Category: Pseudoscience

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Bad science Cancer Medicine Pseudoscience Quackery

Clínica 0-19 and IDOI: Not making DIPG history in Monterrey (part 1 of 4)

Clínica 0-19: Where hope doesn't live

Drs. Alberto Siller and Alberto Garcia run Clínica 0-19 in Monterrey, Mexico, which has become a magnet for patients with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), a deadly brain cancer. Unfortunately, their treatment is an unproven combination of 11 chemotherapy drugs injected into an artery feeding the brainstem, plus an unknown and unproven “immunotherapy.” Of course it all costs $300,000 or more for a complete course of treatment, and the good doctors are “too busy to do clinical trials” or even publish their survival and recurrence statistics, despite having used this protocol for 20 years. I say: If it quacks like a duck…

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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Bad science Medicine Politics Popular culture Pseudoscience

The excuses and conspiracy theories flow over Dr. Bob Sears’ being disciplined by the Medical Board of California

Dr. Bob Sears
Dr. Bob Sears

Last week, we learned that antivaccine pediatrician Dr. Bob Sears was disciplined by the Medical Board of California. It didn’t take long for him to take to Facebook to make excuses and paint himself as a martyr to the “vaccine freedom” cause or for his antivaccine admirers to come up with ridiculous conspiracy theories.

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Autism Bad science Medicine Pseudoscience Quackery

The facilitated communication empire strikes back over the Midwest Summer Institute

Midwest Summer Institute

Earlier this week, the University of Northern Iowa faced severe criticism for hosting the Midwest Summer Institute, a conference on facilitated communication. Yesterday, FC advocates struck back.

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Autism Bad science Medicine Pseudoscience Quackery Television

The University of Northern Iowa promotes facilitated communication quackery

Facilitated Communication
Facilitated Communication

The University of Northern Iowa is hosting a conference on facilitated communication, despite multiple warnings from academics that it’s quackery and overwhelming evidence that it is the “facilitators” who are actually producing the claimed “communication” from nonverbal people and a history of producing false cases of child abuse. Why is UNI being so dangerously irresponsible?

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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Bad science Medicine Politics Pseudoscience Religion

Michigan Senate Bill 1055: Antivaccine fear mongering masquerading as “informed consent” about “fetal parts” in vaccines

Michigan Senate Bill 1055: "Aborted fetal cells"?

Antivaxers frequently try to appeal to antiabortion activists by claiming “fetal parts” are used in vaccines. In Michigan, they’re trying to enshrine such deceptive efforts into law in Michigan Senate Bill 1055, which would mandate “informed consent” regarding vaccines for which fetal cell lines are used to grow the virus. In reality, this would be misinformed consent and a strategy to frighten parents out of vaccinating.