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Complementary and alternative medicine Homeopathy Medicine Naturopathy Politics Quackery

Naturopathy: When fake doctors cosplay real doctors

Naturopaths are fake doctors who fancy themselves to be real doctors, so much so that they call themselves “physicians” even when explicitly barred from doing so by law.

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Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Naturopathy Quackery

The death of Jade Erick from intravenous curcumin: Mystery solved

In March, it was widely reported that a young woman named Jade Erick had died suddenly of a hypersensitivity reaction while undergoing an infusion of intravenous curcumin ordered by a naturopath named Kim Kelly to treat her eczema. The FDA investigated and found egregious problems with the injectable curcumin used. This tragic incident serves to demonstrate how dangerous a combination naturopaths and dubious compounding pharmacies can be.

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Antivaccine nonsense Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Religion Skepticism/critical thinking

Contamination requiring ritual purification: Superstitious concepts at the heart of antivaccine beliefs

Much of the belief system that undergirds antivaccine views is rooted in superstition. That’s why it’s not a coincidence that antivaxers frequently speak in terms of contamination due to vaccines as a cause of autism and all the other conditions for which antivaxers blame vaccines and ritual purification in the form of “detoxification” as the treatment. These beliefs very much resemble religious beliefs, and antivaxers project them onto pro-science advocates.

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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine

Another study shows just how hard it is to change beliefs in antivaccine misinformation

Correcting antivaccine misinformation is hard. Real hard. Another study shows us just how hard.

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Cancer Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Quackery

Following up on a very old case: Abraham Cherrix is alive and well because he finally rejected alternative medicine

Eleven years ago, Abraham Cherrix and his parents chose quackery over science-based medicine to treat his cancer, and Cherrix was one of the earliest cases of teens who chose quackery to treat a life-threatening disease that I discussed in depth. Recently, I learned that Cherrix is still alive. The reason? He finally realized the error of his original decision and underwent chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant.