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Closing the chapter on Maharishi Ayur-Veda.
JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
March 11, 1992
To the Editor.--When I read the Letter from New Delhi by Sharma et
al [1] I surmised that JAMA had been duped into printing a seeming
endorsement of a dubious healing cult, Transcendental Meditation
(TM), and its recent front, Maharishi Ayur-Veda. JAMA is to be
commended for exposing the chicanery and deceptions involved in the
appearance of that letter. [2]
For many years I have studied and written about various totalist
groups, some of which are health quackery cults. I have followed
the development of the TM Group from its early stages as a
nonprofessional psychotherapy to the various front groups it now
has spawned. I have interviewed and provided psychotherapy for
dozens of former TM members who have suffered major psychological
disorders (severe dissociative disorders, posttraumatic stress
disorders, panic disorders, etc) which appear to have evolved out
of the practices they were taught to follow. [3-5]
I want to state that there are psychiatric hazards in prolonged
involvement with the TM cult.
Margaret T. Singer, PhD
Berkeley, Calif
[1] Sharma HM, Triguna BD, Chopra D. Maharishi Ayur-Veda: modern
insights into ancient medicine. JAMA. 1991;265:2633-2637.
[2] Skolnick AA. Maharishi Ayur-Veda: guru's marketing scheme
promises the world eternal 'perfect health.' JAMA.
1991;266:1741-1750.
[3] Singer MT, Ofshe R. Thought reform programs and the production
of psychiatric casualties. Psychiatr Ann. 1990;20:188-193.
[4] West LJ, Singer MT. Cults, quacks, and nonprofessional
psychotherapies. In: Kaplan HI, Freedman AM, Sadock BC, eds.
Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry III. Baltimore, Md: Williams
& Wilkins; 1980.
[5] West LJ. Transcendental meditation and other nonprofessional
psychotherapies. In: Freedman AM, Kaplan HI, Sadock B, eds.
Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry. New York, NY: Williams &
Wilkins; 1975.
To the Editor.--I feel compelled to respond to three paragraphs on
page 1749 in the Maharishi Ayur-Veda story [1] inaccurately
portraying my work. First, on page 1749, the article says that in
a meeting of transcendental meditation (TM) representatives with
Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC) officials, "it was made
clear the Arizona Department of Corrections was not interested in
their proposal." This was not the case. The then commissioner
expressed a clear interest in this proposal and indeed discussed
using TM with a particular group of intractable, violent offenders
detained in a special high-security facility. He asked us to submit
a further proposal specifically targeted for that group.
Second, the article reports that I said TM was the "only" effective
way of rehabilitating prisoners. Although I did say that TM was
distinctively effective in prison rehabilitation, I did not say it
was the only way. Indeed, I suggested it could be fruitfully
combined with existing prison programs. Third, and more
importantly, this quote attributed to me is made out of context,
and sounds like an unsubstantiated claim. Again, this is not the
case. My doctoral dissertation at Harvard University in 1982 showed
proportionally a one-third lower recidivism (return) rate among
inmates who learned TM over a 3 1/2-year period compared with
random samples of prisoners who participated in four other programs
in Massachusetts' maximum security prison. [2] Moreover, a
well-controlled study published in the Journal of Criminal Justice
[3] showed that the recidivism rate of 259 inmates who learned TM
in the California Department of Corrections (DOC) was 30% lower
over a 6-year period than that of 259 demographically matched
parolees. No consistent reductions were found for prison education,
vocational training, or psychotherapy. Finally, in a large-scale
project involving almost all the inmates in Senegal, Africa (over
11 000 inmates and 900 correctional staff), the director of the
National Penitentiary System, Colonel Mamadou Diop, reported in a
public letter [4] a more than 90% reduction in recidivism among TM
inmates over a 6-month period. He said there were no other changes
in prison policies during that time and directly attributed this
unprecedented reduction to TM.
If these and other inaccuracies and out-of-context statements were
made in the few paragraphs directly pertaining to may work, how
many occurred in the story as a whole? Numerous additional
statements in the JAMA article suggest that unsubstantiated claims
were being made, yet the author does not mention the hundreds of
peer-reviewed published studies (like the Journal of Criminal
Justice article cited above) backing up such statements. One
wonders why JAMA would publish such a one-sided article on this
promising new approach to mind-body medicine.
Charles N. Alexander, PhD
Maharishi International University
Fairfield, Iowa
[1] Skolnick AA. Maharishi Ayur-Veda: guru's marketing scheme
promises the world eternal 'perfect health.' JAMA.
1991;266:1741-1750.
[2] Alexander CN. Ego Developments, Personality and Behavioral
Change in Inmates Practicing the Transcendental Meditation
Technique or Participating in Other Programs: A Cross-sectional and
Longitudinal Study. Dissertation Abstracts Int. 1992; 43:539-B.
[3] Bleick CR, Abrams AI. The transcendental meditation program and
criminal recidivism in California. J Criminal Justice.
1987;15:211-230.
[4] Mamadou D. Public letter. In: New Horizons in Criminology and
Penitentiary Science: The Maharishi Unified Field-Based Integrated
System of Rehabilitation in Senegalese Prisons. (Faroukh
Anklesaria; translation from the French version). Vlodrop, Senegal:
MVU Press-I11 1990;157-160.
To the Editor.--Regarding the article in your October 2, 1991,
issue entitled "Maharishi Ayur-Veda: Guru's Marketing Scheme
Promises the World Eternal Peace," [1] as the media coordinator for
the Tucson, Ariz, press conference that you mentioned on page 1749,
I would like to correct two misrepresentations the author made.
First, the press conference was not set up to announce a meeting
with the director of the ADC as the article claimed. The press
conference was sponsored by the Tucson TM professionals association
to increase public awareness about the results of the use of the TM
program in corrections. These good results have been validated by
peer-reviewed scientific research, including a study published in
the Journal of Criminal Justice [2] that found (among other
benefits) that a group of 259 male felon offenders who learned the
TM program in California prisons had 35% less recidivism 5 years
after parole, compared with controls.
Transcendental meditation prison program representatives were in
Tucson on January 29 and in Phoenix on January 31 to meet with
criminal justice officials. In both cities press conferences were
held. At one point during the Tucson press conference, someone
asked if TM representatives were going to meet with ADC officials
during their visit. Joanne Anibal, local TM coordinator, replied
that among other criminal justice leaders in Phoenix they were
meeting with an unnamed ADC official. Sam Negri, a reporter with
the Arizona Republic who was at the press conference, said that he
had spoken with an assistant deputy director at ADC earlier that
day and that person knew nothing about a meeting with TM
representatives. Ms Anibal replied, "Well, the director does," and
added that a proposal had already been sent to him. Thus, it was
only circumstantial that our meeting with the director of the ADC
was disclosed.
The next day, the Arizona Republic ran a story [3] mentioning our
scheduled meeting with Mr Sam Lewis, ADC director, but the article
did not report what JAMA claimed it did, ie, that the press
conference was set up to announce a meeting with Mr Lewis. This is
a blatant misrepresentation of the facts.
Our motive is simple and straightforward. The TM prison program
works, and therefore we have an obligation to bring it to the
attention of civic, state, and national leaders as well as the
general public. In view of TM's proven effectiveness and the
growing crisis in corrections nationwide, it was not in the
public's best interest for JAMA to misrepresent Maharishi's TM
program.
I hope you will correct this mistake.
Wiliam E. Crist Maharishi
Consultants International
Fairfield, Iowa
[1] Skolnick AA. Maharishi Ayur-Veda: guru's marketing scheme
promises the world eternal 'perfect health.' JAMA.
1991;266:1741-1750.
[2] Bleick CR, Abrams AI, The transcendental meditation program and
criminal recidivision in California. J Criminal Justice.
1987;15:211-230.
[3] Negri S. Advocates want inmates to meditate. Arizona Republic.
January 30, 1991.
To the Editor.--The JAMA article on Maharishi Ayur-Veda by Andrew
Skolnick [1] makes several false statements regarding Harvard
Magazine and my published work.
Our associate managing editor, Jean Martin, told Mr Skolnick that
an assistant to Dr Deepak Chopra had ordered a large number of
reprints of my article from our September-October 1989 issue. One
cannot fault Skolnick for accurately reporting what he was told. As
it turns out, however, while Chopra's associate did inquire about
reprints, no such order ultimately was placed; no reprints were
purchased, printed, or delivered.
Skolnick's article describes my Harvard Magazine article as one
that gives "a glowing account of Maharishi Ayur-Veda." The article
in question profiles two brothers, Sanjiv and Deepak Chopra, both
Boston-based physicians. Sanjiv Chopra is a gastroenterologist and
hepatic specialist who practices mainstream academic medicine at
Beth Israel Hospital in Boston, Mass. Ayurvedic medicine does not
enter his practice.
My description of Deepak Chopra's work is--like that of Sanjiv's--a
positive, though not unbalanced or opinionated one.
The final inaccuracy is the statement that our magazine's readers
were not informed that I practiced TM-Sidhi or "yogic flying." At
the time the article was written and published I did not such
thing. Let me be clear: I did regularly practice TM while working
on this article. However, I did not undertake the TM-Sidhi course
until after its publication, and this was a distinction that I
clearly and explicitly enunciated to Skolnick during his telephone
"interview" with me. Knowing this did not prevent his use of
circumlocution to strongly imply that I practiced "yogic flying"
while creating my article. This deception constitutes, on my view,
firm evidence of an intent to mislead the readers of JAMA. In this
light, Skolnick's reference to Harvard Magazine's readers being
"disserved" is richly ironic.
Craig A. Lambert, PhD
Harvard Magazine
Cambridge, Mass
[1] Skolnick AA. Maharishi Ayur-Veda: guru's marketing scheme
promises the world eternal 'perfect health.' JAMA.
1991;266:1741-1750.
To the Editor.--With the October 2, 1991, publication of your
attack against Maharishi Ayur-Veda, [1] JAMA's readers have been
presented with two diametrically opposed views of our activities:
1. In the May 22/29, 1991, article co-authored by me, [2] Maharishi
Ayur-Veda is portrayed as a serious attempt to bring a respected
system of traditional Indian medicine to the West.
2. This effort is backed by credentialed physicians who wish to
explore a viable health care alternative. No outlandish claims are
made for the efficacy of Maharishi Ayur-Veda. We present sound
scientific research to support our hope that promising new
therapies are being uncovered.
In stark contrast, JAMA's subsequent attack portrays a cult that
uses deceptive practices to further its dubious ends. I and my
colleagues are made out to be quacks and unprincipled agents of a
conspiracy to "infiltrate" prestigious journals with our
superstitious nonsense. It is further alleged that our approach to
Ayurvedic medicine is not authentic, although authentic Ayur-Veda
is also belittled and dismissed out of hand by the author.
A majority of JAMA's readers will probably choose to accept the
second, lurid picture of our work--the knee-jerk reflex of many
mainstream physicians to scorn alternative medicine as shady to
begin with. I would like to point out that without an open mind no
sound judgment of Maharishi Ayur-Veda can be made. JAMA did not
address the significant questions: Is this approach sound? Do
patients feel that they benefit from it? Is there new knowledge to
be gained from it? In every case, the answer is an emphatic yes.
More personally, I must also note that JAMA's attack was rooted in
prejudice and fear. If we back away from the insinuating language
of the article, the simple facts are these: No evidence exists to
show any illicit use of funds in our organization. No research
exists to counter the more than 200 peer-reviewed articles
published on TM and Maharishi Ayur-Veda. No harm against patients
of any kind has been demonstrated. Quite the contrary. More than 1
million people in this country have learned TM; tens of thousands
take advantage of Maharishi Ayur-Veda. These people form a large,
enthusiastic public for our work.
It saddens me that JAMA threw out all objective standards in
writing its attack against us. Anyone who wishes to look further
into this case will find a glaring example of fear mongering. I
look forward to the day when JAMA wakes up to realize that the
holistic programs of Maharishi Ayur-Veda deserve its wholehearted
respect and support.
Deepak Chopra, MD
American Association of Ayurvedic Medicine
South Lancaster, Mass
[1] Skolnick AA. Maharishi Ayur-Veda: guru's marketing scheme
promises the world eternal 'perfect health.' JAMA.
1991;266:1741-1750.
[2]Sharma HM, Triguna BD, Chopra D. Maharishi Ayur-Veda: modern
insights into ancient medicine. JAMA. 1991;265:2633-2637.
To the Editor.--I was distressed to see that in an article in JAMA,
[1] critical of Maharishi Ayur-Veda, one of your associate editor
has, in essence, called me a liar.
Regarding a letter I wrote to JAMA in 1989, [2] he identifies me as
such an author under the heading "Publications Misled" and states
that I "gave the Rees Family Medical Clinic as _my_ affiliation."
He then writes that I "turn out to be the medical director of the
Maharishi Ayur-Veda Medical Center. ... However, in correspondence
with JAMA, he used Rees Family Medical Clinic stationery. . . ." as
if I were trying to conceal my relationship with the Maharishi
Ayur-Veda Medical Center (even though my letter, regarding TM, made
no mention of Maharishi Ayur-Veda).
The first two statements are false; the third, though true, is
misleading; the entire context is defamatory, the assertion
"Publications Misled" is incorrect and intolerable.
The facts are that I never saw, received, or signed any such
disclosure statement regarding my affiliations or financial
interests. I "gave" no affiliation whatsoever; no one ever asked me
for any. I simply wrote a letter on my professional letterhead, a
letter that was completely compliant with the "Guidelines for
Letters" as published by JAMA at that time.
It would be bothersome if Mr Skolnick had merely failed to do his
homework before making such statements. And it was reprehensible
for him to have framed such inaccuracies in an article so bereft of
objectivity or balance. But it is inexcusable and malicious to
write such defamatory falsehoods when he had prior knowledge of
their falsity.
And he did have such prior knowledge. In a letter to me dated
August 5, 1991, he admits "you did not submit a signed statement
... when you submitted your letter, the policy _to_request/require_
disclosure_statements_ was not yet in effect...." In the same
letter to me he makes the accusation that "the letterhead used in
your correspondence with JAMA is aimed at disguising your
involvement with the TM movement," despite the fact that he knew
from our correspondence that I had founded the Rees Family Medical
Clinic on the same premises as the Maharishi Ayur-Veda Medical
Center back in 1987 and despite my having written to him: "You are
incorrect and provocative in asserting that my letterhead is aimed
at 'disguising' anything."
No doubt this lack of journalistic responsibility surfaces
throughout the article. In the other point referencing our clinic
here, he states that one of our receptionists identified Dr John
Zamarra, a cardiologist in Brea, Calif, as being on our staff. I
find this hard to believe; all our receptionists deny having made
such a statement, and as there are only two physicians on the staff
(me and my wife), there is little chance for confusion on their
part. Somehow I doubt that this was an innocent mistake.
I believe that if Skolnick wishes to expose hypocrisy and
duplicity, he need look no further than his mirror.
Brian M. Rees, MD
MPH Rees Family Medical Clinic
Pacific Palisades, Calif
[1] Skolnick AA. Maharishi Ayur-Veda: guru's marketing scheme
promises the world eternal 'perfect health.' JAMA.
1991;266:1741-1750.
[2] Rees B. Better living through brain chemistry? JAMA.
1989;262:2681-2682.
To the Editor.--With regard to the report on Maharishi Ayur-Veda in
your October 2, 1991, issue, [1] it seems to me that the
indignation expressed was disingenuous. The original article on
Maharishi Ayur-Veda published in the May 22/29, 1991, issue [2]
clearly referred to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and the TM program. One
of its authors was described as president of the organization that
trains physicians in Maharishi Ayur-Veda. And, in the October 11,
1990, letter submitted to JAMA's editors with the original article,
the authors disclosed that they were consultants to a Maharishi
Ayur-Veda organization. [3] In light of this, JAMA's editors must
have known before May about such a connection. Therefore, JAMA's
October attack, predicated as it was on alleged deception, seems to
me to have been unjustified.
I think your readers should know that our organization has always
been straightforward in presenting Maharishi Ayur-Veda to the
public. We don't try to hide anything; we are open, innocent, and
sincere in our approach. We are scrupulous in the way we quote
people and document facts and events, and I strongly contest
allegations to the contrary. Had JAMA employed a fact checker, I
believe that article would have been very different.
Your readers should also know that we are not in any way motivated
by monetary gain, but instead by genuine desire for a healthier
world. The letterhead of the AMA states, "Physicians dedicated to
the health of America." Our goal is the same: to create a
disease-free society in this country and throughout the world.
I was heartened that your October article did not challenge the
substance of the original May article, which went through your peer
review process. Scientific research results and physician and
patient report on the benefits of Maharishi Ayur-Veda continue to
accumulate. It is on this evidence that the reputation of Maharishi
Ayur-Veda proudly stands.
Vinton D. Tompkins
Ayur-Ved News Service
Livingston Manor, NY
[1] Skolnick AA. Maharishi Ayur-Veda; guru's marketing scheme
promises the world eternal 'perfect health.' JAMA.
1991;266:1741-1750.
[2] Sharma HM, Triguna BD, Chopra D. Maharishi Ayur-Veda: modern
insights into ancient medicine. JAMA. 1991;256:2633-2637.
[3] Correction: financial disclosure. JAMA. 1991; 266:798.
In Reply.--It is disappointing that Dr Chopra expresses no regrets
for having misinformed JAMA concerning his conflicts of interest.
Chopra prefers to level charges of "prejudice" and "fear mongering"
rather than to explain why he claimed that he had no affiliation
with the marketers of the products he wrote about--products that
continue to be sold from his Lancaster headquarters.
These are the undisputed facts that JAMA learned of too late to
stop the publication of Chopra's article: Maharishi Ayur-Veda is a
registered trademark for a line of TM products and services. Dr
Chopra had been the sole stockholder, president, treasurer, and
clerk of the company that sells Maharishi Ayur-Veda products. This
marketing company and Chopra's American Association of Ayurvedic
Medicine have the same phone number. He is the medical director of
the premiere Maharishi Ayur-Veda center. Chopra collects many
thousands of dollars in honoraria and fees for lecturing and
teaching Maharishi Ayur-Veda techniques. In spite of this, he
submitted to JAMA a signed statement claiming he was not affiliated
with any organization that could benefit by publication of their
article and that he collected no such honoraria.
Mr Tompkins says that my article suffered for lack of "a fact
checker," but neglects to cite a single falsehood. His protest that
the TM movement is "scrupulous in the way _they_ quote people and
document facts and events," is not borne out by the record. The
movement's false portrayal of "Professor" Tony Nader as a
"neuroscientist at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts
Institute of Technology," who was honored by Harvard University
with "the Whitaker Health Sciences and Technology Award" for his
"landmark studies" on Maharishi herbal remedies, is but one example
of TM's blatantly deceptive practices that were documented in my
article--any one of which shows the hollowness of Tompkin's claim
of always being "straightforward in presenting Maharishi Ayur-Veda
to the public."
I asked the California and Arizona DOC to comment on Professor
Alexander's letter. According to Robert Dickover, chief of research
for California's DOC, the studies Alexander describes were
seriously flawed by a self-selection bias. The California DOC is
not interested in providing inmates with TM instructions, he adds.
The Arizona DOC has absolutely no interest in TM programs, says
assistant director J. C. Keeney. He confirms my report that DOC
officials were distributed by what appeared to be the movement's
attempt to use the news media to pressure them into considering TM
proposals. Mr Crist would have the reader believe it was a
coincidence that the TM representatives held two press conferences
right before meeting with Arizona DOC officials and that release of
information about the meeting was unintentional.
In regard to Dr Rees' letter, JAMA's financial disclosure policy
required him to disclose his TM affiliation as medical director of
the Maharishi Ayur-Veda Medical Center in Pacific Palisades. My
article accurately reports his failure to do so.
I stand by everything in my article, with the exception of when Mr
Lambert became a "yogic flier." My report was based on a letter
Lambert sent me 2 months after we had our brief telephone
conversation, a conversation I did not recall clearly. His letter
gave me the impression that he was practicing TM-Sidhi or "yogic
flying" when he wrote his article. I regret getting the timing
wrong.
Regardless of when he started trying to levitate, my point stands:
Harvard Magazine did not inform its readers that the author of an
article extolling TM programs was involved in the TM movement.
Lambert's article was in no way balanced. Nothing was included from
experts familiar with TM's history of deceptive practices--such as
William Jarvis, PhD, of the National Council Against Health Fraud,
and John Renner, MD, of the Consumer Health Information Research
Institute, who say that Maharishi Ayur-Veda is just the latest of
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's deceptive marketing schemes.
I did not have enough space to address the scientific evidence for
TM's claims. According to Michael West, [1] Susan Blackmore, [2]
and other authorities, the studies touted by the TM movement were
nearly all conducted by members of the movement, most are seriously
flawed, and relatively few are published in peer-reviewed science
journals. Contrary to Chopra's assertion, independent studies show
that TM is no better than other relaxation techniques. [2,3] There
is also evidence that considerable harm can result from the
practice of TM, especially when it is used as a method of mind
control, [4-6] as former members of the TM movement charge.
Andrew A. Skolnick
American Medical Association
Chicago, Ill
[1] West M, ed. The Psychology of Meditation. London, England:
Oxford University Press; 1987.
[2] Blackmore S. Is meditation good for you? New Scientist.
1991;131:30-33.
[3] National Research Council Report on Meditation. In the Mind's
Eye: Enhancing Human Performance. Washington, DC: National Academy
Press; 1991.
[4] West LJ. Oral and written communications; 1991.
[5] Report commissioned by the German Ministry of Youth, Family,
and Health. The Various Implications Arising From the Practice of
Transcendental Meditation: An Empirical Analysis of Pathogenic
Structures as an Aid in Counseling. Bensheim, Germany: The
Institute for Youth and Society; 1980.
[6] Singer MT. Oral communications; 1991.
ÿ