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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Quackery

Enablers of the vaccine-autism manufactroversy

I realize that this week in practically every new post I’ve been mentioning TAM7. It hasn’t exactly been intentional, believe it or not, at least aside from my recap a on Tuesday and my request for photos from those of you who attended. Oddly enough, although I mentioned how proud I was to be part […]

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Cancer Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Quackery

M.D. Anderson enters the blogosphere–and goes woo

Did you know that acupuncture is very much related to astrology? No, it’s not just because both of woo. Rather, it’s likely true that the whole concept of “meridians,” those invisible “channels” through which our life energy (a.k.a. qi) allegedly flow were indirectly based on astrological signs, which had been used to guide points used […]

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Bioethics Clinical trials Medicine

Threats to science-based medicine: Pharma ghostwriting

There is no doubt that the infiltration of quackademic medicine into medical schools in this country represents a profound threat to science-based medicine. By mixing mysticism, non-science, and pseudoscience along with science-based medicine, medical schools are in essence endorsing quackery and elevating it to the same level as science-based and science-tested modalities. Worse, they’re running […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Cancer Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine

Special pleading for “integrative oncology”

I don’t recall how many times I’ve said lately that I detest the term “integrative medicine.” As I’ve pointed out time and time again, it’s the preferred “successor,” if you will, to the term “complementary and alternative medicine” (CAM) (at least among the woo-friendly). After all, as I’ve pointed out before, it just won’t do […]

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Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Quackery

“Traditional” nonsense

One aspect of “complementary and alternative medicine” (CAM) is the resurgence of practice of what has frequently been called “traditional Chinese medicine” (TCM). I’ve pointed out before that TCM is a prescientific system of medicine based largely on superstition and vitalism. Indeed, where ancient Greek and European medical systems believed that disease is due to […]