Categories
Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Naturopathy Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking

Death by intravenous “turmeric”: Why licensed naturopaths are no safer than any other naturopath

Naturopaths claim that licensure will guarantee that only naturopaths practicing based on scientific evidence are allowed to see patients. The real situation is that licensed naturopaths are just as quacky (and dangerous) as any other naturopath. This is demonstrated by a recent case in which a fully licensed naturopath who trained at the “finest” naturopathy school killed a patient with intravenous “turmeric.”

Categories
Cancer Medicine Skepticism/critical thinking

The “war on cancer”: We’re doing better than commonly portrayed

If you were to rely on much of what you see in the mainstream media and on social media, you probably have the impression that we are not doing very well against cancer. Indeed, a common trope I see in a lot of articles is that we are somehow “losing” the war on cancer. Just […]

Categories
Cancer Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Popular culture Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking

Cancer charlatan Belle Gibson: Con artist or delusional?

Cancer huckster Belle Gibson was recently fined for deceiving the public by claiming that she had brain cancer, a story that she used to sell all manner of dubious treatments. Was she delusional or a run-of-the-mill con artist? Does it matter?

Categories
Antivaccine nonsense Complementary and alternative medicine Popular culture Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking

It’s a strange world, after all: Orac vs. The Shat and fake news over…Autism Speaks?

Orac is attacked by Capt. Kirk using fake news over the course of several days. Truly, it is a strange world.

Categories
Antivaccine nonsense Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Politics Popular culture Quackery

Make measles great again? Our Michigan legislature is doing its best to bring back epidemics of vaccine-preventable diseases.

The depths of stupidity to which the Michigan state legislature will stoop never cease to amaze me. This time, legislators are doing their damnedest to make measles great again.