Category: Skepticism/critical thinking

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Bad science Complementary and alternative medicine Integrative medicine Medicine Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking

The World Health Organization: Embracing traditional Chinese medicine pseudoscience in ICD-11

World Health Organization and asymptomatic

ICD-10 is a standardized system of alphanumeric codes for diagnoses maintained by the World Health Organization used throughout the world for billing, epidemiology, research, and cataloging causes of death. Its successor, ICD-11, is now complete and set to be formally adopted by WHO. Unfortunately, thanks to the influence of ideologues and the Chinese government, ICD-11 appears to be taking the “integration” of traditional medicine to a whole new level by integrating quack diagnoses with real diagnoses.

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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking

Last year was the worst season for influenza mortality in decades

Influenza mortality

Barbara Loe Fisher, Joe Mercola, and other antivaxers frequently deny that the flu is dangerous and that all the promotion of flu vaccines every year is a plot by big pharma to make money based on fear. The CDC argues otherwise, reporting that influenza mortality last season was higher than iit’s been in decades. Roughly 80,000 people are estimated to have died last season from influenza or complications from the flu.

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

Aromatase inhibitors and acupuncture in breast cancer: Spinning a negative study

Aromasin: Aromatase inhibitors

Aromatase inhibitors are antiestrogen drugs frequently used to treat breast cancer. Unfortunately, they can cause significant joint pain. A recent study of acupuncture for joint pain caused by these drugs was basically negative, but the authors did their best to spin it as positive. Same as it ever was for acupuncture studies.

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Complementary and alternative medicine Integrative medicine Medicine Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking

“Practice drift”: A feature, not a bug, in “integrative medicine”

The quacksalver. Found in the collection of Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

Two prominent advocates of “integrative medicine” bemoan the “practice drift” they see in their specialty, in which doctors drift farther and farther away from their training. What this means is (although it would never be admitted) is that these “integrative medicine” doctors are drifting further and further into quackery. Too bad this is a feature, not a bug.

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Autism Bad science Cancer Medicine Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking

One Conversation: Three legitimate medical authorities ensnared in the trap of appearing on a panel with antivaxers

One Conversation: An antivaccine trap
One Conversation: An antivaccine trap

I was invited to discuss vaccines with antivaxers for a panel called One Conversation. Recognizing an antivaccine trap, I politely declined. Unfortunately, other legitimate medical authorities did not, thus enabling the illusion of legitimization of antivaccine views.