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
Tag: quackery
“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.
Pay-to-play stem cell clinical trials: Abuse of the clinical trial process
Stem cell therapies show great promise, but as yet the vast majority of that promise has not been validated in rigorous clinical trials. Unfortunately, for-profit stem cell clinics are running clinical trials that require patients to pay to be part of them ("pay-to-play"). These trials are not rigorous. Even more unfortunately, it appears that some universities are also running “pay-to-play” clinical trials that bear an uncomfortable resemblance to those run by for-profit clinics.
ITNJ “Commissioner”: A woo-full “honor” bestowed upon Del Bigtree and Robert O. Young
The International Tribunal for Natural Justice has named antivaxer Del Bigtree and "pH Miracle Living" quack Robert O. Young as "Commissioners for the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the Weaponisation of the Biosphere." What the heck is ITNJ, and why is it naming quacks to its Commission?
Off to NECSS
There will be no new material today and probably not Monday either. I'm in New York attending the Northeast Conference on Science and Skepticism (NECSS). I'll be giving a talk this afternoon, "Cancer Quackery and Fake News: Targeting the Most Vulnerable." I'll be back Tuesday or Wednesday.
Why did the Israeli Academy of Sciences and Humanities elect antivaccine quack Yehuda Shoenfeld to its ranks?
Last month, the Israeli Academy of Science and Humanities elected antivax quack Yehuda Shoenfeld to its ranks? Why and how could this have happened?
SB 277 and bogus medical exemptions to vaccine mandates in California
In 2015 California passed SB 277, which eliminated nonmedical exemptions to school vaccine mandates. Unfortunately quacks are writing bogus exemptions. What can be done?
Facebook joins Google in deprioritizing medical misinformation: Are social media companies finally “getting it”?
Yesterday, social media giant Facebook announced that it was acting against medical misinformation by using keyphrases to deprioritize results promoting misinformation and scams? Is it enough, and is it too late?
HB 4710: Acupuncturists are trying again to license their quackery—and more
Last month, HB 4710, a bill to license acupuncturists, was considered by the Michigan House of Representatives Health Policy Committee. If passed into law, HB 4710 would do far more than license the quackery that is acupuncture. It would also expand the scope of practice of acupuncturists to include homeopathy, “health coaching”, and dietary advice, and is yet another example of what practitioners of pseudoscientific medicine crave: State-granted legitimacy.
Generation Rescue: Rebranding in service of autism grift?
When it comes to pseudoscience, conspiracy theories, quackery, and antivaccine nonsense, remember that, very frequently, it's all about the grift. Even when it's not, the grift inevitably takes over.