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Antivaccine nonsense Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Quackery

Conflicts of interest among vaccine advocates: The Law of Contagion

I didn’t think I’d be revisiting this topic again so soon, but damned if Alice Dreger didn’t write something that comes pretty close to demanding that I do so. I tried to resist, but unfortunately could not. Basically, I’m getting really, really tired of Dreger. Why do I say that? It’s because I’m having a […]

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Complementary and alternative medicine Friday Woo Medicine Quackery

You, too, can measure your nutrient levels using an iPhone and a giant stylus on your acupuncture points

In the early days of this blog, I came up with a concept. That concept was based on the idea that on Friday I would try hard not to be so serious. On Fridays, I would seek out the finest woo in the world and aim a bit of my not-so-Respectful Insolence. Thus was born […]

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Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Politics

NCCIH: Co-opting “nonpharmacologic” treatments for pain as being “alternative” or “complementary”

I’ve been critical of the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), which was until relatively recently known as the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) ever since I first discovered that it existed, lo, these many years ago. When I first discovered NCCIH, what struck me is how much pseudoscience it […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Politics Quackery

The Medical Board of California initiates disciplinary action against antivaccine “hero” Dr. Bob Sears. It’s about time.

After all the bad news that I’ve been blogging about, it’s a pleasure for me to end the week with a bit of very good news, very good news indeed. That news came in the form of an article published in the Orange County Register with the glorious title Dr. Bob Sears faces medical board […]

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Cancer Clinical trials Medicine Politics

“Right to try”: A miserable failure thus far

I’ve frequently called “right to try” laws that are popping up in various states like so much kudzu, to the point where 31 states have passed them in a little over two years, an amazing pace, a cruel sham, given how incredibly unlikely they are to help a single patient. Basically, state-level right-to-try laws are […]