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Cancer Complementary and alternative medicine Integrative medicine Medicine Quackery

Surprise! Surprise! JACM publishes a whole issue devoted to “integrative oncology” propaganda

Last week, The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine (JACM) published a Special Focus Issue on “integrative oncology.” In reality, it’s propaganda that promotes pseudoscience and the “integration” of quackery into oncology.

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

John Weeks accuses Orac of having "blood on his hands" for criticizing the Samuelis’ $200 million gift to UC-Irvine. Orac responds.

Like many advocates of science-based medicine, I was dismayed at the $200 million gift given by Susan and Henry Samueli to the University of California, Irvine in order to vastly expand its integrative medicine offerings. John Weeks, a noted promoter of integrative medicine, was not pleased at how the mainstream press covered this gift, and in particular he was most displeased that skeptics were heavily quoted in the reporting. In response, he launched a spittle-flecked, spelling-challenged broadside against his perceived enemies, full of misinformation and logical fallacies. Naturally, Orac can’t resist applying some not-so-Respectful Insolence to it.

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Complementary and alternative medicine Integrative medicine Medicine Pseudoscience Skepticism/critical thinking

Is the infiltration of “integrative medicine” into medicine as relentless as we thought? Maybe not…

When it comes to expansion and infiltrating medicine, “integrative medicine” has frequently seemed like the Terminator: utterly relentless. Recent setbacks at major integrative medicine “Crown Jewels” resulting in their closure cast that narrative in doubt. However, I never forget that after its seeming destruction, the Terminator always comes back.

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Complementary and alternative medicine Integrative medicine Medicine Naturopathy Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking

The long strange road to normalizing the “integration” of quackery with medicine

It’s been a long time since I’ve encountered Glenn Sabin. You might remember him, though. He runs a consulting firm, FON Therapeutics, which is dedicated to the promotion of “integrative” health, or, as I like to put it, the “integration of pseudoscience and quackery with science-based medicine. What I remember most about Sabin is how […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Clinical trials Complementary and alternative medicine History Medicine Naturopathy Politics Popular culture Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking

In which I am compared to Donald Trump by a pro-quackademic medicine activist…again!

John Weeks has long been an activist for alternative medicine—excuse me, “complementary and alternative medicine” (CAM) or, as it’s more commonly referred to these days, “integrative medicine.” Despite his having zero background in scientific research or the design and execution of experiments and clinical trials, for some bizarre reason in May he was appointed editor […]