Monday, July 10, 2006

Adam Dreamhealer - Flim Flam artist or quantum healer?

Adam Dreamhealer unveiled

One of the most outstanding examples of flim flam artistry that has been widely promoted by the press and media are the claims made by the followers of a teenage boy from suburban Vancouver, Canada. Articles in Rolling Stone, MacLean's Magazine, and several in the Toronto Star have failed to present the other side of the story. In fact, a recent Toronto Star article by John Goddard is clearly in violation of the Canadian Association of Journalists' Statements of Principles and Ethics Guidelines. When articles like this appear in the mainstream press the CAJ gets very upset because journalists have behaved badly. They recently issued a press release announcing a "Ethics Advisory Committee" to address this kind of lousy journalism. CTV and Discovery Health have also helped to promote this "miracle" maker without a single bit of evidence. These TV shows have been widely circulated and used to promote Adam to the world. Unfortunately for the people who produced these shows there seem to be no reasonable avenue of appeal to regulators at the CRTC or the cable TV industry. They don't seem to care about things like this. There are some pressing questions and issues that need to be discusssed:

  • Why did Adam parents set up a web site in 2000 to promote his alleged powers when he was just 14 or 15 years old?
  • Why does his family hide their identity from public scrutiny?
  • Why have his parents refused to have Adam tested?
  • Why would anyone pay $99 to attend one of his workshops, or allow him to perform remote healing when they know it's nothing more than a scam?

Show me the miracles, please!!!!

There have been no real miracles, no confirmed healings of any kind, and the scams go on and on. The main problem is that the media, particulary a recent article in the Toronto Star by entertainment reporter John Goddard, has been totally void of journalistic standards. The full page article was NOT in the entertainment section. It appeared on page A-9 on Sunday, July 10, 2005, and included a baby picture of Adam. Patients with cancer and or who suffer extreme pain may have delayed or avoided therapy altogether. Does Adam believe that he is doing a service to humanity or is he just out for the money and the glory? Adam's presentation even became part of an alternative medical group's meeting in British Columbia, and the doctors who attended this meeting received continuing medical education credits. Unfortunately the College of Family Physicians of Canada, the accrediting body for those credits, was never told that Adam would be part of the meeting. In other words, the Association of Complementary Physicians of BC apparently failed to inform the CFPC that he would be there.