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Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Politics Quackery

Simon Singh will appeal?

About a week ago, I lamented an astoundingly bad ruling in the libel case brought by the British Chiropractic Association against skeptic Simon Singh. The ruling was so bad that many observers are wondering whether it’s possible for Singh to go on or whether he can afford to appeal. Blogger Jack of Kent, who has […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Complementary and alternative medicine Entertainment/culture Medicine Quackery Television

Jenny McCarthy shows off her knowledge of science

While I’m on the topic, blog bud has proclaimed that he loves Jenny McCarthy’s new blog at the Oprah website, in particular her Poop Stories. Personally, when I first saw Jenny’s blog, my first thought was that a question I had always had ever since Jenny McCarthy became the chief propagandist for the antivaccine movement […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Complementary and alternative medicine Entertainment/culture Humor Medicine Quackery Television

The Jenny McCarthy Song

A loving ode to Jenny McCarthy from her good friends, Measles, Mumps, and Rubella: Genius. That’s all I can say. Thank you Brian Thompson, a.k.a. the Amateur Scientist. And to you, Jenny McCarthy, the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella offer their profound thanks for saving them from eradication in the U.S., just as they’ve offered their […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Quackery

The price of anti-vaccine fanaticism, part 2

I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with the antivaccine propaganda blog Age of Autism. The reason for the hate part should be obvious. AoA is, without a doubt, a cesspool of pseudoscience and anti-vaccine propaganda. All while oh-so-self-righteously denying that its agenda is “anti-vaccine,” AoA on a daily basis lays down articles blaming […]

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Clinical trials Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Skepticism/critical thinking

Another acupuncture study misinterpreted

I have to hand it to acupuncture mavens. They are persistent. Despite numerous studies failing to find any evidence that acupuncture is anything more than an elaborate placebo whose effects, such as they are, derive from nonspecifice mechanisms having nothing to do with meridians, qi, or “unblocking” qi. Moreover, consistent with the contention that acupuncture […]