Absurd claims can give TCM a bad name

AN ARTICLE on acupuncture published in November sparked a fierce debate recently because it concluded that parents, by getting acupuncture treatment, could cure their children of certain diseases. Thepaper.cn comments:

If the article's "conclusion" is absurd then a theory it cites to prove its point must be a joke. The authors of the article claim their conclusion is based on "quantum entanglement" theory which applies to parents and their children, or any two persons related by blood.

Explaining their "research process", the authors said they put 14 "patients" suffering from aches in different parts of their body and their blood relatives in one room. But instead of the "patients", the authors applied acupuncture on their blood relatives, and found all the 14"felt relief". In the 15th case, they applied acupuncture on a couple in Jining, Shandong province, and their offspring in Beijing "felt relief".