Category: Popular culture

Categories
Antivaccine nonsense Bad science Medicine Popular culture Pseudoscience

Justice Clackson and his miscarriage of justice in the acquittal of David and Collet Stephan

Crown appeals Justice Terry Clackson's decision
Ezekiel Stephan: A victim of his parents' antivaccine and pro-quackery ideology.

On September 19, in a retrial ordered by the Supreme Court of Canada, Alberta Justice Terry Clackson issued a ruling acquitting David and Collet Stephan of failing to provide the necessities of life to their son Ezekiel, whose bacterial meningitis they had chosen to treat with quackery instead of medicine, leading to his death in 2012. The news reports showed that this was a very bad decision, but you have to read Justice Clackson’s actual decision to see that it’s an even worse decision than the news reports indicate, full of bad medicine, bad science, and even a hint of racism.

Categories
Antivaccine nonsense Bad science Popular culture Pseudoscience Quackery

The tragic death of Evee Clobes: How antivaxers recruit grieving mothers to their cause

Evee Clobes
Evee Clobes on a billboard.

Evee Clobes was a six month old who died due to SIDS. Unfortunately, antivaxers used the grief of her mother Caitlin to recruit her to their cause. It’s an all too common tactic, because antivaxers know that grieving mothers are their most potent messengers.

Categories
Medicine Politics Popular culture

“Right-to-try” in 2019: Still a failure, still all about the Benjamins (and weakening the FDA)

FDA

Federal “right-to-try” legislation was passed and signed into law by President Trump over a year ago. Advocates promised that lots of terminally ill people who were dying then would be saved by having the right to “try” experimental therapies outside of the context of clinical trials. That has not happened. This should come as no surprise, because right-to-try was never about getting experimental drugs to dying patients. It was always about weakening the FDA and making money.

Categories
Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Popular culture Pseudoscience Quackery

Ezekiel Stephan: Justice denied, quackery triumphant

Crown appeals Justice Terry Clackson's decision
Ezekiel Stephan: A victim of his parents' antivaccine and pro-quackery ideology.

In 2012, a 19 month old boy named Ezekiel Stephan died of bacterial meningitis because his parents believe in quackery over medicine. They were convicted, but a new trial ordered by the Supreme Court has now acquitted them in a truly horrific ruling.

Categories
Complementary and alternative medicine Integrative medicine Medicine Popular culture Pseudoscience Quackery

“Dr.” Tad Sztykowski: One reason why acupuncture should not be licensed

Tad Sztykowski

Tad Sztykowski is an acupuncturist who lost his acupuncture license for misrepresenting himself as a physician. His case is a good illustration of why licensing quack specialties like acupuncture is bad policy.