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Bioethics Cancer Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Quackery Religion

Chris Wark spins the story of the Amish girl with cancer whose family refuses her chemotherapy

Here we go again. Over the last month or so, I’ve been intermittently writing about a very sad case, a case that reminds me of too many cases that have come before, such as Abraham Cherrix, Kate Wernecke, Daniel Hauser, and Jacob Stieler. All of these are stories of children who were diagnosed with highly […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Cancer Medicine Quackery

Elle Macpherson’s breast cancer: Another example of how antivax and quackery are inseparable

When last I wrote about Elle Macpherson, she was dating Andrew Wakefield. I now learn that she treated her breast cancer with quackery. One more time, antivax and quackery are inseparable, and portraying the choice of quackery as “brave” is irresponsible.

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Cancer Medicine Quackery

FitScript™: Yet more “functional” cancer quackery

Perusing the hellscape that is what Twitter has degenerated into as X, I found an alternative cancer cure testimonial, which led me into “functional health” nonsense that I hadn’t encountered before. Introducing FitScript™, “functional” cancer quackery.

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Cancer Medicine Quackery

Fenbendazole: I’m having flashbacks to laetrile and Stanislaw Burzynski

Antivaxxers who “repurposed” deworming drugs like ivermectin and fenbendazole are peddling cancer “miracle cure” testimonials that remind me of laetrile and Stanislaw Burzynski. Truly, everything old is new again.

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Antivaccine nonsense Cancer Medicine Quackery

Are ivermectin and fenbendazole the new laetrile? (Part two: ivermectin)

Last week, I noticed fenbendazole being “repurposed” to treat cancer. Now it’s ivermectin. Truly, in the age of COVID-19 these two drugs are the new laetrile.