inadvertently, provided what seems to be all the evidence they have for Hansen’s claims: “This is so bizarre what’s happening in the world, I couldn’t make this stuff up.” Which is not very good evidence.

Hansen has been in the end time prophecy business for a while, and has even written at least one book, The Science of Judgment. Needless to say Hansen doesn’t have a very accurate grasp of what “science” could possibly involve (though he likes to call himself “Dr.”), but according to the blurb “God is predictable. There is scientific pattern for the rise and fall of nations throughout history. There are reasons and explanations why 9/11 and Katrina happened.” Of course, Hansen predicted neither, but the kind of predictions he is talking about are those that are best made after the event predicted has occurred. (The book also sports three chapters devoted to “The Deception of the Theory of Evolution”, at least, one of which is “Evolution and Racism” and another is “Darwin’s Hatred of Christianity and Its Fruit”). Here is one of his own prophecies. Predictably, it reads like the grandiose, lunatic ravings of someone who needs professional help.

Diagnosis: Abject insanity, but probably what you’d expect from someone who otherwise sees every event happening in the world as an endtime prophecy being fulfilled. You could, of course, say that Hansen doesn’t care about honesty (with that imaginary congressman and all), but we suspect Hansen is beyond the stage where the reality/imagination distinction makes sense to him anymore.

#1699: Janine & Ira Hansen (et al.)

Janine Hansen

The Independent American Party of Nevada (IAPN) is a totalitarian, theocratic party that seeks to base the laws of the land on Biblical law. IAPN is, in other words, pretty wicked and extreme, and is, in fact, an official affiliate of the overtly theocratic Constitution Party. The IAPN was founded by Daniel Hansen as part of an effort to get Alabama Governor George Wallace on the ballot in Nevada for the 1968 presidential election, and remains (of course) a fringe party; it does, however, have a membership of over 70,000, including celebrities like Cliven Bundy. Sharron Angle used to be a member in the 90s until she realized that she wouldn’t really be going anywhere careerwise by representing the IAPN and switched party affiliations (there is evidence that she didn’t much change opinions on political matters).

The IAPN’s perennial candidates for political office tend to be the family of Daniel Hansen, including his sister Janine “Cliven Bundy is my hero” Hansen, the party’s executive director, and sons Joel and Christopher. Janine Hansen is also the leader of Nevada’s Eagle Forum and the Constitutional Issues Chairman of Phyllis Schlafly’s organization, as well as the founder, publisher, and editor of the Nevada Families Voter Guides (yeah, avoid that one). The Hansens have been staunch opponents of women’s rights and marriage equality, and were behind organizing for instance the STOP ERA [Equal Rights Amendment] movement in the Western states (Daniel Hansen claimed that homosexuals are “termites of civilization [who] have brazenly oozed out of their closet to proclaim that they have a right to maim, molest and embarrass society”).

Ira Hansen

Ira Hansen, however, is, as far as I can tell, Janine Hansen’s son, but a Republicn who ostensibly does not want any part of the IAPN. He still heartily deserves coverage: Ira Hansen used to be speaker-elect of the Nevada Assembly but had to step down in 2014 following national publicity over a report on his racist and misogynistic columns in a local newspaper, which included labeling black people as “simple minded darkies”, using the word “negro” to describe Obama, and lamenting the “lack of gratitude and the deliberate ignoring of white history in relation to eliminating slavery,” which Hansen thinks “is a disgrace that Negro leaders should own up to.” He claimed, of course, that the report was an “orchestrated attack” on his character and that the quotes were 20 years old and taken out of context (which is not entirely true). Ira Hansen also wrote a letter in 2013 (on official state letterhead) claiming that homosexuality is a choice of sexual behavior like adultery, pedophilia and bestiality, and that gays “are not a ‘minority’ any more than adulterers are a minority.” Indeed, Hansen insists on claiming that gay people tend to be responsible for child molestations (gays were also somehow to blame for the Catholic priest sexual molestation scandal). Real research suggests the opposite, but Hansen rejects that research because “I’ve been keeping a rough tally on homosexual/heterosexual molesters as reported locally, and roughly half of all molestations involve homosexual men preying on boys.” Needless to say, he did not publish the list or give any details of the methodology used to determine the sexuality of the alleged molesters. He has also suggested that the Oklahoma City bombing was a conspiracy orchestrated by the Clinton administration to gain public sympathy for the government.

Diagnosis: Evil and crazy, of course, but these people have more power and influence than you might expect given the nature of their deranged bigotry. Watch out.

#1698: Judd Handler

Judd Handler is a homeopath and sometimes blogger at the Mother Nature Network, where he inadvertently reveals the abject inanity of the amazingly stupid pseudoscience of homeopathy. His rather illuminating post “What’s the difference between holistic and homeopathic medicine?” is discussed in some detail here. One thing that makes homeopathy holistic is apparently that “[h]omeopathic medicine examines the whole person. It integrates a person’s constitution, diet, emotional and mental state and stressors, among other factors – hence the term holistic.” Of course, homeopathy hardly offers any efficacious treatment, but that’s not part of what goes into being holistic. Something that distinguishes homeopathy from holistic medicine, however, is that “the homeopathic doctor would prepare a remedy in liquid or tablet form, while the holistic doctor would provide a patient with the option of a pharmaceutical drug in addition to alternative treatment.” Can’t dilute the homeopathic treatment with real medicine, can we? Moreover, whereas “[h]olistic medical doctors [sic] often encourage diagnostic testing […] in an attempt to find the underlying cause that led to the imbalance [yess; Handler reads uncannily like a 13th century text in its understanding of how the body works] homeopathic physicians treat the whole person, but generally do not suggest the use of modern diagnostic tests.” It’s telling that Handler appears to believe that he is selling homeopathy to his audience with such descriptions. He also points out that whereas “[m]ost homeopathic practitioners are practicing holistic medicine” (because they ask patients about various facets of their lives regardless of whether those are relevant or not to the condition that afflicts them),  but “consumers who buy their own homeopathic remedies aren’t necessarily doing so.” That’s right. Don’t just buy your homeopathic remedies over the counter; you need to talk to a homeopath who can assess your background story and them prescribe those remedies.

Diagnosis: The survival of nonsense as amazingly stupid as homeopathy to this day is at least a powerful warning about how the natural selection of ideas isn’t necessarily a matter of the truth or actual evidence for them. We sort of knew that already, I guess.