Gary G. Kohls, MD mindlessly regurgitated an antivaccine lie about Orac. Orac responds. It does not go well for Dr. Kohls. Basically, it’s not wise to tug on Superman’s cape.
Category: Popular culture
The claim that medical errors are the third leading cause of death in the US has always rested on very shaky evidence; yet it’s become common wisdom that is cited as though everyone accepts it. But if estimates of 250,000 to 400,000 deaths due to medical error are way too high, what is the real number? A study published last month suggests that it’s almost certainly a lot lower and has been modestly decreasing since 1990.
I saw my favorite station airing an advertisement disguised as a news story for a Curewell IV HAUS, which sells IV “therapy.” I did not approve.
MuTaTo, a technology hyped by an Israeli company, was all over the news a couple of days ago as the “complete cure for cancer.” But is it? There are so many red flags in the news reports as to raise serious doubts, and the media’s science communication in this case has been an epic fail.
Annabelle Potts was a girl with the deadly brain cancer known as diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) whose family was victimized by quacks. Unfortunately, that’s not how the media is reporting it. As is frequently the case, Annabelle’s story is being presented as one of triumph, and the quacks who treated her as legitimate experimental therapy.