The Healy is a

pseudoscientific Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable claim ...

device that claims to function via bioresonance, designed by Marcus Schmieke and Nuno Nina. The device has been promoted via

influencer marketing Influencer marketing (also known as influence marketing) is a form of social media marketing involving endorsements and product placement from influencers, people and organizations who have a purported expert level of knowledge or social infl ...

and

multi-level marketing Multi-level marketing (MLM), also called network marketing or pyramid selling, is a controversial marketing strategy for the sale of products or services in which the revenue of the MLM company is derived from a non-salaried workforce selling th ...

, while sellers make extreme healing claims without any proven benefits.

Description

Energy medicine Energy medicine is a branch of alternative medicine based on a pseudo-scientific belief that healers can channel "healing energy" into a patient and effect positive results. Practitioners use a number of names including various synonyms for ...

devices are a class of pseudoscientific devices that originated with the work of

Royal Rife Royal Raymond Rife (May 16, 1888 – August 5, 1971) was an American inventor and early exponent of high-magnification time-lapse cine-micrography. Rife is known for his microscopes, which he claimed could observe live microorganisms with a ma ...

, claiming to work via transferring energy to a person's energy field. The Healy claims to work using electricity to find a user's "personalized frequencies", an idea that has no scientific backing or mechanism.

Criticism

Lack of Scientific Evidence

Critics of the Healy device, such as David H. Gorski, have highlighted the lack of scientific rigor behind the machine. Gorski argues that there is no good evidence to support the claim that injured tissue takes on a “different vibrational characteristic.” He strongly criticizes the belief in a mystical “life energy” that does no work and is undetectable by scientific instruments.

Disclaimers and Misleading Claims

Stephen Barrett Stephen Joel Barrett (; born 1933) is an American retired psychiatrist, author, co-founder of the National Council Against Health Fraud (NCAHF), and the webmaster of Quackwatch. He runs a number of websites dealing with quackery and health frau ...

has noted that many of Healy’s marketing materials carry disclaimers stating that “Healy and its applications are not acknowledged by orthodox medicine due to a lack of scientific proof in accordance with scientific standards.” However, Barrett points out that the claims for the Healy are not just unproven, but there is no logical reason to believe that the “frequencies” described are actual physical forces.

Marketing Tactics

The Healy has been criticized for its marketing tactics, particularly the use of

and

schemes. These strategies have been seen as a way to promote the device despite its lack of proven benefits. The

Office for Science and Society The Office for Science and Society (OSS) is an organization dedicated to science education, operating from Montreal's McGill University. Its staff and contributors use courses, mass media, special events and books to debunk pseudo-scientific my ...

describes the Healy as a “triumph of marketing” due to its claims of using personalized frequencies, which make its claims “unfalsifiable.”

Placebo Effect

David R. Stukus, in an interview with Rolling Stone, commented that any research conducted by the company supporting Healy’s efficacy is likely the result of the

placebo effect A placebo ( ) is a substance or treatment which is designed to have no therapeutic value. Common placebos include inert tablets (like sugar pills), inert injections (like Saline (medicine), saline), sham surgery, and other procedures. In general ...

References

{{reflist Pseudoscience Energy therapies