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Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Pseudoscience Quackery Science Skepticism/critical thinking

Worst idea ever: “Natural” alternatives to the Epipen

[NOTE added 12/23/2015: It would appear that the offending article has been taken down. I, of course, have screenshots, and, of course, the Google cached version is still around for the moment.] Anaphylaxis can be deadly. Anaphylaxis can kill. More than that, anaphylaxis can kill pretty quickly. Even the most dimwitted purveyor of “natural” cures […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Clinical trials Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Pseudoscience Skepticism/critical thinking

Déjà vu all over again, part deux: Yet another Internet survey on vaccinations

One of the best things about blogging is that I don’t feel obligated to cover a topic completely in one post because I know I can always write another one or revisit the topic later. It also allows me to look at what I like to call “variations on a theme” of various kinds of […]

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Biology Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Pseudoscience Skepticism/critical thinking

Germ theory denialism and the magical mystical microbiome

Whenever I point out that a very common thread of “thought”—if you can call it “thought”—in alternative medicine is nothing more than germ theory denialism, the usual reaction is incredulity. Newbies who haven’t encountered quacks before invariably do a double take when I inform them that germ theory denialism is a thing, particularly among antivaccine […]

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Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Paranormal Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking

An Australian “energy healer” begs medicine to take him seriously

Even though I’ve taken on the ‘nym of a fictional computer in a 35-year-old British science fiction series whose key traits were an arrogant and condescending manner and the ability to tap into every computer of the galactic federation any time he wanted to, in reality I am just one person. That means, try as […]

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Complementary and alternative medicine Homeopathy Medicine Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking

Starbutts, or: How is it still a thing that people are shooting coffee up their nether regions?

Many are the “alternative” medicine therapies that I’ve examined with a skeptical eye over the years. The vast majority of them rest on concepts that range from pre-scientific to religious to outright pseudoscientific to—let’s face it—the utterly ridiculous. Examples abound: Reflexology, reiki, tongue diagnosis, homeopathy, ear candling, cupping, crystal healing, urine drinking, detoxifying foot pads, […]