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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Politics Popular culture Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking

Shannon Kroner invited me to a panel discussion on vaccines. Don’t fall for a trap like this.

A clinical psychologist named Shannon Kroner invited Orac’s alter-ego to a “panel discussion” on vaccines. Let’s just say Orac knows a trap when he sees one and didn’t fall for this one. However, he thought it wise to write this post to warn other science advocates about traps for the unwary—like this one. Heed Orac’s advice!

Categories
Autism Homeopathy Medicine Naturopathy Quackery

Anke Zimmermann: Neonatal vitamin K shots cause behavioral problems that need to be treated with… homeopathic vitamin K!

Anke Zimmermann is a naturopath in Canada who treats autism who’s quackier than the usual naturopath. When last we saw her, she was using homeopathic rabid dog saliva to treat a fear of werewolves. This time around, she presents a “case report” in which she spent two and a half years treating a cranky child with various homeopathic remedies and concluded that her problems were due to the neonatal vitamin K shot. Naturally, that means to her, like any good homeopath, that the correct treatment is vitamin K diluted away to nothing.

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Bad science Medicine Popular culture Pseudoscience Skepticism/critical thinking

Penn Jillette interviews water fast guru Dr. Michael Klaper. Woo ensues.

Dr. Michael Klaper advocates a plant-based “whole food” diet and water fasts as the cure for what ails you, with demonstrably overblown claims for the benefits of such practices and invocation of nonsense “detoxification”? Yet Penn Jillette gave him a friendly forum on his podcast. Where did the Penn of “Penn & Teller: Bullshit!” go? Here we examine Dr. Klaper’s claims and find them weak on science.

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Antivaccine nonsense Bad science Homeopathy Integrative medicine Medicine Pseudoscience Quackery

Stealth advertising for Dr. Mark Hyman and the Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine

Over the weekend, I came across a local news story from Toledo about Chris Tedrow, a patient who was treated at Dr. Mark Hyman’s Center for Functional Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic. Let’s just say that it was, in essence, free advertising for functional medicine nonsense. The Cleveland Clinic should have had to pay the Toledo ABC affiliate to air it.

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Bad science Bioethics Cancer Clinical trials Quackery

Clínica 0-19 and IDOI: Not making DIPG history in Monterrey (part 2 of 4)

Earlier this week, I discussed Clínica 0-19, a clinic “making DIPG history in Monterrey” whose doctors claim to be able to successfully treat the deadly brainstem cancer DIPG using intra-arterial chemotherapy and immunotherapy. This week, I discuss what I’ve learned since last week, specifically a lot more about just what it is that these doctors do, why it is scientifically dubious and unproven, and why I am becoming even more harsh in my assessment of this clinic, which shows every indication of being a predatory clinic selling an unproven treatment for a very high price.