Oprah Winfrey gave a rousing acceptance speech while accepting the Cecile B. DeMille Award at the Golden Globes on Sunday night, sparking talk of her running for President in 2020. It’s time to throw some cold water on that idea by reminding everyone that Oprah is not a force for reason and evidence. Quite the contrary.
In pseudoscience, appeals to nature are everywhere. It’s not surprising, then, that there is profit to be made selling “raw” (i.e., untreated) water at very high prices for its nonexistent health benefits, those benefits all claimed to be due to the “naturalness” of the water. I can’t help but note that cholera, Giardia, amoebic dysentery, and a wide variety of waterborne illnesses prevented by modern water treatment techniques are all very, very “natural.”
Facebook has become a hub from which antivaxers spread misinformation. A recent study looks at what they’re saying and how FB pages facilitate the spread of antivaccine misinformation.
Naturopaths are not the only relentless quacks seeking to bend government to legitimize their quackery. Acupuncturists are now working to get Medicaid to fund acupuncture services. They are succeeding.
Earlier this week, the FDA issued draft guidance that would, if adopted, allow it to regulate homeopathic remedies as drugs. Will 2018 be the year that the FDA finally stops deferring to homeopaths and regulating homeopathic remedies as drugs?
