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Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking Surgery

Dr. Charlie Teo is back in the news

I wrote about neurosurgeon Dr. Charlie Teo and his supposedly near-miraculous resections of “inoperable” brain tumors. He’s back, and it turns out that I was likely way too easy on him a decade ago.

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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Politics Quackery

AB 2098 is not “censorship”

One of the oldest tropes favored by quacks of all stripes, including antivaxxers, is to portray any attempt at regulating their quackery as an assault on freedom of speech. It’s therefore not surprising that after its passage by the California legislature prominent spreaders of COVID-19 misinformation are labeling AB 2098, which seeks clarify and codify the power of the Medical Board of California to discipline physicians for spreading COVID-19 misinformation, as creating “thoughtcrimes.”

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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Politics

Richard Jaffe brings the antivax legal assault on state medical boards to California

Cancer quack Stanislaw Burzynski’s former lawyer Richard Jaffe is suing the Medical Board of California for disciplining Dr. Douglas Mackenzie for spreading COVID-19 misinformation. The antivax assault on state medical boards with legal thuggery continues apace.

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Antivaccine nonsense Computers and social media Medicine Pseudoscience Quackery

ABIM vs. medical disinformation: A day late and a dollar short or better late than never?

Last month, the New England Journal of Medicine published an editorial by the President of ABIM discussing how the board certification can be taken away from diplomates who spread medical misinformation. Is this too little, too late?

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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Politics Popular culture Pseudoscience Quackery

No License for Disinformation: Why are doctors so threatened?

It’s not “cancel culture” to take away the medical licenses of physicians promoting dangerous COVID-19 disinformation. It’s quality control. Why do so many doctors seem to think otherwise and react as though the concept threatens them?