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Cancer Integrative medicine Medicine Naturopathy Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking

The quackery of “naturopathic oncology” is metastasizing

“Integrating” naturopathic care with real medicine started out largely in academic medical centers. Unfortunately, the cancer of integrative oncology appears to be metastasizing to community hospitals.

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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Medicine Movies Popular culture Pseudoscience Quackery Religion

The Pathological Optimist: When “not taking sides” over Andrew Wakefield means taking a side

The Pathological Optimist is a recently released documentary by Miranda Bailey about Andrew Wakefield that I got a chance to see. In interviews and in the film’s promotional materials, Bailey takes great pains to emphasize that she “doesn’t take a side” about Wakefield. Unfortunately, her film demonstrates that, when it comes to pseudoscience, “not taking a side” is taking a side, and that a film’s bias is often more evident in what is not shown and told than in what is.

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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Bad science Medicine Pseudoscience

Christopher Exley: Using bad science to demonize aluminum adjuvants in vaccines

Move over, Christopher Shaw, there’s a new antivaccine scientist dedicated to demonizing aluminum adjuvants in town. His name is Christopher Exley. He’s got a fluorescence microscope, and he’s not afraid to use it.

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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Pseudoscience Quackery

The Nobel Disease strikes again: Luc Montagnier goes full antivax, with a little help from Henri Joyeux

“Nobel disease” is a term designed to describe whatever it is that drives some Nobel laureates to embrace pseudoscience or quackery later in their careers. One of its most prominent victims, Luc Montagnier, co-discoverer of the AIDS virus, recently demonstrated that he’s still suffering from Nobel disease when he laid down a barrage of antivaccine pseudoscience in Paris earlier this month.

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Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Popular culture Pseudoscience Quackery

Did a gadolinium contrast agent used for MRIs “poison” Chuck Norris’ wife Gena?

Earlier this month, Chuck Norris and his wife Gena filed a lawsuit against manufacturers of MRI contrast agents, claiming that the gadolinium in them had “poisoned” Gena. But did it? The evidence linking gadolinium with the symptoms Gena Norris suffered is, even under the most generous interpretation, quite shaky, and there is no doubt that she has been victimized by quacks.