Despite a lack of evidence Duke University is all-in on stem cells for autism, thanks to a billionaire benefactor and a Panama stem cell clinic. This is the dark(er) side of quackademic medicine.

Despite a lack of evidence Duke University is all-in on stem cells for autism, thanks to a billionaire benefactor and a Panama stem cell clinic. This is the dark(er) side of quackademic medicine.
Despite a lack of evidence Duke University is all-in on stem cells for autism, thanks to a billionaire benefactor and a Panama stem cell clinic. This is the dark(er) side of quackademic medicine.
Quackery has thoroughly infiltrated medical academia in the form of “integrative medicine.” So what’s worse than Harvard offering an acupuncture course? It might be Duke offering a reflexology and reiki course.
I’ve been writing a long time about a phenomenon that I like to refer to as “quackademic medicine,” defined as the infiltration into academic medical centers and medical school of unscientific and pseudoscientific treatment modalities that are unproven or disproven. Few seem to listen. That’s why it’s reassuring to see a mainstream news publication get it (mostly) right about this phenomenon.