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Antivaccine nonsense Clinical trials Medicine

Yet more evidence that the antivaccine trope of “too many too soon” is nonsense

One of the most persuasive antivaccine talking points to parents tends to be the claim that babies are getting “too many too soon.” Here’s yet more evidence added to copious other evidence that this particular trope is just that, a trope.

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Bad science Cancer Clinical trials Complementary and alternative medicine Integrative medicine Medicine Pseudoscience Quackery

Quackademic medicine versus being “science-based”

A couple of weeks ago, I was interviewed by the a reporter from the Georgetown student newsletter about its integrative medicine program. It got me to thinking how delusion that one’s work is science-based can lead to collaborations with New Age “quantum” mystics like Deepak Chopra. “Integrative medicine” doctors engaging in what I like to refer to as quackademic medicine all claim to be “evidence-based” or “science-based.” The words apparently do not mean what integrative medicine academics think they mean.

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Clinical trials Integrative medicine Medicine Pseudoscience Quackery Science Skepticism/critical thinking

Quackademic medicine triumphant (yet again): A defense of acupuncture on the Harvard Health Blog that misses the point

If you want yet another piece of evidence that quackademic medicine, where once science-based medical schools embrace quackery, is triumphant, is needed, look no further than a fallacy-filled blog post on the Harvard Health Blog in defense of acupuncture.

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Clinical trials Integrative medicine Medicine Politics Pseudoscience Quackery

More on the funding of acupuncture quackery by Medicaid

A few weeks ago, I described how acupuncture advocates appeared to have successfully snookered the Ohio Medicaid program into funding the quackery that is acupuncture for Medicaid recipients. Now, they’re poised to go beyond Ohio

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Clinical trials Medicine Politics Popular culture

The Koch Brothers and Vice President Mike Pence back a final push to pass the cruel sham known as “right-to-try”

So-called “right-to-try” laws have passed in 38 states. A cruel sham whose real purpose has nothing to do with helping terminally ill patients and everything to do with the libertarian war on FDA regulation, these laws claim to allow terminally ill patients to bypass the FDA and obtain access to experimental drugs that have passed phase I testing. They do nothing of the sort, which is why right-to-try advocates have “gone federal.” A right-to-try bill has passed the Senate, and Vice President Mike Pence and Koch Brothers-backed groups are lobbying hard to pass it in the House. There is still hope to stop it.