Harald Walach Explained

Harald Walach (born 1957) is a German parapsychologist and advocate of alternative medicine.

Background

Walach was born in 1957. He received a degree in Psychology from the University of Freiburg in 1984, a PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Basel in 1991, and a PhD in History of Science from the University of Vienna in 1995. In 1998 he received his habilitation in psychology from the University of Freiburg.^[1] He was affiliated for a time with the Samueli Institute^[2] before its closure in 2017.^[3]

He worked for a time at the University of Northampton, then as director of the Institute of Transcultural Health Studies at Europa Universität Viadrina, where he led a training course for doctors in complementary medicine and cultural sciences.^[4] In 2012, the state of Brandenburg's commission for reviewing Universities concluded that Walach's institute should not be continued within the university.^[5]

In 2017, he was a part-time associate professor at Poznań University of Medical Sciences,^[6] teaching mindfulness to the international medical students.^[7] In July 2021 the university cut its ties with Walach,^[8] in response to a paper that he published in Vaccines, stating that Walach's work "misleadingly used data to yield conclusions that are wrong and may lead to public harm."^[9]

Research and professional activities

Walach has conducted studies examining elements of complementary and alternative medicine,^{[10] [11]} and developed the Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory.^[12] He was an editor of an essay series on Neuroscience, Consciousness, Spirituality,^[13] and until 2021 was editor-in-chief of the Karger journal Forschende Komplementärmedizin.^[14]

In 2017, he started the CHS Institute to publish his own writing, including COVID-19 satire^[15] and denial.^[16]

Controversy

Walach has advocated for revision of the concept of evidence-based medicine,^[17] promoting holistic and homeopathic alternatives in his publications.^[18]

Starting in 2001, along with theoretical physicists Hartmann Römer and Harald Atmanspacher, Walach developed a model of "weak quantum theory" or "generalised entanglement" that attempted to explain anomalous phenomena, such as non-specific therapy effects and parapsychological phenomena.^{[19] [20] [21]} This was not taken seriously by other physicists,^[22] and referenced mainly in the fields of homeopathic medicine and consciousness studies.

In 2012, Walach received the negative prize "Goldenes Brett" from Austrian skeptics, an annual award for the "most astonishing pseudo-scientific nuisance" of the year. The prize was awarded in part for a masters thesis about the Kozyrev mirror conducted under his supervision, which was widely regarded as unscientific.^{[23] [24]}

Walach is on the scientific advisory board of a blog called "CAM-Media Watch", which is run by the alternative medicine company Heel. The blog describes itself as a "spin doctor" for promoting Complementary and Alternative Medicine ("CAM"). In 2012, it was reported that the blog had been paid to smear Edzard Ernst, a scientist critical of homeopathy.^{[25] [26]}

Retracted papers

As of 2024, Walach has had three publications retracted.^[27]

In June 2021, Walach published two high profile papers containing research pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic, one exaggerating the risks of vaccination, and the other concluding that children should not wear masks. Both papers were retracted the following month.^[28]

• The first paper, published in Vaccines, was retracted within a week^[29] because of “misrepresentation of the COVID-19 vaccination efforts and misrepresentation of the data,” "several errors that fundamentally affect the interpretation of the findings," and "incorrect and distorted conclusions".^[30] Five members of the editorial board of Vaccines resigned when the article was published, protesting it as "grossly irresponsible".^[31]
• The second paper was published in JAMA Pediatrics, to immediate criticism.^[32] This study was funded by an organization (MWGFD) that was founded to fight governmental pandemic protocols, and is known in Germany for promoting COVID conspiracy theories^[33] and distributing anti-vaccine flyers.^[34] The journal retracted the paper 12 days later, after the authors did not provide sufficiently convincing evidence to resolve the scientific issues raised about the study.^[35]

In 2023, another paper about the efficacy of homeopathy was retracted "due to concerns regarding the analysis of the articles included in the meta-analysis".^[36]

In a press statement, the Poznań University of Medical Sciences dissociated itself from Walach and asserted that his vaccine study "misleadingly used data to yield conclusions that are wrong and may lead to public harm."^[8]

External links

• Harald Walach's personal homepage and blog (German)
• Curriculum vitae
• Harald Walach at Academia.edu

Notes and References

1. Book: Horizon 2020 . epubli . Lingh, Gerhard . 2014 . 110. 9783844293166 .
2. Web site: Samueli Institute. Siib.org. 2013-10-12.
3. Web site: Weeks. John. 2017-03-20. Wayne Jonas, MD and the Closure of the Influential Samueli Institute: Next Steps. 2021-07-05. HuffPost. en.
4. Web site: Institut für transkulturelle Gesundheitswissenschaften • Europa-Universität Viadrina / EUV . Euv-frankfurt-o.de . 2013-10-12 . 2022-01-15 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220115220232/http://www.euv-frankfurt-o.de/de/forschung/institut/institut_intrag . dead .
5. Web site: Report by the "Hochschultrukturkommission". de. Mwfk.brandenburg.de. 2013-10-12. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120703125829/http://www.mwfk.brandenburg.de/sixcms/media.php/4055/Bericht_HochschulstrukturkommissionLandBRB.pdf. 2012-07-03.
6. Web site: Harald Walach - Campaign for Open Science. 2021-07-05. opensciences.org.
7. Web site: Petrov. Nikolay. Harald Walach PhD. 2021-07-05. The Galileo Commission. April 2019 . en-GB.
8. Web site: Press statement: COVID-19 Vaccinations. Staszewski. Rafał. 6 July 2021. Walkowiak. Jarosław. PUMS Poznan University of Medical Sciences. 10 July 2021.
9. Web site: Oransky . Ivan . University terminates affiliation with researcher who had paper on COVID-19 vaccines retracted as mask study comes under scrutiny . Retraction Watch . 7 July 2021 . Center for Scientific Integrity . 2021-07-07.
10. Fjorback. Lone Overby. Walach. Harald. Meditation Based Therapies—A Systematic Review and Some Critical Observations. Religions. 4 January 2012. 3. 4. 1–18. 10.3390/rel3010001. free.
11. Web site: Harald Walach, PhD . https://web.archive.org/web/20130921055033/http://www.samueliinstitute.org/about-us/harald-walach-phd . dead . September 21, 2013 . Samueli Institute . 20 July 2015.
12. Walach. Harald. Buchheld. Nina. Buttenmüller. Valentin. Kleinknecht. Norman. Schmidt. Stefan. Measuring mindfulness—the Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory (FMI). Personality and Individual Differences. June 2006. 40. 8. 1543–1555. 10.1016/j.paid.2005.11.025.
13. Book: Neuroscience, Consciousness and Spirituality . Studies in Neuroscience, Consciousness and Spirituality . 2011 . 1 . Springer Science+Business Media . 10.1007/978-94-007-2079-4 . 978-94-007-2078-7 . 2013-10-12. Walach, Harald . Schmidt, Stefan . Jonas, Wayne B .
14. Web site: Forschende Komplementärmedizin / Research in Complementary Medicine - Home - Karger Publishers . Karger.com . 2013-08-15 . 2013-10-12.
15. Web site: Satirisches zu Covid 19. 2021-07-05. chs-institute.org. de.
16. Web site: Aktuelles zu CoviD19. 2021-07-05. chs-institute.org. de.
17. Walach. Harald. Falkenberg. Torkel. Fønnebø. Vinjar. Lewith. George. Jonas. Wayne B.. 2006. Circular instead of hierarchical: Methodological principles for the evaluation of complex interventions. BMC Medical Research Methodology. 6. 29. 10.1186/1471-2288-6-29. 1540434. 16796762 . free .
18. Walach. Harald. 2009-10-01. The campaign against CAM and the notion of "evidence-based". Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine . 15. 10. 1139–1142. 10.1089/acm.2009.0423. 1557-7708. 19848550.
19. Atmanspacher . Harald . Römer . Hartmann . Walach . Harald . Weak Quantum Theory: Complementarity and Entanglement in Physics and Beyond . Foundations of Physics . 2002 . 32 . 3 . 379–406 . 10.1023/A:1014809312397. 118583726 .
20. Walach. H.. Schmidt. S.. 2005. Repairing Plato's life boat with Ockham's razor: The Important Function of Research in Anomalies for Mainstream Science. Journal of Consciousness Studies. 12. 2. 52–70. 2013-10-12. 2015-07-22. https://web.archive.org/web/20150722034356/http://mein-klinikum.de/iuk/live/forschung/publikationen/PlatoOckhamJCS2005.pdf. dead.
21. 10.1007/s10516-010-9145-5. 54848009. Generalised Quantum Theory—Basic Idea and General Intuition: A Background Story and Overview. 2011. Walach. Harald. von Stillfried. Nikolaus. Axiomathes. 21. 2. 185–209. free.
22. Web site: An Academic Responds to the Homeopathy Challenge – The Quackometer Blog. 2021-07-21. en-US.
23. Web site: Von Bernd Kramer . Kozyrev-Spiegel: Masterarbeit an der Viadrina Uni belegt Hellsehen - SPIEGEL ONLINE . Spiegel.de . 2012-05-07 . 2013-10-12.
24. Web site: Esoterik an der Uni Viadrina - Zu tief in die Röhre geschaut - Wissen - Süddeutsche.de . Sueddeutsche.de . 12 June 2012. 2013-10-12.
25. Web site: German Homeopathy Companies Pay Journalist who Smears UK Academic | The Quackometer Blog . Quackometer.net . 2013-10-12.
26. Web site: Zeitung. Süddeutsche. Schmutzige Methoden der sanften Medizin. 2021-07-05. Süddeutsche.de. 30 June 2012 . de.
27. Web site: Retraction Watch Database - Harald Walach . Retraction Watch . Center for Scientific Integrity . 2023-07-19.
28. Walach. Harald. Weikl. Ronald. Prentice. Juliane. Diemer. Andreas. Traindl. Helmut. Kappes. Anna. Hockertz. Stefan. 2021-06-30. Experimental Assessment of Carbon Dioxide Content in Inhaled Air With or Without Face Masks in Healthy Children. JAMA Pediatrics. en. 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2021.2659. 34190984. 8246331. 2168-6203. free.
29. 10.3390/vaccines9070693 . free . The Safety of COVID-19 Vaccinations—We Should Rethink the Policy . 2021 . Walach . Harald . Klement . Rainer J. . Aukema . Wouter . Vaccines . 9 . 7 . 693 . 34202529 . 8294615 .
30. Web site: Oransky. Ivan. 2 July 2021. Journal retracts paper claiming two deaths from COVID-19 vaccination for every three prevented cases. 2021-07-02. Retraction Watch. Center for Scientific Integrity.
31. 10.1126/science.abk2629 . Scientists quit journal board, protesting 'grossly irresponsible' study claiming COVID-19 vaccines kill. 2021. Wadman. Meredith. Science.
32. Experimental Assessment of Carbon Dioxide Content in Inhaled Air With or Without Face Masks in Healthy Children: A Randomized Clinical Trial. PubPeer. 30 June 2021 . en . Walach . Harald . Weikl . Ronald . Prentice . Juliane . Diemer . Andreas . Traindl . Helmut . Kappes . Anna . Hockertz . Stefan .
33. Web site: Wasner. Anouschka. 2020-07-22. Wenn Ärzte von der Coronakrise als einer kriminellen Inszenierung sprechen. 2021-07-05. Medical Tribune. de.
34. Web site: Flugblatt zu Corona: Desinformation in Millionenauflage. Corona fake news in the mailbox. 2021-07-05. tagesschau.de. de.
35. 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2021.3252 . Notice of Retraction. Walach H, et al. Experimental Assessment of Carbon Dioxide Content in Inhaled Air with or Without Face Masks in Healthy Children: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Pediatr. Published online June 30, 2021 . 2021 . Christakis . Dimitri . Fontanarosa . Phil B. . JAMA Pediatrics . 175 . 9 . e213252 . 34269801 . free .
36. 10.1038/s41390-022-02127-3 . RETRACTED ARTICLE: Is homeopathy effective for attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder? A meta-analysis . 2022 . Gaertner . Katharina . Teut . Michael . Walach . Harald . Pediatric Research . 35701608 . free .