Cees Renckens | |
---|---|
Cees Renckens, 2014 | |
Born | Cornelis Nicolaas Maria Renckens [1] : 85 29 May 1946 |
Nationality | Dutch |
Alma mater | University of Groningen |
Known for | Leading the Vereniging tegen de Kwakzalverij |
Website |
Cornelis Nicolaas Maria "Cees" Renckens (born 29 May 1946) is a Dutch Doctor of Medicine, gynaecologist, and a well-known skeptical activist against quackery. From 1988 to 2011, [2] he was president of the Vereniging tegen de Kwakzalverij (VtdK: Dutch Society Against Quackery), which has been actively opposed to all non-science-based medicine since its foundation in 1881. Renckens has written several books about alternative medicine, pseudoscience and quackery.
Renckens was born in Hoorn, shortly after World War II. [1] : 86 He studied medicine at the University of Groningen from 1963 to 1971. He became a resident surgeon and gynaecologist in the Catholic St. Joseph's Hospital in Heemskerk, and followed the Netherlands Course on Global Health and Tropical Medicine [3] in Amsterdam. [1] : 86 He worked in tropical medicine in a hospital in Ndola, Zambia from 1973 to 1975, as an alternative to compulsory military service. Renckens describes these years as formative, where he experienced that medicine is universally applicable, regardless of time, place and people. On the other hand, he encountered witch doctors for the first time, whose superstitious practices he found interesting, but nonsensical and repulsive. [1] : 86–87
Upon return to the Netherlands, he became a resident in pathological anatomy at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, specialising in gynaecology at the Wilhelmina Hospital in Amsterdam, and at the Elisabeth Hospital in Haarlem. His areas of expertise became infertility and endoscopic surgery. [1] : 87 In 1980, Renckens was registered in the list of medical specialists (MSRC), and was appointed to the position of gynaecologist at the Westfries Hospital in his native Hoorn. [1] : 87 In May 2011, he retired from his practice at the age of 65. [4]
Renckens' aversion to alternative medicine led him to join the Society Against Quackery in 1980, and from 1988 to 2011 he served as its president. In 1991, the Society's board offered Wim de Bie, of the television comedy duo Van Kooten en De Bie, an honorary membership in the society for his personification of "Berendien uut Wisp", a fictional quack offering various dubious herbal treatments without expertise; this was a clear pastiche of a real televised controversial herbalist known as Klazien uut Zalk. Instead of accepting the honorary membership, Van Kooten and De Bie invited Renckens to join them on their weekly satirical programme for an interview, in which he explained that he was filing a (fictional) complaint against Berendien, and gave serious reasons for opposing quackery. With this appearance, Renckens rose to national fame, and the Society against Quackery regained relevance in the public eye. [1] : 89–90 Renckens became known for his sharp critiques, and under his leadership the society's membership grew from around 600 to well over 2000. [1] : 88, 96
On 12 October 2004, Renckens graduated from the University of Amsterdam with a Doctor in Medical Sciences with his thesis Dwaalwegen in de geneeskunde ("Misguided Paths in Medicine"). Promoters were prof. dr. O. P. Bleker, prof. dr. F.S.A.M. van Dam and the members of the promotion commission were dr. E. Borst-Eilers, prof. dr. P. Borst, prof. dr. J. van Heerden, prof. dr. J.Hoogstraten, prof. dr. E. Schadé and prof. dr. F. van der Veen. His thesis was published in a commercial edition by Bert Bakker. [5]
On 8 October 2011, Renckens announced his resignation as president of the Vereniging tegen de Kwakzalverij after having run the association for 23 years. He was succeeded by Catherine de Jong. [6]
Former emeritus professor clinical biochemistry Piet Borst expressed the opinion that Renckens deserves respect and praise for his uncompromising and determined combat against unscientific forms of care by physicians. [7] However, his tough stance against alleged quacks has also invoked criticism of his publications from people who think differently. From the alternative medicine industry, negative commentary was expressed towards Renckens's doctoral thesis. [8]
On 12 December 2002, Renckens was awarded the Hector Treub Prize. This prize is awarded every two to four years to individuals who have done an important service to society in terms of healthcare, especially in midwifery and gynaecology. [9]
On 28 April 2006, Renckens was dubbed a Knight in the Order of Orange-Nassau for his "unrelenting fight in word and writing against quackery". [10]
Hoorn is a city and municipality in the northwest of the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is the largest town and the traditional capital of the region of West Friesland. Hoorn is located on the Markermeer, 20 kilometers (12 mi) east of Alkmaar and 35 kilometers (22 mi) north of Amsterdam. The municipality has just over 73,000 inhabitants and a land area of 20.38 km2 (7.87 sq mi), making it the third most densely populated municipality in North Holland after Haarlem and Amsterdam. Apart from the city of Hoorn, the municipality includes the villages of Blokker and Zwaag, as well as parts of the hamlets De Bangert, De Hulk and Munnickaij.
Greet Hofmans was a Dutch faith healer and "hand layer". For nine years she was a friend and advisor of Queen Juliana, often residing at Palace Soestdijk. She became the former Dutch queen's confidante in the 1950s, but was removed from the royal court after an affair that in the Netherlands is often referred to by her name, the Greet Hofmans affair.
Else "Els" Borst-Eilers was a Dutch politician of the Democrats 66 (D66) party and physician. She was granted the honorary title of Minister of State on 21 December 2012.
Maurice Arthur Mendes de Leon was a Dutch physician, considered one of the founding fathers of gynaecology in the Netherlands, partly because of his surgical skills, but also due to his study into the interaction between gynaecological and psychological problems.
Stichting Skepsis is a Dutch organisation dedicated to the promotion and practice of scientific skepticism. It is a member of the European Council of Skeptical Organisations (ECSO).
The Vereniging tegen de Kwakzalverij or VtdK is a Dutch organisation that investigates the claims of alternative medicine and opposes quackery.
Jan Albertsz. Rotius was a Dutch painter known for his individual and group portraits, breakfast still lifes, kitchen still lifes and fruit still lifes. He was active in Hoorn and was the father of the flower painter Jacob Rotius.
The Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Geneeskunde is the main medical journal in the Netherlands, appearing weekly. Established in 1857, it is one of the world's oldest journals. Its publication language is exclusively Dutch. The journal is published and supported by the Vereniging NTvG, which is currently composed of 209 medical scientists. The current editor-in-chief is Yolanda van der Graaf. The Journal's headquarter is situated in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. From early on, the objective was to create an overarching and all-encompassing journal for medical professionals to exchange insights, knowledge and opinion, and to guarantee consistent progress throughout the country. At present, the main sections include: News, Opinion, Research, Clinical Practice, Perspective. Nowadays, the NTvG focuses on reviews and commentaries of research articles which are often published in English. Further, it continues to produce research of medical practice mainly in the Netherlands.
Willem (Wim) Betz was a Flemish physician and professor emeritus at the Belgian university Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), where he was head of the center for training in general medical practice until November 2007. Betz was a leading skeptic in Flanders and participant in the EU COST B4 Project. He was a founding member, president and vice-president of the Belgian skeptic organisation SKEPP.
SKEPP is an independent Belgian skeptical organization. The organization’s name is a backronym for Studiekring voor de Kritische Evaluatie van Pseudowetenschap en het Paranormale.
Skepter is a popular science magazine of the Dutch skeptical foundation Stichting Skepsis. It describes paranormal or controversial theories and methods from a skeptical perspective.
Jan Willem Nienhuys is a Dutch mathematician, book translator and skeptic. He taught mathematics at the Eindhoven University of Technology. He is also a board member and secretary of Stichting Skepsis and an editor of its magazine Skepter.
Catharina Jantina (Catherine) de Jong is a Dutch anesthesiologist, drug rehab physician, intensivist, since 2009 board member of the Vereniging tegen de Kwakzalverij (VtdK), between 2011–2015 as chair, and board member of the European Council of Skeptical Organisations (ECSO).
Cornelis Douwe de Langen was a Dutch physician. He spent a substantial part of his career in Java, Indonesia where he did extensive work on tropical medicine and observed an association between dietary cholesterol intake and incidence of gallstones, arteriosclerosis and other "Western diseases".
Piet Borst CBE is emeritus professor of Clinical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Amsterdam (UVA), and until 1999 Director of Research and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Netherlands Cancer Institute and the Antoni van Leeuwenhoekziekenhuis (NKI-AVL). He continued to work at the NKI-AVL as a staff member and group leader until 2016.
Pepijn van Erp is a Dutch mathematician and skeptical activist.
Adriaan de Bruin, earlier called Tabo Jansz, was an enslaved servant (kammermohr) of Dutch politician Adriaan van Bredehoff. Born in Africa and enslaved, he got to the Dutch Republic by way of either the Dutch Caribbean or in Dutch Surinam, and ended up a free man in Hoorn, North Holland. De Bruin and van Bredehoff stood for a portrait (1727) by Nicolaas Verkolje, now in the Westfries Museum in Hoorn.
Hendrik Klaas Aldert"Henk"Visser is a Dutch pediatrician. He was professor of pediatrics at the Erasmus University Rotterdam and the Erasmus MC between 1967 and 1995.
Alex Jan"Lex"van der Eb is a Dutch molecular biologist and virologist. He was a professor of fundamental tumor virology and later molecular carcinogenesis at Leiden University from 1979 to 2000. He has performed research in adenoviruses and was fundamental in the creation of the technique of calcium phosphate transfection and the founding of the HEK 293 and PER.C6 cell lines.
Hendrik Coenraad"Coen"Hemker is a Dutch biochemist and academic administrator. He was one of the founders of Maastricht University and was its its rector magnificus from 1982 to 1984. He was a professor of biochemistry from 1975 until 1999. In his research he has mainly studied thrombosis and hemostasis.