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- Feed Preview quackery | Science-Based Medicine
Revisiting “integrative oncology”: The battle to integrate quackery with oncology continues
Nature Reviews Cancer published a propaganda piece disguised as commentary promoting "integrative oncology," or what I like to call "integrating" quackery with oncology. The post Revisiting “in...
How Google listings are used by alternative cancer clinics to lure in desperate patients
I've long been writing about "alternative cancer clinics" (i.e., quack clinics) that sell false hope in the form of very expensive but ineffective treatments to desperate cancer patients. A recen...
Access Consciousness: Phrenology fused with energy medicine
Access Consciousness claims to show how to improve your mental and physical health by touching 32 Access Bars on your scalp. It's basically phrenology reborn and fused with "energy medicine." The...
Paul Marik: Disparaging chemotherapy in order to sell cancer quackery
Everything old is new once again, as COVID-19 quacks rehash old cancer quack claims that chemotherapy doesn't work in order to sell their preferred cancer quackery. The post Paul Marik: Disparagi...
FitScript™: Functional health quackery and a misleading alternative cancer cure testimonial
Perusing the hellscape that is what Twitter has degenerated into as X, I found an alternative cancer cure testimonial, which led me into "functional health" nonsense that I hadn't encountered bef...
There is no evidence that COVID-19 vaccines are causing cancers associated with “accelerated aging”
A recent presentation at AACR found a link between markers of accelerated aging and an increased risk of cancer. Then antivaxxers got a hold of it to blame COVID-19 vaccines not just for cancer, ...
Mark Sircus and “natural allopathic medicine”? Now I’ve heard everything from quacks
The term "allopathic medicine" was invented by homeopaths in the 19th century as a disparaging term for medicine. So to see a quack like Mark Sircus try to coopt it as "natural allopathic medicin...
Fenbendazole is fast becoming the laetrile of the 2020s
Antivaxxers who "repurposed" deworming drugs like ivermectin and fenbendazole are peddling cancer "miracle cure" testimonials that remind me of laetrile and Stanislaw Burzynski. Truly, everything...
Yet more evidence that we physicians need to clean up our act
A recent study found that physicians and scientists who are perceived as "experts" are prevalent within the antivax community and more influential because of their status as physicians and scient...
Dr. Kelly Brogan Wakes Up to the “Ball Earth Hoax”. Wha...eal About Prominent Professors From Prominent Medical Schools?
What did I mean when I said Dr. Kelly Brogan "won the pandemic"? The post Dr. Kelly Brogan Wakes Up to the “Ball Earth Hoax”. What Does This Reveal About Prominent Professors From Prominent M...
The Menace of Wellness Influencers
Wellness influencers are often also conspiracy theorists, as both mindsets rely upon the same underlying methods, motivation, and narrative. The post The Menace of Wellness Influencers first app...
Antivax quacks are continuing to make up fantastical biological mechanisms for COVID-19 vaccine “shedding”
A couple of weeks ago, I discussed why antivax quacks' claimed biological mechanisms for COVID-19 vaccine "shedding" reminded me of homeopaths. Confabulation about fantastical scientific mechanis...
Why antivax arguments for COVID-19 vaccine “shedding” remind me of homeopathy
An antivaxxer by the 'nym "A Midwestern Doctor" makes an argument that COVID-19 vaccine "shedding" is not impossible despite the basic science that concludes it is. Sound familiar? The post Why a...
Cancer quack Stanislaw Burzynski continues to prey on cancer patients in 2023
This year, cancer quack Dr. Stanislaw Burzynski turned 80. Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to be slowing down charging patients with advanced cancer huge sums for false hope. The post Cancer quack...
The Ohio State Medical Board has finally suspended the medical license of antivax quack Sherri Tenpenny
Last week, the Ohio State Medical Board suspended the medical license of Dr. Sherri Tenpenny, a longtime antivax quack. The only question is: What took them so long, and why did it take the pande...
COVID-19 has exposed the toothlessness of state medical boards
A report in The Washington Post last week revealed just how badly state medical boards have been failing when dealing with physicians spreading COVID-19 misinformation and using quackery to preve...
Ivermectin is now fast becoming the new MMS
A recent VICE story described a Telegram channel devoted to promoting veterinary ivermectin to treat autism. It has echoes of autism quackery going back at least to the use of MMS (a kind of blea...
Quack Quack
Joe Schwarcz's new book Quack Quack is an informative and entertaining look at quackery and pseudoscience past and present. A delightful read. The post Quack Quack first appeared on Science-Base...
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The appeal of being a medical “apostate”
There has long been a huge appeal in medicine that derives from being an "apostate". Since COVID-19 hit, apostasy has become like a drug among too many doctors, and social media has amplified the...
Neuroplasticity Nonsense Is Full of Red Flags
Adora Winquist offers advice about neuroplasticity, but hers is not the language of science or reality. The post Neuroplasticity Nonsense Is Full of Red Flags first appeared on Science-Based Me...
“Censorship” and “thoughtcrime”? Antivaxxers and COVID-19 contrarians attack California AB 2098
One of the oldest tropes favored by quacks of all stripes, including antivaxxers, is to portray any attempt at regulating their quackery as an assault on freedom of speech. It's therefore not sur...
Columbia University finally cuts ties with America’s Quack Dr. Oz
Decades after Dr. Oz pioneered "integrating" quackery into medicine and after many years of promoting diet scams and quackery on a nationally syndicated daily television show, Columbia University...
FTC targets physicians’ COVID claims with cease-and-desist letters
The FTC recently announced it had issued 20 more cease-and-desist demands to physicians and others claiming their products and services prevent or treat COVID-19 without sufficient scientific bac...
Everything old is new again
Since the pandemic hit, I've frequently said things like, "Everything old is new again", referring to the antivaccine movement in the age of COVID-19. As 2022 dawned, I thought I'd expand a bit o...
Why It’s Worthwhile to Debunk Shivambu
Richard Feynman famously said, "The first principle is that you must not fool yourself—and you are the easiest person to fool". This is the most important lesson skepticism has to offer. The po...
Quack Protection Acts advance in state legislatures
Proposed laws in Wisconsin and Massachusetts would protect quacks who defraud patients with useless, and sometimes dangerous, nostrums, by essentially allowing them to practice medicine without a...
The latest antivax false claim: mRNA vaccines against COVID...e not vaccines but “medical devices” or “gene therapy”
There's a new antivaccine talking point in town, and it's just as much disinformation as other antivaccine talking points. It's the claim that mRNA COVID-19 vaccines are not really vaccines but "...
All science denial is a form of conspiracy theory
Regular readers of this blog know that many forms of quackery and science denial have conspiracy theories associated with them, but a further examination suggests that all forms of science denial...
Responding to Dr. Vinay Prasad’s “dunking on a 7′ hoop” criticism of SBM
Last week, Dr. Vinay Prasad decided to resurrect his misguided criticism from over a year ago likening SBM-style criticisms of alternative medicine to "dunking on a 7' hoop". Why he would decide ...
FDA and FTC issue more warning letters citing products and services making illegal COVID claims
The FDA and FTC have issued hundreds of warnings to companies selling products and services claiming, without adequate evidence, that they can prevent or treat COVID-19, but the possibility of go...