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Bioethics Cancer Medicine Pseudoscience Quackery

Kylee Dixon: Oregon intervenes to treat her cancer

Kylee Dixon is a 13-year-old girl with undifferentiated embryonal sarcoma of the liver whose mother stopped chemotherapy and has been treating her with CBD oil. The State of Oregon intervened to see that Kylee undergoes appropriate surgery. Where do “parental rights” end and the child’s rights begin?

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Bad science Bioethics Clinical trials

Pay-to-play clinical trials: The HHS Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Human Research Protections (SACHRP) weighs in

The ethics of pay-to-play clinical trials are a minefield. Last week the HHS Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Human Research Protections (SACHRP) stepped into that minefield. Are “pay-to-play” clinical trials ever ethically acceptable?

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Autism Bad science Bioethics Clinical trials Medicine

Pay-to-play stem cell clinical trials: Abuse of the clinical trial process

Stem cell therapies show great promise, but as yet the vast majority of that promise has not been validated in rigorous clinical trials. Unfortunately, for-profit stem cell clinics are running clinical trials that require patients to pay to be part of them (“pay-to-play”). These trials are not rigorous. Even more unfortunately, it appears that some universities are also running “pay-to-play” clinical trials that bear an uncomfortable resemblance to those run by for-profit clinics.

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Bad science Bioethics Clinical trials Medicine Surgery

Olfactory mucosa tumors: Another complication of stem cell treatments

A recent case report of a spinal mass in a patient with spinal cord injury who received an olfactory mucosa implant shows that stem cells are not risk-free, even when done at a reputable hospital rather than at a for-profit quack stem cell clinics.

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Antivaccine nonsense Bad science Bioethics Medicine Popular culture Quackery

Peter Gøtzsche and the antivaxers

Recently, it was noted that Peter Gøtzsche, formerly of Cochrane Nordic, was featured on the speaker list for an antivaccine quackfest. Two days later, he announced that he would not be speaking there. So what happened and why did Prof. Gøtzsche agree to speak at an antivax conference in the first place?