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Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Quackery

Tooth Fairy science about traditional Chinese medicine, promoted in the Wall Street Journal

They are winning. I’ve spent nearly ten years on this blog and nearly seven years at my not-so-super secret other blog (where I will likely crosspost this over the weekend) discussing the infiltration of quackery into medicine, both in academic medical centers and, increasingly, even in community medical centers. There’s a term that I wish […]

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Complementary and alternative medicine Homeopathy Medicine Naturopathy Quackery

Throwing everything but the kitchen sink, quackery-wise, at Ebola

You know how I sometimes lament that I’ve been writing too much about the hijinx of the antivaccine movement, its crimes against reason, science, and medicine? It’s become a bit of a trope around here at times, to the point where, when I bring it up, I tell myself I shouldn’t be repeating myself so […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Clinical trials History Medicine Popular culture Science

Antivaccinationists versus Jonas Salk's centennial

One thing that happened this week that I didn’t get around to writing about is the 100th anniversary of the birth of Jonas Salk, which was October 28. In the annals of medicine, few people have had as immediate a positive effect as Jonas Salk did when he developed the inactivated polio vaccine (IPV). At […]

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Cancer Clinical trials Complementary and alternative medicine Quackery Science

R.I.P., McKenzie Lowe. Stanislaw Burzynski failed you.

R.I.P., McKenzie Lowe. Unfortunately, Stanislaw Burzynski was no more able to save you than anyone else, his claims of great success treating pediatric brain tumors notwithstanding: HUDSON — Thirteen-year-old Hudson resident McKenzie Lowe died Friday evening after a 2-year-battle against an aggressive and inoperable brain stem tumor. McKenzie died at 10:27 p.m. in her own […]

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Complementary and alternative medicine Homeopathy Medicine Science Skepticism/critical thinking

Here they come to save the day! Homeopaths vs. Ebola, again

If there is one thing that the ongoing Ebola outbreak in Africa has revealed to the world, it’s the full extent of quackery that is out there and advertised as being able to treat deadly diseases such as Ebola. The deadlier the disease, the more quackery is out there, amplified by the scariness of the […]