A healthy skepticism - scoliosis

A few years ago there was a lot of buzz about a "new" treatment for scoliosis. It was the Copes Brace. I saw a bunch of advertisements for this in chiropractic trade papers. I heard people talk about it glowingly at non-scientific meetings. A say "non-scientific meetings" becuase I never saw a single study or presentation at a peer-reviewed conferece. It all seemed like hype to me and as if the brace was nothing more than a new packaging of a Boston brace with a specific bit of marketing towards chiropractors. Well interestingly the "developer" just got jail time in Lousiana for insurance fraud becuase he was practicing without a license. The developer of this method did not hold any health care licenses. See:

http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/38738672.html

When my former students asked me about this method I always suggested a healthy dose of skepticism. I've found that often the bigger the hype the smaller the validity.

SMP