A week and a half ago, an old “friend” of the blog, pediatrician and antivaccine apologist Dr. Jay Gordon, made an appearance on Real Time With Bill Maher. In a long segment, the antivaccine misinformation flowed fast and furious in a Gish gallop of pseudoscience. WTF, HBO?
Tag: quackery
The Cleveland Clinic publishes a study touting the benefits of the quackery known as “functional medicine”
The Cleveland Clinic has, unfortunately, embraced the quackery known as "functional medicine." Now it's publishing dubious studies touting it.
An attempt to “Null”-ify Wikipedia on science
Love it or hate it, Wikipedia is a main go-to rough and ready source of information for millions of people. Although I’ve had my problems with Wikipedia and used to ask whether it could provide reliable information on medicine and, in particular, alternative medicine and vaccines, given that anyone can edit it, I now conclude that Wikipedia must be doing OK, at least in these areas. After all, some of the highest profile promoters of alternative and “integrative” medicine hate Wikipedia, to the point of attacking it and concocting conspiracy theories about it.
Rev. Al Sharpton’s Harlem antivaccine confab has been canceled!
Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network was scheduled to host an antivaccine confab this Saturday. Then the press got wind of it. Let's just say that it's not happening any more—for now.
Pediatric naturopathic oncology: A horrifying concept
"Naturopathic oncology" is a specialty made up by naturopaths in order to justify using their quackery to treat cancer patients. A new survey takes it a step further and looks at using naturopathy to treat children with cancer, including the use of homeopathy, reiki, and restrictive diets.
False analogies and pseudoscience as “moral arguments” against the use of fetal cell lines to manufacture vaccines
Antivaxers frequently object to the use of fetal cell lines to manufacture vaccines on "moral" grounds. Über-quack Joe Mercola lays down some astonishingly bad moral arguments based on pseudoscience.
Harlem Vaccine Forum: Is Al Sharpton antivaccine?
Rev. Al Sharpton is hosting the Harlem Vaccine Forum. Unfortunately, his "forum" looks like an antivaccine quackfest.
Fabrizio Benedetti asks: “Does placebo research boost pseudoscience?”
Professor Fabrizio Benedetti is the most famous and almost certainly also the most influential researcher investigating the physiology of placebo effects. In a recent commentary, he asks whether placebo research is fueling quackery, as quacks co-opt its results. The answer to that question is certainly yes. A better question is: How do supporters of science counter the placebo narrative promoted by quacks, in which placebos represent the “power of the mind to heal the body”?
“Levi Quackenboss” lays down her “rules of antivaxxing”
Orac's old "friend," antivaxer Levi Quackenboss, has laid down the "rules of antivaxxing." Orac is amused and deconstructs her rules. Can you say "projection"? Sure, I knew you could
“Dr.” Tad Sztykowski: One reason why acupuncture should not be licensed
Tad Sztykowski is an acupuncturist who lost his acupuncture license for misrepresenting himself as a physician. His case is a good illustration of why licensing quack specialties like acupuncture is bad policy.