Quackery in South Africa: The SCIO/QXCI

In July 2007 the South African press reported gleefully about strange diagnoses made by a rural medical doctor using a so-called quantum diagnostic device, the Quantum Xrroid Consciousness Interface, or SCIO/QXCI. The initial report appeared in the Beeld newspaper under the heading Man 'angry with wife's vagina'. Now I realise that the press often misquotes people and that sensational reports of this nature should be taken with a pinch of salt. To my knowledge, however, the doctor concerned has never publically repudiated the newspaper report. He explained to the newspaper reporter that:

One had to understand quantum medicine to correctly interpret the findings of the device

It could detect a virus's frequency if one had been in touch with someone carrying the virus

It could pick up HIV frequencies in the evening if one had contact with HIV positive people during the day

If the device had "read" you once, it could read you again even if you were thousands of kilometers away

The diagnoses made by SCIO/QXCI-device re. the patient (a 50 year old male) included:

Hepatitis C

Roundworms mostly found in horses

Other parasites that normally occur in India and Bangladesh

Vaginal problems

Prostate problems (the patient's had been removed)

Various other problems, including migraine, hart, back, eye and testosterone

According to the patient the doctor indicated that the machine probably detected vaginal problems because he was angry with his wife's vagina! To the press the doctor said that the vaginal symptoms arose because the system picked up frequencies of problems in the subconscious mind, or problems experienced by the women in one's life, like one's wife, sister or mother.

Up to this point it was just a single rural doctor who had made a fool out of himself. The report indicated, however, that more than 130 of these devices are in use in South Africa. Another report in the Rooi Rose, a women's magazine, indicated that many more similar devices are in use.

I'm neither a medical doctor, nor a physicist, but on just common sense reading of the South African SCIO/QXCI website, it was clear to me that it is total nonsense. While I can understand homeopaths and others from the so-called alternative health professions falling for this kind of nonsense, I find it inconceivable that conventional medical practitioners and others trained in scientific medicine do so as well.

Dr. Stephen Barrett's Quackwatch is normally a good resource when researching dubious devices and practices. He has an informative article on the SCIO/QXCI and its inventor, one William C. Nelson. It is clear from Barrett's article that the device's history is steeped in controversy and misrepresentation. The character of its inventor, Nelson, certainly does not inspire confidence in the what is so clearly a quack device.

Barrett concluded:

"The Quantum Xrroid device is claimed to balance "bio-energetic" forces that the scientific community does not recognize as real. It mainly reflects skin resistance (how easily low-voltage electric currents from the device pass through the skin), which is not related to the body's health. It is promoted with elaborate pseudoscientific explanations and disclaimers intended to protect its practitioners from prosecution. Use of the device can cause unnecessary expense as well as delay in getting appropriate treatment. If you encounter a practitioner who uses one, please ask the appropriate government agencies to investigate."

Medical practitioners, therapists and psychologists who use this device may find it instructive to read Barrett's article (if they did before they may never have acquired it in the first place). They should then realise the danger it holds for their professional reputations.

A further post on the SCIO with more information the scam can be found at Silly season: The SCIO/QXCI.