Thirty state boards of medical examiners and six boards of osteopathic medicine responded to a mail survey. The others either had no position or made vague comments. Some boards do not do the latter. They expect justice departments to prosecute imposture as fraud. This lack of attention often provides a gap within which practices such as colonic irrigation can flourish.
Colonics has no real health benefits, but does have a number of serious hazards.
Consumers should not use colonics, and should avoid patronizing practitioners who employ this procedure. Practitioners who use colonics are either too ignorant or misguided to be entrusted with delivering health services. The Healing Hand . Describes the popularity of the intestinal toxicity theory during the 19th Century. This article was posted on December 17, 2000.