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Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Quackery

Complementary and alternative medicine: A double standard

While I’m on the topic of alternative medicine and NCCAM again, I’ve said on many occasions that I reject the distinction between evidence-based medicine and “alternative medicine” as a false dichotomy. To me, the only dichotomy that matters is between medicine that has high quality scientific evidence showing that it works and medicine that does […]

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Clinical trials Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Pseudoscience Quackery Science Skepticism/critical thinking

Woo infiltrates the very heart of scientific medicine in the U.S.

I’ve complained on multiple occasions about the infiltration of non-evidence-based “medicine” (a.k.a. woo) into every level of medicine in the U.S.. Worst of all, it’s infiltrating medical education in a big way, starting with the pro-woo activism of the American Medical Student Association (AMSA), to various educational programs in various medical schools, to even the […]

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Bioethics Cancer Clinical trials Medicine Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking

“Clinical research” on dichloroacetate by TheDCASite.com: A travesty of science

I hadn’t planned on revisiting this topic again quite so soon, but sometimes a piece of information comes up that’s so disturbing that I can’t ignore it and can’t justify delaying blogging about it by very long. So it is yet again with the strange and disturbing saga of dichloroacetate (DCA), the small molecular chemotherapeutic […]

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Complementary and alternative medicine Humor Medicine Quackery Science fiction/fantasy

Doctor Strange: The only way to make homeopathy work

It would appear that I must respectfully disagree (or be Respectfully Insolent, if you will) with fellow comic fan Scott over at Polite Dissent. Two of my all-time favorite comics are Fantastic Four and (believe it or not, given my present day disdain for woo) Doctor Strange. Doctor Stephen Strange, for those of you not […]

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Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Quackery

Can alternative medicine be subjected to scientific scrutiny?

Dr. R. W. asks (and answers) the question, pointing out in detail how: Promoters of unscientific claims often reject ordinary scientific standards for experimental design and evidence. Even government funded CAM research is troubled with serious methodologic flaws. Research on complementary and alternative methods is conducted without regard to biologic plausibility. The proponents and funders […]