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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Cancer Complementary and alternative medicine Homeopathy Medicine Naturopathy Quackery

The scam of “detox”: Ritual purification by another name

“You need to detox.” How many times have you heard or read this? Maybe a friend of yours suggested it for the New Year. Maybe you saw it on a website, in a magazine, or as part of an ad. I like to say sometimes, “Toujours les toxines,” because in many branches of alternative medicine […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Naturopathy Politics Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking

Now that’s what I’m talking about! A state medical board appears poised to act

Many are the times that I’ve discussed the issue of quack doctors. I’m not just referring to naturopaths, whose abbreviation ND stands to me for “not a doctor.” In fact, I’m referring to actual, real physicians, doctors with an “MD” or “DO” after their names, doctors who have graduated from reputable medical schools, completed residencies […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Bioethics Complementary and alternative medicine Homeopathy Medicine Quackery Science Skepticism/critical thinking

An antivaccine family practitioner announces his intent to commit malpractice, later deletes his antivaccine manifesto

One major thing that differentiated science-based medicine (SBM) from alternative medicine and quackery is that in SBM there is a generally accepted standard of care. This was even the case back in the days before the proliferation of evidence-based guidelines, in which professional societies and expert panels try their best to synthesize what is often […]

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Complementary and alternative medicine Entertainment/culture Medicine Popular culture Pseudoscience Quackery Science Skepticism/critical thinking

The decline of pseudoscience? More like the mainstreaming of pseudoscience

As hard as it is to believe, I’ve been spending a significant part of my time countering pseudoscience for close to 17 years, so long that it seems that I’ve always been doing it. Of course, that’s not true; I didn’t actually become involved in this seemingly never-ending Sisyphean task until I was in my […]