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Now that’s what I’m talking about! A state medical board appears poised to act

Many are the times that I’ve discussed the issue of quack doctors. I’m not just referring to naturopaths, whose abbreviation ND stands to me for “not a doctor.” In fact, I’m referring to actual, real physicians, doctors with an “MD” or “DO” after their names, doctors who have graduated from reputable medical schools, completed residencies at reputable hospitals, done fellowships, and are respected members of their communities. I’m referring to MDs who have embraced quackery and thus made themselves indistinguishable from NDs. Actually, they are worse than NDs, because, as MDs and DOs, they retain all the privileges that we as society, through our state medical boards, grant them, the power to prescribe drugs, even controlled substances., to do minor surgery, and, if they are surgeons, to do major surgery. They retain all of that but add to it quackery.

One such physician is one that I discussed last month, Dr. Daniel Kalb, a physician at Cool Springs Family Medicine (CSFM) in Franklin, TN. His 15 minutes of fame occurred when he wrote an antivaccine manifesto, announcing to the world that he would no longer administer vaccines at all. When unwanted attention came in the form of press and blog coverage, and, instead of having the courage of his convictions, rapidly deleted his post. Maybe it was embarrassment over the sheer brain dead ignorance of his post, which was full of easily refuted antivaccine tropes that I’ve discussed more times than I can remember. Or maybe it was the attention that was brought to bear on his practice, which offers colon cleanses, hyperbaric oxygen, and “detox” programs. As I said at the time, being antivaccine goes hand-in-hand with integrative medicine; i.e., “integrating” quackery with conventional medicine.

It appears that the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners has also taken notice. It looks as though it is about to do what I keep hoping state medical boards will do but so seldom ever actually do. I learned this when a GoFundMe page was pointed out. This page is called Stand With Kalb:

Following a week of extensive continuing education courses at the 2016 AutismOne conference, Dr. Daniel Kalb posted on his blog and Facebook page that he would no longer administer vaccines from his office. His opinion that in some cases vaccines may be linked to Autism and other neuroimmune problems, created tremendous opposition from many people, including physicians, who promised to report Dr. Kalb to the TN Board of Medical Examiners to have his license suspended. Less than 72 hours later, the Board initiated their investigation and currently shows no signs of stopping. They are not only questioning Dr. Kalb about his statement regarding vaccines and autism, but they are investigating his treatments of patients with other immune dysfunction disorders including PANDAS/PANS, Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and Lyme Disease.

Well, well, well, well, well. Isn’t this interesting? Could it be, I wonder, that the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners might actually do something this time? Who knows? As I’ve learned time and time again, an investigation of a quack by a state medical board doesn’t necessarily mean that the board will take action. However, the flip side to that is that no action can occur except after an investigation. Moreover, if this account is in any way accurate, it sounds as though there is a real investigation going on and not a perfunctory one.

There’s a lot to investigate, too. I went back to Dr. Kalb’s Cool Springs Family Medicine website, expecting that he would have scrubbed it of the worst quackery. Nope. It all appears to be there other than his now deleted antivaccine manifesto. For instance, he still advertises hyperbaric oxygen for basically every condition under the sun. (OK, maybe his indications are not that broad, but they are certainly very broad:

  • Alzheimer’s
  • Brain Injury
  • Migraines
  • Multiple Sclerosis
  • Surgical Recovery
  • Chronic Pain
  • Autism
  • Cerebral Palsy
  • Fibromyalgia
  • Stroke
  • Sports Injury
  • Lyme Disease

I don’t want to give the impression that HBOT is always quackery. For instance, it is useful for chronic ulcers, burn wounds, necrotizing soft tissue infections, and carbon monoxide poisoning. But for Alzheimer’s disease, migraines, brain injury, chronic pain, autism, cerebral palsy, lyme disease, etc.? Not so much. For such conditions, the use of HBOT is, based on evidence, quackery.

Then there’s the colon hydrotherapy Dr. Kalb offers. His website touts a device called the Hydro-San unit. Colon hydrotherapy is, of course, quackery as well, as I first discussed way, way back to the very beginnings as of this blog. However, I had never heard of the Hydro-San Plus colon cleanse unit; so I Googled it and soon found the company selling these units, Specialty Health Products, which touts colon hydrotherapy thusly:

Professional colon hydro-therapy benefits are being rediscovered globally and regarded as the foremost among cleansing treatments and technologies. Long before the word “colonic” came to use, popular healers of ancient times understood the need to cleanse the colon. Archeologists’ uncovered writings on colon health and cleansing set down by ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian societies dating back to 5,000 B.C.

As people explored new land and spread across the globe, the medical practice of colon cleansing and healing also expanded and evolved. Since ancient times, from continent to continent and over thousands of years, the cleansing of the colon remained a staple method of healing the intestinal tract and promoting internal health.

The writings of Plato, Hippocrates, Aristotle, Galen, Pare’ and Da Vinci reveal that the founding fathers of modern medicine understood and practiced early methods of cleansing the colon for a wide variety of health conditions and afflictions.

From average citizens to aristocrats and royalty, cleansing the colon was the recognized protocol for intestinal cleansing. No matter the reference, (i.e., enemas, high colonics, colon cleansing, colon irrigation) the result was a sense of good health and being. With SHP equipment, tapping into the healing benefits of colon hydro-therapy can now be fully realized

I do so love the appeal to antiquity to sell a “machine that goes ping.” This particular machine that goes ping offers:

  1. COMPLETELY ISOLATED ELECTRICAL: We are the ONLY Company in the world to completely Isolate our Electrical System from any water Usage. (We are not Shock Resistant – WE ARE SHOCK PROOF).
  2. Energy Efficient, LED Full Spectrum Light, 50,000 Hour Lifespan, relieves eye strain and improved color diagnostics.
  3. The World’s FIRST and ONLY Dual Lighting System. (Full Spectrum and U. V. Diagnostic Black LED Lighting). Clinical Black Light Diagnostic capabilities combined with our Chemical / Parasitology Curriculum and the FUTURE of Professional Colon Hydro-therapy.

Is it just me, or do you find it disturbing that this company would feel compelled to point ot that it is the only company in the world to completely isolate its electrical system from any water usage? Isn’t that just common sense, a necessary design prerequisite, for any electrical device that uses water? But what is it about these “color diagnostics” that are supposed to decrease eyestrain? How does one get eyestrain with this device? Be that as it may, at least the device uses disposable speculums. In any case, why does Dr. Kalb have one of these devices? If you believe his website, it’s to:

  • Rid of body of toxins
  • Reduce inflammation
  • Help the body heal itself
  • Boost metabolism
  • Balance hormones

All of these, of course, are the vague, science-y sounding invocations of biology, particularly the appeal to unnamed “toxins,” which are almost never actually identified. Yet, like all quacks, Dr. Kalb is heavily into “detoxification”:

If the natural detoxification processes are disturbed, (and there are many potential environmental and genetic causes for disrupting this system), then you develop symptoms, a variety of them. If left unaddressed, these symptoms can progress, worsen, and can lead to disease, in fact, they can potentially cause autoimmune disease (there is an epidemic of autoimmune disease).

At CSFM we address the root cause of your illness. Hippocrates said “If we could give every individual the right amount of nourishment and exercise, not too little and not too much, we would have found the safest way to health”. When our bodies do not detox properly, we begin a cycle of illness that is difficult to manage and overwhelming for most people. We offer our patients various detoxification programs that help begin to regain balance in their body. We educate our patients about detoxification cleanses from 10-28 days, elimination diets that help eliminate the top foods that cause inflammation in our bodies and the use of digestive enzyme and probiotics to begin to heal the gut. We utilize an infared sauna, colon hydrotherapy, yoga classes as well as an nutritionist to help our patients educate themselves on decreasing inflammation and detoxifying their bodies.

Here’s the thing. The body is very, very good at detoxifying. I don’t mean “detoxifying” fantasy “toxins” that naturopaths and Dr. Kalb like to invoke as the One True Cause of All Disease. I mean real detoxification or real toxins that can be measured and the effects of whose excess can be measured. That real detoxification occurs through the kidneys and the liver.

So why the GoFundMe page? Why is there ever a GoFundMe page for anything? Money. Someone named Erin Crawford created the page. Whether the page was created at Dr. Kalb’s request or not is unknown. What is known is that the page claims that Dr. Kalb needs money for legal bills. Now, it’s only been less than two months since then. It’s really unknown if he needs $50,000 for legal bills or not. The only way I could see him needing that much money is if the state is definitely going to try to strip him of his medical license. I checked the Tennessee State Board of Medical Examiners website, and there’s nothing mentioned about him there yet, but that’s not surprising, given how recently this whole kerfuffle reacted.

What I can say, though, is that this GoFundMe page suggests to me is that Dr. Kalb is worried. If it really is true that the Tennessee State Medical Board is preparing to go after Dr. Kalb, I have only one thing to say: Good. As I’ve said before, state medical boards tend to be reluctant to go after doctors who use unscientific treatments like “detoxification” and colon cleanses because it forces them to enforce a standard of care, because such cases are harder to prove, and because there is so much pushback. State medical boards are generally good at going after doctors who commit easily identified, clear-cut breaches in trust, such as substance abuse, defrauding insurance companies, or diddling patients. When it comes to making judgment calls about doctors practicing outside of the standard of care, they’re a lot more reluctant to do so.

So I say: If it’s true that you’re preparing to go after Dr. Kalb and take his license away, good for you, Tennessee. Good for you. Maybe your action will inspire other state medical boards to do the same thing with their local quacks. There are so many of them to stop.

By Orac

Orac is the nom de blog of a humble surgeon/scientist who has an ego just big enough to delude himself that someone, somewhere might actually give a rodent's posterior about his copious verbal meanderings, but just barely small enough to admit to himself that few probably will. That surgeon is otherwise known as David Gorski.

That this particular surgeon has chosen his nom de blog based on a rather cranky and arrogant computer shaped like a clear box of blinking lights that he originally encountered when he became a fan of a 35 year old British SF television show whose special effects were renowned for their BBC/Doctor Who-style low budget look, but whose stories nonetheless resulted in some of the best, most innovative science fiction ever televised, should tell you nearly all that you need to know about Orac. (That, and the length of the preceding sentence.)

DISCLAIMER:: The various written meanderings here are the opinions of Orac and Orac alone, written on his own time. They should never be construed as representing the opinions of any other person or entity, especially Orac's cancer center, department of surgery, medical school, or university. Also note that Orac is nonpartisan; he is more than willing to criticize the statements of anyone, regardless of of political leanings, if that anyone advocates pseudoscience or quackery. Finally, medical commentary is not to be construed in any way as medical advice.

To contact Orac: [email protected]

114 replies on “Now that’s what I’m talking about! A state medical board appears poised to act”

I hope the board follows through.

And Dr. Kalb seems like someone who may be able to learn some valuable lessons from the experience even if it doesn’t end in harsh sanctions.

I checked the Tennessee State Board of Medical Examiners website, and there’s nothing mentioned about him there yet, but that’s not surprising, given how recently this whole kerfuffle reacted.

It looks as though Tennessee is, statutorily, pretty tight-lipped; see subsection (h)(1) here. Then again, they might be feeling motivated:

“In its response to the audit, the Board of Medical Examiners noted that it suffered from understaffing in parts of the state and has recently hired 18 new investigators. It also noted that it gives higher priority to allegations of imminent harm to patients than lesser violations.”

Emma Delmayne caught the scammer promising to cure autism.

Ah. See also subsection (b).

I have only one thing to say: Good.

I concur.
A French antivax doc/surgeon was stripped of his licence recently, in my country, and it was not too soon.
He is actually retired, so the impact on his life isn’t going to be tremendous, to be honest.

When it comes to making judgment calls about doctors practicing outside of the standard of care

That takes time*, it’s likely to trigger internal political backlash, and it goes against the human tendency for tribalism, to stick with their own, right or wrong.
As I read it somewhere in a different context (religion), it’s very difficult for someone to go against the extremists/bad apples of one’s group and still maintain both the group’s cohesion and one’s sense of belonging to this group.
But if this was easy, that wouldn’t be an important issue.

I don’t know if having the judges being from outside of the profession may help with the political/”won’t go against my colleagues” aspects. Being non-physicians, they may have a hard time understanding why some cases are serious breaches of standards of care and other aren’t.

The writings of Plato, Hippocrates, Aristotle, Galen, Pare’ and Da Vinci reveal that the founding fathers of modern medicine understood and practiced early methods of cleansing the colon for a wide variety of health conditions and afflictions.

Next, they will re-introduce bloodletting.

Mainstream medicine can never win with alt-meds. Either medical schools offer outdated knowledge, or on the contrary they should have stick with treatments from the bronze age.

Uh, was Pare’ actually Pare°, and Paracelsus before being auto-corrected? Not nitpicking for typo, just discovering a new dimension to the helpfulness of word processors.

Now, if it was meant to be Paré, like French battle surgeon Ambroise Paré, I’ll have to go read his biography again. I didn’t remember him being that fond of all-purpose enemas. His patients usually had plenty of more interesting holes.

You know, I do wonder if that magical rectum rinser machine might actually be of any real utility for preparing a patient’s colon for endoscopy.
I mean, it’s electrically isolated and… Ow hell, I can’t go on with a straight face any longer.

Although, recalling having to drink a gallon of solution that made me increasingly nauseous the nigh before an endoscopic exam isn’t a very fond memory…
But then, that was real medicine, a precaution against ignition of gases in the colon, should cautery be needed after taking a biopsy.
Yes, folks, that actually has happened in the past and some patients didn’t survive the trauma. Hence, why rectal rinsing isn’t used, but drinking a gallon of solution to actually clear the bowel is used.

Now, if it was meant to be Paré, like French battle surgeon Ambroise Paré, I’ll have to go read his biography again. I didn’t remember him being that fond of all-purpose enemas.

IIRC Paré had no time for quackery or traditions and was all about the evidence-based treatments.

But a broad-spectrum career-fraud like Kalb, spouting bullsh1t like a repurposed chocolate fountain, is not going to be deterred by the absence of interest in colonic irrigation from Paré or Leonardo or the rest. He’s just going to make it up anyway, like everything else.

And whatever happens, the alt-med community will spin it to their favor.

The board imposes some sort of sanctions? The guy will be a martyr, whom the evil government tries to silence cause their Big Pharma masters don’t want people to benefit from the awesome modalities he offers.

The board does nothing much? That will be proof positive, that what he does is not quakery but pure science and proper medicine.

Of the two possibilities I think the latter is worse, cause it could swing the fence sitters…

“Dr. Kalb seems like someone who may be able to learn some valuable lessons from the experience even if it doesn’t end in harsh sanctions.”
“The guy will be a martyr”

I suspect the “lesson” to be learned is that one can garner new patients and pats on the back by positioning oneself as a Brave Maverick Doctor under assault by Pharma-dominated traditionalists. Unless there’s a sanction with teeth, which is likely only if there are complaints from patients who can be shown to have been harmed.

I wonder how many complaints he has against him;. I hope a lot. Arizona cardiologist Jack Wolfson, DO, received 38 complaints when he told parents not to vaccinate and that “We should be getting measles, mumps, rubella, chicken pox, these are the rights of our children to get it” (all said during a measles outbreak in Arizona), and his state medical board voted 4-1 not to do anything to him. Bob Sears has been reported multiple times to the California medical board–and nothing has happened either. Rumor has it Jay Gordon’s been reported as well for his AV quackery–again nothing came of it (though Gordon at least got lectured by his board a while ago for his total botch of not testing (for HIV) and properly treating a very sick child who was grossly underweight who died a few weeks later from HIV/AIDs complications (honestly he should have lost his license for that one, esp as he knew mom had HIV/AIDs ).

I guess I’m not being very optimistic this morning given that I remember in medical being told how being a bad doctor would get you into all sorts of trouble and that rarely ever seems to happen to the very bad doctors.

Next TN Medical Board meeting is Sept 13-14.

HBOT can also be used to treated decompression sickness (DCS–such as happens with scuba divers), which isn’t listed on Kalb’s page–perhaps because you need to do real training and certification to treat DCS rather than use an HBOT chamber for quackery.

COMPLETELY ISOLATED ELECTRICAL: We are the ONLY Company in the world to completely Isolate our Electrical System from any water Usage. (We are not Shock Resistant – WE ARE SHOCK PROOF).

*facepalm*

This really isn’t how it works. First off, I presume they mean they keep the sensitive electronics of the device (all those fancy-schmancy dials and LEDs and whatever electronics they have to drive the display) isolated from the water. Great. That’s good for keeping the electronics from getting corroded, or worse, shorting. Especially if they’re using electrolytes in the hydrotherapy fluids, which they probably are. Those are great ways to ruin electronics.

But to prevent shock? Hah. Is the hose completely conductive? If not, and it almost certainly is not as I’m sure patient aren’t too keen to have a copper pipe jammed up their posteriors, it will be continually generating static charge as water flows through it. If they’re having problems with static shock, then they really should just put in a humidifier.

Chris Hickie:

I guess I’m not being very optimistic this morning given that I remember in medical being told how being a bad doctor would get you into all sorts of trouble and that rarely ever seems to happen to the very bad doctors.

Alas, this is true. Turns out, the only things that will reliably get a doctor canned, short of actual murder, are fooling around with patients and inappropriate narcotic prescribing.

I do so love the appeal to antiquity to sell a “machine that goes ping.”

Somebody (I’m not sure if it’s Orac or the manufacturers of the device in question) is channeling Calvin and Hobbes.

That device is disturbing on a number of levels. That they tout the separation of the electrical system and the water implies that I wouldn’t want to use any of their competitors’ devices (not that I would use this one either; having water forced up the rectum sounds painful to me). Their “full spectrum” LED is using the word “spectrum” in a way no physicist would use it, as they implicitly admit by pairing it with a UV LED. As for color diagnosis: That’s clearly meant to sound impressive to rubes but won’t fool anybody who understands basic chemistry and physics.

@Callie: I took the reference for being shockproof to refer to somehow conferring a magical inability to accidentally shock the patient, but I see how your explanation makes more sense. As I remember being told once in a physics class with a high enough voltage you can pretty much pass a current through anything.

Regarding concerns that proceedings by the Tennessee Medical Board will somehow make this qack physician a martyr– Kalb is already a martyr in the eyes of those who worship him should anybody in the slightest even criticize him. I want him made an example to most importantly protect patients, but to also show that doctors are being monitored after medical school and training . Making it through medical school and residency and then getting your medical license should not be the end of the story, but quack physicians sure make me feel like it is when they practice seemingly unfettered by any state medical boards selling any type of snake oil they wish. People need to be shown by the examples of state medical boards that medical quackery is not acceptable and that “treatments” outside of the standard of care will not be tolerated. This would also send a message to other physicians who may be tempted to go down the path of quackery, as I think a good portion of the quack physicians out there already are burned out physicians who have realized they can parlay their MD or DO degree into a lot of money by selling crap and not get in any trouble for it.

“Turns out, the only things that will reliably get a doctor canned, short of actual murder, are fooling around with patients and inappropriate narcotic prescribing.”

A murder conviction would reliably constitute grounds for permanent loss of license (boards tend to frown on felonies), but the others depend on severity/repetition of offense. You might just get a suspension and mandatory “re-education”.

Does Mark Geier have any active medical licenses left?

Oh absolutely, but the boards definitely seem to act a lot faster on sexual shenanigans than on quackery and negligence, even though quackery and negligence are demonstrably hazardous to their patients — to the point of deaths. As noted above, how the heck did Dr Gordon get off with just a lecture for not testing for HIV, when he had a patient *die* of untreated HIV when the kid had obvious risk factors (an HIV-positive mother)? Why does quackery get such a free pass? I don’t expect an answer to that question; it baffles me.

COMPLETELY ISOLATED ELECTRICAL: We are the ONLY Company in the world to completely Isolate our Electrical System from any water Usage. (We are not Shock Resistant – WE ARE SHOCK PROOF).

I’m thinking more like using an isolation transformer to separate the wall current from the patient.

Long Ago, when I was in the medical device field working with ultrasound mammography scanners, we incorporated a small one to completely separate the transducer from the internal imaging processors, a larger one to separate the mechanicals from the CPU, and a humongous one (50KV??) to separate the entire unit from the 110V main supply.

Of course, we actually had FDA pre-market approval and ongoing compliance visits.

fusilier, who really hopes that the blockquotes don’t fail
James 2:24

the boards definitely seem to act a lot faster on sexual shenanigans than on quackery and negligence

I’m sure part of this is the historic Puritan streak in the US, but issues of questionable consent arise when a doctor “plays doctor” with his patients. Maybe sometimes it’s purely consensual, but other times you get a Bill Cosby playing the role of a Dr. Huxtable for real. Not that quackery and negligence shouldn’t get a higher priority, but there are good reasons why a pattern of sleeping with your patients is grounds for revoking your medical license.

Oh, I wholeheartedly agree, Eric. I just don’t get why “explicitly endangering patients by not treating their diseases properly” is not held to that same standard. I mean, the “playing doctor” thing, which is also grounds for dismissal in a lot of other places where there’s an uneven power dynamic, like teachers and students, is wrong because of questions of consent and the doctor’s objectivity being impaired by being involved with their patient. Quackery definitely also impairs their judgement, as there are obvious financial incentives.

In my cynical moments, I wonder if it’s because our society is puritanical in matters of sex and recreational drugs, but often treats greed as a virtue. Why else could major hospitals be lauded for adopting quackery for the explicit purpose of commercial growth?

“I’m thinking more like using an isolation transformer to separate the wall current from the patient.”

Transformers fail, including shorts between windings. By itself a transformer is inadequate protection for this application.

Even if it’s battery powered there are body tissues that will become conductive at lower voltages than the epidermis. There are ways to instantly shut down a power supply if current flow is abnormal, but does this device do it?

“Dr, where does the Full Spectrum and U. V. Diagnostic Black LED Lighting go? It’s kinda big.”

A couple pounds of barium and the brown note machine for me–

For entertainment, Tesla once convinced his good friend Mark Twain to test out a vibrating platform in his Manhattan lab. Twain took him up on the offer and found it to his liking. When Tesla commanded Twain to come down off the platform Twain refused because he was having a good time. A few minutes later Twain ran from the device. It seems that Tesla had deliberately neglected to tell Twain that the vibration tended to cause diarrhea.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk%3ABrown_note#Nikola_Tesla_created_such_vibrations_.28really.29

Now, if Florida would just go after Sponaugle.

He claims to cure almost everything, but especially ‘chronic Lyme’ with treatments that often even cause seizures in his patients. He then claim they are filled with ‘toxins, from lyme, molds and other sources and often even adds cat scratch fever to the diagnosis.

First of all, the purpose of an isolation transformer is to block the passage of spurious signals (such as radio frequency waves) which may be “riding along” on the main power lines and could play havoc with stereo or other electronic equipment. It does this *without* changing the voltage and available current being presented to the device that is powered. A person can still be shocked by the presence of that same voltage and current, just as if the transformer was not there.

I think you all are reading too much into their claim about electrical isolation. It is a standard requirement for biomedical equipment, and even power tools to insulate the parts that a person comes in contact from any parts that carry electrical voltage/current. Not to do so would be a serious design defect and probably illegal.

I think it is like in the grocery store where the organic chicken is labeled in big letters “NO ANTIBIOTICS – EVER!” Yet every other package of chicken is also labeled “no antibiotics” (in smaller letters) because US law says that no poultry (organic or not) can be sold if antibiotics have been administered.

But I guess the organic is safer because they proclaim it in big letters.

I just don’t get why “explicitly endangering patients by not treating their diseases properly” is not held to that same standard.

Part of the problem is that a medical board can’t start an investigation until and unless there is a complaint. Most patients of woo-prone doctors are themselves woo-prone, and most of the rest don’t recognize the woo as such. As long as the patient is a mentally competent adult, privacy laws ensure that nobody else will know. So unless the doctor screws up so badly as to kill the patient, who is both willing to file a complaint and has the standing to do so?

Why else could major hospitals be lauded for adopting quackery for the explicit purpose of commercial growth?

Hospitals in the US are usually corporations, or part of a corporation. Most of them are not-for-profit, but some are for profit. The law in this country tends to grant corporate entities a great deal of deference with little or no accountability, as long as they don’t get too blatant about cooking the books. As long as they can pretend that a program contributes to their purpose–CAM satisfies the letter of that law–they are free to offer the program.

Someone once described a photo of ( our most esteemed and entirely gracious host,) Orac as being the one in which he appeared ‘snarkiet’ ( or suchlike- it was posted by some woo-meister)- well, better snarky than whatever you call what the above photo exhibits. Yiiiii.

Helianthus@7

Mainstream medicine can never win with alt-meds. Either medical schools offer outdated knowledge, or on the contrary they should have stick with treatments from the bronze age.

Yet another example of where the antiscience crowd fails not only to be consistent with reality but internally consistent. You might get the ‘appeal to antiquity’ in one breath and ‘MSM knows nothing because bloodletting’ in the next.

I’d guess to ‘shock-proof’ the ping-machine, they just completely isolate the plumbing from the chassis. But wouldn’t the Hydo-San + work so much better to help the body heal itself if it ran the proper oscillating current through the water to zap all the parasites in the colon? Periodic shocks could also up the pleasure quotient for patients, eliminating the need for a separate anal erotics electro-stimulation system, thus encouraging them to detox more often. And why just pump water into the colon, when the machine could easily be adapted to accept special mixtures of organic coffee and/or wheatgrass in Keurig packets.

Clearly, Kalb is a scammer who is holding out the good stuff from his patients so the won’t actually be healed, will remain toxified, and have to come back to him for more treatment when they come down with the maladies he could and should have prevented. I’m sure this greedy criminal has an erotico-electro-stim-colonic-detox system for HIMSELF: what else could account for that facial expression in the photo but that he was getting shocked up the arse when it was taken?

We are the ONLY Company in the world to completely Isolate our Electrical System from any water Usage. (We are not Shock Resistant – WE ARE SHOCK PROOF).

Good. I can finally get colonics now since they placated my fear of being electrocuted while doing so. That was the only thing holding me back for so many years.

“the purpose of an isolation transformer is to block the passage of spurious signals”

That’s one use, not the only use. Also, there is no reason by definition or otherwise that the turns ratio must be 1:1.

“Yiiiii.”

What that picture immediately reminded me of was Smiling Man from the old User Friendly web comic strip. The resemblance is uncanny (and unflattering).

“so much better to help the body heal itself if it ran the proper oscillating current through the water to zap all the parasites in the colon”

If you can only kill half the parasites would that make the device a semi-colon cleanser?

As I remember being told once in a physics class with a high enough voltage you can pretty much pass a current through anything.

Well, yeah. Lightning sends a current thru a mile or so of air. Well, very wet air, but still.

Slightly more on topic –

My sister found an old health book at a yard sale, first published back in 1903. It was written by an MD.

One of the most often used words in that book was ‘enema’. Enemas were suggested for almost every condition. If the enema wasn’t suggested for a cure, it was to be used to provide comfort to the afflicted (this surprised me, as I have had two enemas, and I didn’t enjoy either one).

There was also a great deal of eat healthy, be active, and have regular bowl movements (and enemas), and you will stay healthy.

OT but are avaricious woo-meisters trying to get money any way they can EVER truly OT @ RI?

Today Mikey ( Natural News) shills his new heavy metals testing service ( insert joke HERE). It is NOT cheap he says.
No body fluids, please.

Same old, same old. Yesterday I finished reading Gregg Olsen’s Starvation Heights: A True Story of Murder and Malice in the Woods of the Pacific Northwest. A turn-of- the- century quack with the ‘natural’ cure for all disease and infirmity set up as a doctor, managed to get a state license, and opened up a clinic. Her secret?

Fasting and enemas. Lots of fasting, lots of enemas. It eliminated the “toxins” in order to get to the “root” of the malady and “allow the body to heal itself.” Problem was, her fasting methods included going without food for as long as 60 days — and people died. Moreover, they died after handing over their jewels and writing wills leaving all tehir earthly goods to the wonderful and loving maverick healer. Someone eventually escaped and there was a huge trial in 1912.

Although she was convicted of manslaughter and lost her spuriously-granted doctor’s license, the Brave Maverick Healer eventually returned, called it a ‘spa’ — and pulled the same wicked scam again, only now she didn’t have to worry about losing her license. She may have been a True Believer, though it’s hard to see how. For decades the area around her sanitarium looked like a Nazi death camp stalked by living skeletons.

Interesting read, though frustrating. And the alt med rhetoric hasn’t changed much… nor has the steady stream of gullible patients responding to sweeping claims regarding “natural cures.”

Lightning sends a current thru a mile or so of air. Well, very wet air, but still

Johnny, people have been struck in the clear blue ten miles from the thunderhead. And the lightning only ‘sends a current’ through such distances after a stepwise channel of ionization bridges the gap — there are thousands of ‘steps’. One can see this chaining effect by a fan blowing across the terminal of a Tesla coil — The length of discharge is greatly reduced as one cycle can no longer build upon the ionization of the preceding cycles.

Denise:
I’m so disappointed. From your comment I thought Mikey would test MY heavy metals. But no, it’s just for soil and water. “We do NOT test urine, blood, semen, breast milk or similar body fluids.” Boo. Well I suppose I could piss in the water, bleed into the soil, and… oh, never mind.

“We do not test microbiology, so please do not send us mysterious molds, fungi and spores for analysis.” Can’t, because there’s too much of that stuff from the contents of the supplements lingering in the lab for the tests to separate the sample from the background. “No radioactive samples are allowed either (we scan every incoming sample for radiation to be sure).” Because he’s seen The Thing From Another World.

“Importantly, we cannot offer any health or medical advice based on the results from the samples you send us. ” Because that would cost extra! “If you want to know what’s safe or dangerous, you can get a copy of my new book Food Forensics which has detailed chapters on each toxic element, along with over 1,000 research citations.”

The real peach on Mikey’s page, though, is the video labeled “Democrats Will Bury This Video If They Want To Keep The Whitehouse” as perfect a statement of AltMed conspiracy theory as you’ll ever find. It’s a pre-sales pitch for new treatments that Cure Everything that are being squelched by the Big-Pharma controlled FDA. The video, and the miracle-working products, come from something called The Health Sciences Institute, which, kinda on-topic, has no less than 7 MDs on it’s advisory board. Y’all should check it out. Really. The presentation (it’s just audio with read along text onscreen) is fascinating.

[INSERTING JOKE]
You do need to get your heavy metal tested. Once its in your system, you can never get it out, but a deficiency can lead to sloth and boredom. Thankfully, you can easily get your metal level back up prime:

The purpose of a basic isolation transformer is galvanically isolate the secondary side from the primary side.
Anything connected to AC mains is “earth ground” referenced, meaning that shock is possible between the “hot” side of the AC line and any object connected to earth ground, which will include all but the most unusual plumbing fixtures and the metal housings of most electrical devices. An isolation transformer “floats” the secondary side so that the only way to get a shock is across the output of the secondary. You can hold on to either side of the secondary winding and earth ground and not get a shock. Certain types of isolation transformers include electrostatic shielding between the primary and secondary and/or use winding designs that minimize capacitance between primary and secondary, both of which decrease high frequency coupling, but this is not essential. All transformers that are not “autotransformers” provide isolation, though not all would meet safety agency standards.

The simple fact is that there are well-defined standards of insulation and allowable “leakage currents” in electrical equipment. Allowable limits of leakage are lower and requirements for insulation are higher for medical equipment.

…a humongous one (50KV??)

If you mean 50 KVA (kilo volt-amperes = 50 kilowatts at unity power factor; e.g. 208 amps at 240 volts), I doubt it. Such a transformer would weigh on the order of 200 kg. Ultrasonic energy at a small fraction of that much power would blast cells to oblivion.

But wouldn’t the Hydo-San + work so much better to help the body heal itself if it ran the proper oscillating current through the water to zap all the parasites in the colon?

A current powerful enough to zap the parasites will likely be powerful enough to do serious damage to the host. It’s the current, not the voltage, that kills you.

From the pics of the machine that goes ping (though I suspect is is more likely to make noises more akin to enteric upset or blowing a raspberry), it looks like it runs on 12 volts DC, which means they could power it with an approved(*) external power supply AND benefit from fact that you do have to work quite hard to get a shock at 12 volts DC.

I’m not sure just what it means with regard to my nerd cred, but when I saw the pic, I said to myself “I wonder what Colder Products thinks of their (water/air/vac) connectors being used on such stuff.”

* real approval – not the Chinese stuff with fraudulent approval markings

The purpose of a basic isolation transformer is galvanically isolate the secondary side from the primary side.

Nonsense. It is to ensure that you have fresh, locally-generated electricity rather than tired, packaged, processed electricity that came all the way by the mains supply and lost all its vitamins.

rs:

What that picture immediately reminded me of was Smiling Man from the old User Friendly web comic strip. The resemblance is uncanny (and unflattering).

Oh my god yes, I can’t unsee it now.

herr docktor:

Nonsense. It is to ensure that you have fresh, locally-generated electricity rather than tired, packaged, processed electricity that came all the way by the mains supply and lost all its vitamins.

And, as usual, Herr Docktor wins the thread. 😉

Here is WA ST. we have a doctor that has gotten into trouble for pain meds and how his clinics billed. Eight clinics in 8 cities have basically closed leaving over 8,000 patients in the lurch. Now people are asking why it took so long for the state to move against him. From the Seattle Times:

Patients in ‘immediate danger,’ but state didn’t stop pain doctor for years.

Washington state health officials were warned more than a year ago about possible overdose deaths tied to Dr. Frank Li and Seattle Pain Centers. Concerns about harm dated as far back as 2013. Why did it take so long to stop him?

The purpose of a basic isolation transformer is galvanically isolate the secondary side from the primary side.

Fair enough. They also have the potential to run 4 microwave oven transformers in series or to connect your air conditioner to two legs of a three leg transformer.

Damn, so many CX1574 triggered vacuum gapsand deuterium thyratrons; So little time.

Yes, I know it’s a digression, but….

First of all, the purpose of an isolation transformer is to block the passage of spurious signals (such as radio frequency waves) which may be “riding along” on the main power lines and could play havoc with stereo or other electronic equipment. It does this *without* changing the voltage and available current being presented to the device that is powered.

You’re also decoupling line-connected components, which is why an isolation transformer is a Very Good Idea for repair work on energized TVs, All-American Fives, and so forth.* Hell, the aluminum G4 PowerBooks have a floating chassis.

There’s a reason that the two blades of AC plugs often have different sizes nowadays.

* I miss you, my XL-100 ColorTrak and Hallicrafters S-53A.

I see that this has progressed between when I started and finished commenting. Anyway,

any object connected to earth ground, which will include all but the most unusual plumbing fixtures

What? It’s extraordinarily rare in these parts to find such a ground – nearly every building has had its plumbing upgraded. My last apartment was the only one I’ve ever encountered (and how I realized the Powerbook had a floating chassis; I had a big, stainless prep table in the galley-style kitchen where the laptop also lived, and the thing would shock me if (1) I reached back and contacted the sink or (2) contacted the table, which was wedged between the stove and radiator, if the heat was on).

Oh…

Anything connected to AC mains is “earth ground” referenced

No, around here the mains ground and true earth ground are different. Unfortunately, I was so rusty that when I tried to measure it in the old apartment that I blew one of R1–R3 on my old Micronta 22-214 VOM. (It turns out that the Sencore FE-20 that I picked up for $10 to repair the Micronta needs a repair of its own, which I haven’t gotten around to.)

which was wedged between the stove and radiator, if the heat was on.

Really? If the ‘radiator’ was of the central boiler and steam combo then that sounds unlikely. Some appliance has the neutral and hot reversed. If it’s between the stove and any other ground then that is nominal; for me, it was between the stove and refrigerator — Damn those polarized plugs; Not worth a damn if the house wiring is backward. I still don’t picture how that effect manifested itself only when the heat was ‘on’.

Sastra @36: Thanks for the book suggestion. I just finished “I’ll have What She’s Having”, where the author (Rebecca Harrington) tries out a number of celebrity diet books. The diets are generally bizarre (peanut butter on steak! fermented tofu! 10 Diet Cokes per day!) and hugely calorie restrictive. It is interesting to see trends in fad diets over time (from Marilyn Monroe and Jackie Kennedy to Madonna and Beyonce).

Thankfully, none of the diets called for a ‘colonic’. (Well, maybe Gweneth Paltrow, but the author skipped that to pay for the expensive produce.)

Narad, you live in dangerous places!

Plumbing fixtures are rarely deliberately grounded, but water in plastic pipes can be sufficiently conductive to allow enough current for a surprise, though very unlikely a lethal shock.

Because things like laptop computers don’t get direct AC mains connections, the chassis can float. Most switch mode power supplies have a low-value capacitor between the DC output and essentially the AC mains (usually after the bridge rectifier on the AC input), the intent being to provide a local RF return path for RFI mitigation. The value of the cap is far too small for a hazardous shock. The allowed value is one thing that differs between consumer/industrial and medical power supplies.

Old hot-chassis consumer stuff was a different matter – one side of the AC power cord straight to the chassis. This made for interesting events with things like guitar and mic amps when one had the chassis connected to neutral and the other to line.
There are plenty of LED light bulbs from China that have exposed metal that is no more than a diode drop from both sides of the AC mains input. You can find some interesting videos of people testing them. (also in-cup electric water heaters that are just a pair of electrodes connected straight to the AC line cord).

Orac,

Do you have a floating chassis or do you shock people who handle you improperly?

Why, oh, why did I mention the electric stuff?

Because the up the butt stuff needed to be introduced inch by inch, like a gentleman?

Bloody hell. Why, oh, why did I mention the electric stuff? I’m sure as hell regretting it now.

C’mon, man. I did do some on-topic legwork at the outset.

Plus, energy.

Because things like laptop computers don’t get direct AC mains connections, the chassis can float.

To true earth ground (which encompasses two of the points I was trying to make), the leakage-current shock from the Powerbook was about at the touch-a-9V-battery-to-your-tongue level. But from one hand to the other, if you get my drift.

This “device” as discussed here has almost certainly received more safety and technical discussion here than it previously has had in toto (screw italics).

Orac,

Do you have floating chassis or do you shock people who mishandle you?

Chris, let just none of these people represent medicine well.

Is it just me, or do you find it disturbing that this company would feel compelled to point ot that it is the only company in the world to completely isolate its electrical system from any water usage?

Back on topic, though, the section that precedes this is perhaps even more disturbing:

“The Cleansing Unit permits cleaning and disinfection of the waste assembly of the HYDRO~SAN Plus Base Unit. The reservoir should be filled with disinfectant solution as outlined in the user manual that comes with your machine.

“1. High Flow Water Rinse: Thoroughly flushes remaining residue from the HYDRO~SAN Plus Unit.

“2. Sanitizing Solution: Pre-mixes automatically and virtually cleanses the entire system.

“3. A Quick Rinse: sends filtered water through the system, removing any remaining cleansing solution, leaving your HYDRO~SAN Plus unit cleansed, rinsed and ready to go.”

The section for consignment-sale units (PDF) seems to be telling, as well.

To true earth ground (which encompasses two of the points I was trying to make), the leakage-current shock from the Powerbook was about at the touch-a-9V-battery-to-your-tongue level.

Still haven’t tried this yet.

I hope that they throw the book at those quacks. It’s not okay to go around tricking people and putting people’s health &safety at risk all the time, and they need to know that. The quacks need to go to jail.

Calm down JDSAF. This guy was merely using water; this is not criminal.

Dr. Browstein should go to jail for his incessant Iodine mongering, but many “quack” therapies are essentially harmless.

On some web sites selling this “Hydro san plus”, it is reported this device is FDA approved. I can’t find the specific approval document but I did find an interesting (if you’re literally into that sh*t) letter from 2001 to the FDA someone representing group of colon washers asking their devices be classified from FDA class II (apparently these devices can be used when bowel prep for some radiology procedures fail–there’s one for the med students…) to class III (which is of a more generalized approval) but not to the class I designation (which is what the colon washers were hoping for) which would allow anyone to get a hydro san plus same as they buy a toothbrush. http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/dailys/01/Mar01/032201/cp001.pdf

@Chris Hicke
I don’t really understand the medical device classifications. Are colon hydrotherapy machines in a particular regulated class, or are they only subject to regulation because they need pre-market approval for each brand/type of machine?
Does anyone ever inspect these machines, or is it assumed that the ‘professional’ operating them is responsible? I ask because my state has a ‘health freedom’ law, and the only requirement for a CAMster to operate one is a lame certificate for a 6 week course.

@JDSAF

I hope that they throw the book at those quacks.

Well, if they are going to do so, lets hope it’s some doorstopper in hardcover.

which would allow anyone to get a hydro san plus same as they buy a toothbrush.

An unusually long, unusually flexible toothbrush.

lets hope it’s some doorstopper in hardcover

The CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics would do nicely. I happen to have a copy on my bookshelf.

I have a copy of the Navy’s Official Photographic History of the Great War that’s satisfyingly heavy.

On second thought, it’s an heirloom. Take my Chinese-English Dictionary, instead. It’s the book we get out on the rare occasions we have dinner guests under the age of 5. Makes a dandy booster seat.

@ #11 Yvette
Read your link, so sad for the kids. That’s “health freedom” for you, distrust industrial medicine, spend some time on Google, become an instant expert, refuse that allopathic poison and oops. Next step – blame someone else for not saving you from yourself. Reminds me of another case, actually too many other cases.

@ #11 Yvette
Read your link, so sad for the kids. That’s “health freedom” for you, distrust industrial medicine, spend some time on Google, become an instant expert, refuse that allopathic poison and oops.

It’s too bad that the Tennessean didn’t have this to point to when they went to press with that one.

Thanks, Babs.

Heh, I’ve never heard of someone so happy that the state medical board is doing their job. However, the doctor appears to be misleading people about the health benefits of “colon cleaning.”

@ Julian #70
Thanks. Having recently looked up historic quack Hulda Clark and her Zapper machine, I learned the claim is that it’s the frequency, not the voltage or current, that allegedly kills the alleged parasites. The bugs croak from the bad vibrations, I guess. Why settle for a machine that goes ‘ping’ when you can have a machine that goes ‘ping, jing and ting’? If we could make the box vibrate a little, we could put footrests on it for reflexology which you get colon cleansed.

And how Eric missed the jokes about BOTH Keurig packets and electrifed butt plugs is beyond me…

Hmm, the HSI “Democrats Will Bury This Video If They Want To Keep The Whitehouse” I found on NN may mot have been put there by Mikey, but by some internet ad-insertion algorithm thingie. It just showed up in my feed email from The Daily Beast, along with an invite to thank the Notorious RBG for opposing Citizen’s United, both with tags from the same ad placement services: ‘Liveintent’ and ‘Ad Choices’.

Scary…

It amazes me the amount of people poised and ready to strike at anything presumed negative or outside the box of big pharma “GOD-lines”. I’ll shed a bit of light upon this “quack” as so many of you “astute” people feel compelled to demean and defame him with. I began a journey with hospitalization in 2003 for a mystery illness that no specialist was able to diagnose. As a result I continued to decline over the next 10 years to the point of being bedridden and disabled(without compensation). I was desperate to find out what was wrong with me-I went to doctors and was provided band aids for my illnesses. I knew something was terribly wrong because I am a nurse and that was my gift of being able to identify any threats to a persons life and act upon it appropriately. The only thing was no one could appropriately act upon my threatened life appropriately. I had a friend who I found because I kept searching for answers as my only true advocate. She said “get tested for Lyme Disease”. I set an appointment up with her then Doctor-Dr. Kalb in January 2013. I went and we talked and he thoroughly examined me head to toe inside and out with a battery of lab draws and tests. I told him in his exam room with my husband there that if I don’t get better I’m afraid I’m going to die and leave my three boys motherless-I had a two year old, an 11 and a 14 year old at that time. I stated to him that I thought that I may have Lyme Disease because I had a severe history of multiple tick bites as a child of Alabama rural living-and I had been quite the “sickly” child with something wrong all the time. I then corrected my statement and looked him in the eyes and said “No-I KNOW I HAVE LYME DISEASE”. We talked about nutrition and exercise and hydration and all the things that make us live longer healthier lives and he stated that it was imperitive that I initiate a healthy lifestyle-and I did. Meanwhile I waited on results of testing. They finally came in and my bold self diagnosis was confirmed on paper-positive for Lyme Disease long term active inside my body. I was also positive for other significant debilitating coinfections that needed addressed immediately. I went on a round of meds to attack and suppress and defeat the bacterias and parasites ravaging my body. I didn’t get better-I stayed sick for a full year even with the liquid gold medicine that costed my insurance company $1700/month. I didn’t experience a significant amount of relief atleast not for long periods at a time. I continued to take meds and supplements and eat clean and healthy as I could afford to. I still was bed to couch most days. Then in March 2014 I begged for treatment that I felt would help if anything could-a port-a-cath for IV meds. He finally agreed and I had the surgery done and I began to take home health and administer high doses of iv antibiotics for a significant period of time. That first round from March to May 2014 brought about in me a person I hadn’t seen in years! I was better! I was up and going and doing so well I was able to bring my dying uncle to my home and for the first time in years take care of someone else as their nurse! I kept him with me for the next few months until he passed in my home. I continued to do well for three more months and then the symptoms began to creep back upon me. I messaged him and we met and we discussed options and I began another round of treatment that didn’t provide any relief or appear to make any difference. So we stopped it and went another route and now I am once again better and able to help others again. I’m still sick but I can see the light through the sickness. Dr. Daniel Kalb has worked diligently with me individualizing my treatment plan to meet my documented needs. He has given my family the closest thing to the mother my oldest son had at birth and the wife my husband proposed to. I would most likely be dead today if not for this man sitting humbly by my side examining my body and not afraid to lay hands on my scalp that was laden with sores from bacterial overload and devastated immune system. After over a year on treatment my CD 57 confirmed I was still fighting as it showed a 58. It’s this man who is a pioneer and a rogue and a hero and a martyr if need truly arises that has worked hand in hand with me to save my life. I went to the cardiologist and he told me you have Lyme carditis and you’ll have to take a beta blocker from now on. I took it for about a year and after treatment with Dr. Kalb I decided I would see how I did off the medicine-that was over two years ago! I have no heart issues at this time. I write this to you critics today to testify on behalf of this man who you all do not know yet you hang him on a cross before the masses for crucifixion publicly. You’re making the wrong assumptions. He is not a quack he follows the ILADS guidelines and follows the training he has received as a well schooled physician. He JUST ALSO HAPPENS TO GIVE A DAMNED ABOUT HIS PATIENTS AND FIGHT FOR THEIR RIGHTS AND THEIR HEALTH! He held his hand up once and took the Hippocratic Oath to “DO NO HARM”. So is he guilty of anything because he refuses to administer vaccines to people with already severely broken immune systems? NO HE IS NOT! He’s actually one of the few physicians out there who is FULFILLING THAT OATH TO DO NO HARM because HE KNOWS TO INJECT A VACCINE THAT HAS ALUMINUM AND MERCURY IN IT AT EXTREME LEVELS PER SHOT IS TO POISON A CHILD WHO IS ALREADY FIGHTING FOR THEIR LIFE. He is to be commended and praised and recognized for his stance on this matter. He is protecting children and adults from further harm to their already broken and devastated immune systems. As I come to close I pray that the ones of you who are jumping on a band bus to the crucifixion will take a moment and remember that one day you may be as sick as I have been and am and you may need a “martyr” such as the HONORABLE DOCTOR DANIEL KALB FROM COOL SPRINGS FAMILY MEDICINE. So think before you act out of spontaneous emotions and opinions. JUST THINK-what if this were me or my child and I’d already exhausted all other resources and I or they were still too sick to sit up? Then you may be much obliged to find a doctor to listen and individualize a treatment plan to get you or your child better. Please think about that. Thank you, Leslie McDonald-Lyme sufferer and Dr. Kalb Advocate-always!

“I began a journey”

It’s always a “journey” through woo-land, it seems.

With many stops for extraction of cash along the way.

I’m pretty sure that the medical board would be fascinated to hear that Kalb had a freaking port installed on someone for the explicit purpose of antibiotic misuse in “chronic Lyme.”

I think it’s impressive how around 2010-2011 Leslie was having carnal relations, a successful pregnancy and birthing a healthy child while mostly bedridden, on death’s doorstep and overloaded with bacteria and parasites and their attendant sores. Unless her story has taken a few liberties with the truth.

…and not a stop for a paragraph break.

I have to admit that “I pray that the ones of you who are jumping on a band bus to the crucifixion” has a certain literary flair.

Why aren’t all patients like that? Turning up in the waiting room with a self-assigned faith-based diagnosis, demanding to be bled dry of every dollar?

Mr Woo had me read a three page list describing antibiotics and antifungals, dosing recommendations, time required (many six months or more), etc., because he read some doctor’s “cure” for all autoimmune diseases. It includes live blood analysis to determine what the precipitating infection is, etc.

One of these days I won’t talk him out of something and a miracle cure will kill me. Would better science education in this country reduce the ability of quacks to find marks?

I think colon cleansing should be used for entertainment purposes only.

Gosh, I had NO IDEA all the children in metro Nashville have severely broken and devastated immune systems and are fighting for their lives. And I DID NOT KNOW individual vaccine injections contain Extreme Levels of Aluminum and Mercury. I’m just SO grateful to Leslie McDonald for bringing some FACTS to this blog, and shining her light of Truth in the Darkness. And the callous people here making fun of her Lyme Disease really tick me off!

Get me on the band bus to the cruci-fiction
I wanna drive a stake through my quack affliction
I got some Nine Inch Nails

The whack in the comments won’t stop
The carriage returns have all dropped
She’s filled with bugs
“It’s Lyme” she cried
This world’s an infection
Go hide!

^ location field should have read:
“Head like a hole; turn out the light” to reference the Doors song (When The Music’s Over) that came into my head reading “jumping on a band bus to the crucifixion”, the lyrics of which served as the template for comment #91..

Sorry, I meant to get to this sooner, but I was just now reminded by a news report about McDonald’s, HFCS, etc.:

I think it is like in the grocery store where the organic chicken is labeled in big letters “NO ANTIBIOTICS – EVER!” Yet every other package of chicken is also labeled “no antibiotics” (in smaller letters) because US law says that no poultry (organic or not) can be sold if antibiotics have been administered.

This isn’t quite accurate. The choice being marketed (which may or may not be “real”; I’m not able to dig further right at the moment) is one of animal husbandry practices.

Organic — the National Organic Program (NOP) requires that livestock or poultry are never given antibiotics. When an animal becomes ill on an organic farm and requires antibiotics – an event that is not unusual – that
animal is treated and sent into a conventional production system and will not bear an organic label.
‘Raised Without Antibiotics’ or Similar Claim — these products are derived from animals raised without antibiotics. While this parallels organic production, these products may be derived from animals raised on farms that are not certified organic or that would not meet the NOP standards for other reasons.
Conventional (no special claims) — may be derived from livestock or poultry given antibiotics for treatment, control, or prevention of disease, but a waiting period must pass before that animal is processed.

https://www.meatinstitute.org/index.php?ht=a/GetDocumentAction/i/99943

Apparently the wash-out period limits antibiotic traces in chicken. However, in 2011 it was found that: .A total of 12 (8%), 13 (7.33%) and 20 (13.33%) samples of breast, thigh and liver, respectively, had TC residues above the Codex maximum residue limit (MRL).

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24785718

So what is the Codex MLR for tetracyclines in chicken meat? It is 200μg.kg. That would mean that you would have to eat 25 kg of chicken to get a standard 500mg dose and only 8% of chicken breasts were above this concentration

I don’t think that it is worth worrying too much about. You would be better off worrying about organophosphates on produce.

I don’t think that it is worth worrying too much about. You would be better off worrying about organophosphates on produce.

Consuming such small amounts is not so much the issue, it’s the widespread use of antibiotics (which are not just used for pre and post disease prophylaxis but also for enhanced growth) that are causing the alarming increase in antibiotic-resistant bacteria. That is something to worry about.

jumping on a band bus to the crucifixion

That works as extra lyrics for Hawkwind’s “Deathtrap”.

I wonder if the colon hydrotherapy machine has a “Woo Knob” that goes up to 11?

animal husbandry practices

I knew a guy in college who was practicing animal husbandry until they caught him at it.

Annabel Lee (whose username is truly awesome):

Organic — the National Organic Program (NOP) requires that livestock or poultry are never given antibiotics. When an animal becomes ill on an organic farm and requires antibiotics – an event that is not unusual – that
animal is treated and sent into a conventional production system and will not bear an organic label.

And this is something that should be troubling to organic consumers. Their unwillingness to consume anything tainted by the use of medicine means that animals which get sick must be discarded. If not for those of us willing to eat animals that have received proper medical care for illnesses during their lives, those animals lives would be wasted, and they would simply be culled, and probably ground up and turned into compost. They could not even become organic animal feed.

I am absolutely in favor of limiting antibiotic use on the farm. Prophylactic use and use as a growth agent are both inappropriate and are creating a monster in the form of antibiotic resistant bacteria. But it is immoral in my view to withhold medical treatment from our food animals. If you are willing to take the life of a chicken for your plate, you need to not be so damn picky that more than one has to die for it.

And while we’re at it, the snobbery over lean, finely-textured beef (“pink slime”) disgusts me. An animal died for your dinner; turning your noses up at all but the tastiest bits is pretty disrespectful. You don’t personally have to eat all the bits, but don’t prevent the rest of us from making sure the animal is put to good use.

That works as extra lyrics for Hawkwind’s “Deathtrap”.

I briefly thought about trying to shoehorn it into REM’s “Bandwagon,” but then I remembered that only short breaks from the survival-panic klaxon are situationally productive.

#98I knew a guy in college who was practicing animal husbandry until they caught him at it.

How did they catch him? Did someone notice wool in his zipper?

How did they catch him? Did someone notice wool in his zipper?

They made a TV show about him – Breaking Baaaaahd.

#80: your “story” sounds like the biggest pile of made of feces I have ever read, given how rambling it is and how you use every chance you get to promote this twit/quack named Kalb and then rattle off all sorts of anti-vax tropes that have nothing to do with you Lyme disease. Please feel free to show us something more than your “story” as evidence that you are anything more than a pro-Kalb shill.

@#80

Notice the use of capital letters for entire phrases such as :

HE KNOWS TO INJECT A VACCINE THAT HAS ALUMINUM AND MERCURY IN IT AT EXTREME LEVELS PER SHOT IS TO POISON A CHILD WHO IS ALREADY FIGHTING FOR THEIR LIFE

and

HONORABLE DOCTOR DANIEL KALB FROM COOL SPRINGS FAMILY MEDICINE

I mean, I would expect one of his patients to come and defend him, but this reads like an advertisement.

Big words for a talking lizard.

I call that bold talk for a one-eyed fat man.

#108 unnecessarily cruel

If the Duke irks you that much (understandable), you can just go with the remake.

http://www2.mbc.ca.gov/BreezePDL/document.aspx?path=%5cDIDOCS%5c20160906%5cDMRAAAFC4%5c&did=AAAFC160906224213064.DID&licenseType=G&licenseNumber=15640#page=1

Check out this lawsuit against Dr. Thomas S Powers of Open Care Medical Center in Santa Ana. He is currently operating at 2112 East 4th St. Suite 100, Santa Ana CA 92705

This is an official petition to revoke license made by the executive director of the medical board of california and the attorney general of California Kamara Harris. Yikes!

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