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Bioethics Medicine Politics Popular culture Skepticism/critical thinking

Right-to-try: A bait and switch intended to weaken the FDA

On Wednesday, President Trump signed a federal right-to-try bill into law with great fanfare, making extravagant claims for it. It’s time to reiterate one last time that right-to-try will not help terminally ill patients but it will strip important protections from them. It’s pure snake oil.

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Homeopathy Medicine Naturopathy Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking

An unholy combination of methodolatry and quackery apologia—with jade eggs

Meet Dr. Jason Fung. Dr. Fung is unhappy with skeptics and thinks they’re hypocrites behaving like religious fanatics. Unfortunately for him, his arguments are a combination of the worst methodolatry of evidence-based medicine combined with rants against conventional medicine and a defense of quackery.

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Cancer Medicine Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking

Helen Lawson and black salve: Cutting, burning, and poisoning “naturally”

Cancer quacks frequently characterize conventional treatments for cancer as “cutting, poisoning, and burning.” Yet, in Australia a woman with ovarian cancer chose black salve, in essence, “cutting, poisoning, and burning” (but mostly burning and without the cutting) to treat her disease. She died a horrible death. How can black salve still be a thing.

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Homeopathy Naturopathy Politics Quackery

Here we go again. A naturopathic licensure bill stealthily passes the Michigan Senate

Naturopathic licensure is like The Terminator. It never, ever gives up. This time around, it’s back in Michigan. Worse, a bill licensing naturopaths has just passed the Michigan Senate and is moving on to the House of Representatives. Can it be stopped?

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Antivaccine nonsense Bad science Cancer Homeopathy Medicine Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking

Orac basks in the adoration of Gary Null (revised and greatly expanded)

Orac loves to bask in the adulation of his “fans.” This time around, one of the “grand old men” of quackery, Gary Null, has decided that he really, really doesn’t like science-based medicine. Orac was sufficiently amused to revise, update, and expand his previous post providing Null with some not-so-Respectful Insolence.