ADDENDUM::Milka yet again

While I have spent a lot of verbiage on Monika Milka of Monika's Entity, in the long run it has been worth it.  Some of the information is repeated but it is fragmented hence the following 2 posts.  It is both organizational (for me) as well as my response to her recent word salad concerning a friends video.  I also want to address possible mis-information on my part and where I think clarification is needed.  It is that point that make this unsuitable for a YT response.

[As a side note, I have to thank Ms. Milka, as she has provided the fodder for getting me out of my writing funk caused by my strokes.  I do say this with all seriousness, combating her illogical ideology has gotten my brain to think like it once use to.]

As I mentioned in a recent posting, Monika's Ghost has been, willingly, sucked into Milka's web.  She recently made this video and low and behold, guess who showed up in the comments.


I'm not going to get into the details of ME's response as Monika's Ghost explores that here.  What is important is her response and specifically my replies.

A bit of tidiness before we begin to clarify a few points,,,
1]  Not once does Ms Milka address the concerns raised by MG with counter "evidence" .  Her rants are usually vitriolic, ad homs, and conspiracy laden diatribes that ignore the issue(s) at hand.  Not only is it evident here but all through her various responses and comments on the web.

Had you not been so vengeful and vitriolic in your response to the SciBabe, you would have never come on to my radar.  You would have remained in homeopathic obscurity.  But being a bit of a science nerd, word got out and I began to follow your antics.  Although not carrying the popularity of a Sherry Tenpenny, Food Babe, or a David Wolfe, watch you I did.

2]  As to whether her criminal case was dismissed or never presented for prosecution I am still attempting to determine.  As both myself and Monika's Ghost have noted, while the issue is important as background to the whole debacle, it is current activities, as a whole, that are pertinent.  Milka seems to ignore that she was held accountable in regards to 14 victims.  So yes, what transpired between 2008-2012 (actually 2005) is very important and relevant to current happenings.

IMO it is a character issue.  You would think when one gets spanked as Milka did, she would have learned from the experience.  I am not talking beliefs or ideology but actions; she fucked up, admit it and go on.  But, herein lays the problem with homeopathy, it is a field rife with conflicting beliefs making it a bane of SBM.  It is a field laden with ridicule, as well it should be.  Homeopathy can not be defended, leaving practitioners dazed and confused.

3] It was 14 individuals who filed civil claims against Milka.  All fourteen won settlement as reported here.

But people cannot be prosecuted for stating a scientifically unproven belief. "It's a little like trying to regulate religion, in a sense," says Adelaide-based lawyer Mal Byrne.

"Part of the difficulty is, how do you regulate something that's so vague?"

Byrne would know. Fourteen of his clients sued South Australian homeopath Monika Milka three years ago for allegedly infecting them with bacteria and permanently scarring them after she treated them with "biomesotherapy". This involved injecting saline solution and other substances under their skin. One client opted for the treatment to remedy arthritic pain. Others did so to boost a "general feeling of wellness". What they got instead were shame and isolation.

"You know, they were embarrassed," says Byrne. "A lot of them had to cover [their scarred skin]." Some clients needed antibiotics for years to eradicate the infection and were afraid to touch their children in case they infected them.

Milka denied the claims in court through her lawyer. She later settled with all 14 out of court but continues to work as a homeopath. In October, she published a claim on her Facebook page that her "Wellness Tonic" rid her late mother of cancer after chemotherapy failed to do so. This, says Byrne, is a "flagrant breach" of both the South Australian Code of Conduct for Unregistered Health Practitioners and laws regarding misleading and deceptive business conduct. (Authorities are now reviewing her Facebook page.)

So how can we determine which alternative health treatment – and practitioner – is safe and which isn't, particularly when some alternative health treatments that sound wacky have solid scientific backing?

4] While there is one report stating it was the solution the was contaminated with the mycobacterial infection,

Milka contends that it was the tools. 

As I stated, it matters not whether tools or solution, something became contaminated, Milka has a "duty of care" and that was not carried forth. 

5]  As to questionable actions, we have the following examples.  First, giving of contrary medical advice.  While not "illegal" in the manner she presents, she is advising people to disregard a licensed medical doctor's advice:

Second, it was reported that Milka was soliciting money (by posting her own bank details on her Facebook page) to further a cure for cancer via homeopathy,

what remains of that posting is this:

See below for further diatribes concerning fundraising efforts concerning cancer research.

https://www.facebook.com/monikasentity/posts/1248703868479169

 

https://www.facebook.com/monikasentity/posts/1249490621733827

These are but a few examples, a gander at Milka's various timelines is very revealing.

With that out of the way, here is my first response,,,

Ms Milka, owner of Monika's Entity.  Your former case is well documented in the SA media through various means. Although the SA gov't didn't pursue their case against you for reasons unknown [to me], you did settle with at least 5 plaintiffs.  Regardless of how your instrumentation became contaminated you, as the sole proprietor are ultimately responsible for any harm done to your clients.  Whether they chose to remain your client is besides the point. (See above for clarification)

Point of clarification that needs to be addressed:
What I should have noted and failed to do so, this area of concern falls under "duty of care"; a point she harps on concerning "allopathic" medicine.  As I  have stated, I am unfamiliar with AU law but here in the US,  proof of "duty of care" is necessary to claim negligence. 

Now being that Ms. Milka claimed registration/accreditation, I first searched for evidence of (former and current) membership in Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency or Australian Homeopathic Association; two organizations I am familiar with.  I would expect that she would follow their guidelines which simply states, "Practitioners have a duty to make the care of patients or clients their first concern and to practise safely and effectively." 

What I did find is this, and this is important, as it does address her contention that she was accredited:

While it does show accreditation, there is no time-stamp as to the time period covered.  In other words, was Ms Milka accredited at the time of the biomesotherapy incidents?  The fact that she is included in the 30th Report Bogus of Unregistered Deregistered Health Practitioners (2009) draws question to that issue as she was (in my  layman's opinion) clearly in violation of the ATMS code of conduct, "ATMS members are accountable for their clinical decision making and have moral and legal obligations for the provision of safe and competent practice."
 
For clarification purpose, the following was sent to ATMS, although I do not expect a reply:

Greetings and thank you for your time,,,
I am currently putting together a series concerning Ms Milka.  During the course of the debate, questions concerning her accreditation has arisen.  While she claims to have been accredited by your organization "until June 2015" could you please clarify length of time this covers and is it contingent on yearly dues being paid?  In other words was she a dues paying, accredited member during the time she faced her legal woes concerning the biomisotherapy debacle (approx. 2008-2012)?

Also can you confirm, is she is still an accredited member of your organization?  The membership ID in question is 26619.

Again I thank you for your time in this matter

Upon further searching, I also found this, which covers 2011-2012:

Remember, the biomesotherapy debacle came to the fore in 2008, with civil settlement in 2012.  Only for one year during her troubles, is there "available" evidence (and I use that term lightly as I am based in the states) that Milka was accredited (besides 2015).  It is that point I would like for Ms. Milka to offer clarification and evidence for.

Sources used:

• http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/stop-order-on-alternative-treatment/story-e6frea83-1111116751032
• http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3468743/Homeopath-Monika-Milka-Monika-s-Entity-asked-donations-instead-cancer-charities.html
• https://www.facebook.com/destroyedbyscience/photos/ms.c.eJw9zckRgFAIA9COHBL2~;hsTv8r1kRCEWqEbIm0pdeEBCkSNJeQPPInITageiHjBsmIADf1gjg~_kLyQjvbQXzix21mW~_Gl3YC~;mC~;zDpqUTxBrcwJY0~-.bps.a.1630580090518690.1073741830.1619605801616119/1634819910094708/?type=3&theater
• http://immaletyoufinish.blogspot.com.es/2012/05/menacing-monika-milka.html
• https://twentyfirstfloormirror.wordpress.com/2011/09/15/skeptic-news-injected-with-a-poison/
• http://www.hcscc.sa.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/HCSCC-Public-Statement-Regarding-Monika-Milka-26Feb2016.pdf [this is the 2016 HCSCC statement concerning Milka]
• http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/bogus-healthcare-providers-named/story-e6freo8c-1225736488739
• https://www.scribd.com/document/45659688/30th-Report-Bogus-Unregistered-Deregistered-HealthPract-1  [Monika's bs starts on page 42 of document]
• https://www.danbuzzard.net/journal/introducing-dangerous-fraud-monika-milka.htm

Contrary to your belief a "boil" is not simple and can become a systemic infection causing death.  As with any treatment, there is risk involved.  With SBM at least that decision is a well informed one based on science and scientific protocol and not some fairy magic that is counter all known laws of chemistry and physics. "We speak of evidence, experimentation, and what the evidence shows. All conclusions are provisional, subject to revision as new evidence comes in."

These were not simple "boils",

Byrne would know. Fourteen of his clients sued South Australian homeopath Monika Milka three years ago for allegedly infecting them with bacteria and permanently scarring them after she treated them with "biomesotherapy". This involved injecting saline solution and other substances under their skin. One client opted for the treatment to remedy arthritic pain. Others did so to boost a "general feeling of wellness". What they got instead were shame and isolation.

"You know, they were embarrassed," says Byrne. "A lot of them had to cover [their scarred skin]." Some clients needed antibiotics for years to eradicate the infection and were afraid to touch their children in case they infected them.

From Losing in the Lucky Country,

Not long after this in June 2008, S.A. Health issued a Mesotherapy Alert. It included reports on six people who had attended Monika’s Entity suffering “multiple symmetrical skin abscesses on their calves, buttocks, thighs, abdomen, shoulders, face and neck”. Today it appears up to 14 people were seriously effected by this madness.

One had developed a notoriously difficult to treat mycobacterial abscess. Translation? Monika was almost certainly injecting her customers with tap water, the most common source of mycobacterium. Either that or sewerage contaminants.

Relegating your belief in homeopathy to some special science and metaphysical mumbo jumbo places it in the same league of religion.  A belief with no evidence.

We live in a world of cause an effect, a world we measure with our five senses.  By claiming that homeopathy "works" in ways that science cannot measure, it automatically becomes an argument of metaphysical woo-woo (or the paranormal if you would like).  It is why I relegate homeopathy as equivalent to religion as one assigns supernatural characteristics to the "remedy".  The issue, these supernatural characteristics of the remedy interact with the physical world (our bodies) but yet the claim is made they work but in mysterious ways.  Science cannot measure the how.

While the discussion this is taken from concerns the existence of God, it highlights quite well the comparative analogy I use.  [Taken from private notes wording altered to fit our discussion.]

If we know of the reaction, and can measure it in some way, then we must also - by default - be able to assess and measure the causative action. If we can't measure what we think is the causative action (i.e., homeopathy), then either our thinking is wrong, or our methods (science) are wrong. Since our methods (science) otherwise lead us to viable, concrete conclusions, then it must be our thinking that is wrong (homeopathy works; its a form of god-of-the-gaps).

Very simply, we are left with this, 

1.)   Supernature (the homeopathic remedy) can have an effect (treatment or cure) on Nature (our bodies), or

2.)   the homeopathic remedy (relying on the supernatural) does not work or exist.

Although not an apparent issue concerning Milka, a point Orac alludes to is important to keep in mind.

Over the years, I’ve often likened non-science-based medical belief systems to religion. It’s not a hard argument to make. Religion involves believing in things that can’t be proven scientifically; indeed, religion makes a virtue out of ignoring the evidence and accepting various beliefs on faith alone. Similarly, alternative medicine frequently tells you that you have to believe in the therapy, dedicate yourself completely to it, in order for it to work. Of course, as I’ve also mentioned before, it is that insistence on belief and total commitment shared by religion and alternative medicine that provides quacks with an “out” when their treatments don’t yield the promised results, their frequent excuse being to blame the patient. He didn’t believe hard enough. In a reverse of The Secret, which states that you can bring good things to yourself by simply wanting it, in alt-med world, it’s all too often implied (or even more than implied) that you bring calamities on yourself through bad diet, bad lifestyle, and bad thoughts. After all, what is the German New Medicine, other than the claim that cancerous tumors are not the disease, but rather a manifestation of buried emotional traumas that cause the “protective” mechanism of a tumor to result?

As to recent concern for your actions,,,

While past disagreements may be resolved, you are still under the watchful eye of HCSCC per a February 2016 statement.  If this order has been rescinded please provide a copy preferable in the same format as the one enclosed.

Touting Black Salve, and providing a recipe for such, as a treatment I believe is a violation; specifically paragraph #3.

Touting lemon water, as a means to alkalize the body when such is not medically or scientifically possible or advisable, is as bogus as they come.

Fibromyalgia of the spine? There is no such beast as MG noted in another video.  But as one who suffers from fibro, I already knew that.

There is no evidence that any currently recommended vaccine causes brain damage or other mental disorders in otherwise healthy children. Severe reactions do occur but are extremely rare.  Vaccine remain a vital tool in humanities fight against disease.

Promoting stem cell tourism?  How goshe.  While the procedure does offer the possibility of treatment, I prefer not to have my quality of life diminished.  Dr Rader is a de-licensed (2014) psychiatrist, specialized in eating disorder.  Not one I would trust injecting me with a unknown substance.

That is just a smattering of the crap you tout.  Don't like being called out for your bullshit, then don't post it.

I will be very blunt, YOU Monika, are not being bullied!!  Scorned yes, bullied no. You have made numerous, and continue to make, posts without mindfulness of your own social (and now mass) media presence, and people made fun, and will continue to mafe fun, of the inherent idiocy of in homeopathy. They then thought for themselves and did their own research  and learned of the impact your business has had on some people.