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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Politics Skepticism/critical thinking

Grifters gonna grift: Cancer quacks Ty and Charlene Bollinger pivot to antivaccine and “Stop the Steal” conspiracies

Ty Bollinger and his wife Charlene were noted for their promotion of cancer quackery. Now they’ve pivoted to antivaccine and COVID-19 quackery plus “Stop the Steal” conspiracy theories because grifters gonna grift. Always.

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Cancer Complementary and alternative medicine Homeopathy Medicine Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking

Cassandra Callender’s cancer is progressing, and the quackery didn’t stop it. Let’s hope real medicine can.

Cassandra Callender made national news a couple of years ago when at age 17 she was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma and refused chemotherapy. The court ordered that she undergo appropriate treatment, but unfortunately she relapsed and chose treatment at a quack clinic in Mexico. Continuing to progress, she finally chose real medicine to treat her cancer. Let’s hope that it’s not too late to save her.

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Cancer Complementary and alternative medicine Homeopathy Medicine Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking

Cassandra Callender, the teen who refused chemotherapy, has relapsed

I hate these stories, because they so seldom end well. Unfortunately, this one is more messy than even the usual messiness of the typical story of this type. The type of story I’m referring to, of course, is one that I’ve told from time to time ever since near the first year of this blog’s […]

Categories
Cancer Complementary and alternative medicine Homeopathy Medicine Quackery Science Skepticism/critical thinking

Cassandra Callender, the teen who refused chemotherapy, speaks out to a quack

A recurring topic on this blog involves my discussion of stories about children with cancer whose parents refuse chemotherapy, thus endangering the children’s lives. These stories usually take this general form: The child is diagnosed with a deadly, but treatable cancer that has a high probability of cure with proper chemotherapy. The child receives the […]