Quackademia at the University of Toronto: Antivaccine pseudoscience taught by a homeopath is “not unbalanced”
Aside from deconstructing the misinformation and pseudoscience of the antivaccine movement, another of the top three or so topics I routinely discuss here is the infiltration of pseudoscience into medicine. In particular, I’ve found and discussed more examples than I can possibly remember of what I like to call quackademic medicine, defined as the infiltration… (Source: Respectful Insolence)
Source: Respectful Insolence - July 7, 2015 Category: Surgery Authors: Orac Tags: Antivaccine nonsense Complementary and alternative medicine Homeopathy Naturopathy Physics Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking Andrew Wakefield anthropology Beth Landau-Halpern Heather Boon Leslie Dan Faculty of Pha Source Type: blogs
Dabbling in Dentistry
Most people will experience dental pain or a dental complication at some point in their lives. Dental pain is an incredibly common complaint by people of all ages, especially those who lack dental insurance and suitable hygiene habits. Sometimes, though, poor dentition or injury is simply a result of bad luck. Patients often present to the ED hoping to find a dentist and an answer to their problems.
Your first thought? “I am not a dentist. What am I going to do?” You’re right to an extent. We are not dentists, and often feel we have little to offer patients for acute issues that require equipment we don’t have a...
Source: The Procedural Pause - July 1, 2015 Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: blogs
Dabbling in Dentistry
Most people will experience dental pain or a dental complication at some point in their lives. Dental pain is an incredibly common complaint by people of all ages, especially those who lack dental insurance and suitable hygiene habits. Sometimes, though, poor dentition or injury is simply a result of bad luck. Patients often present to the ED hoping to find a dentist and an answer to their problems.
Your first thought? “I am not a dentist. What am I going to do?” You’re right to an extent. We are not dentists, and often feel we have little to offer patients for acute issues that require equipment we don’t have...
Source: The Procedural Pause - July 1, 2015 Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: blogs
Scientific medicine is “truly nonsense”? Orac says no!
Orac note: Congratulations on California and everyone who reads this blog who helped pass SB 277 to protect California’s children. Here’s hoping Governor Jerry Brown signs the bill! I had a big talk to give this morning that required a massive rewrite of my slide set last night; so there wasn’t time for the usual… (Source: Respectful Insolence)
Source: Respectful Insolence - June 26, 2015 Category: Surgery Authors: Orac Tags: Complementary and alternative medicine Homeopathy Naturopathy Quackery Religion Science Abraham Flexner Richard Dawkins science-based medicine Source Type: blogs
The AMA acts to try to rein in doctors spreading misinformation
Even if you’re a relative newbie to this blog, you probably wouldn’t be particularly surprised to learn that I don’t much like Dr. Mehmet Oz, a.k.a. “America’s Doctor.” Of course, I refer to him as something slightly different, namely “America’s Quack,” for a whole host of reasons, including his featuring psychic mediums like John Edward… (Source: Respectful Insolence)
Source: Respectful Insolence - June 19, 2015 Category: Surgery Authors: Orac Tags: Antivaccine nonsense Bioethics Complementary and alternative medicine Homeopathy Naturopathy Politics Popular culture Quackery Science Skepticism/critical thinking American Medical Association Bob Sears jay gordon Mehmet Oz vac Source Type: blogs
What’s the harm? A child dies a preventable death from an ear infection
A common question, rhetorical or otherwise, that skeptics are asked about alternative medicine is, “What’s the harm?” It’s seemingly an effective ploy for some modalities, so much so that years ago Tim Farley felt obligated to try to answer the question on a website (whatstheharm.net) that catalogues examples of the harm alternative medicine, supernatural and… (Source: Respectful Insolence)
Source: Respectful Insolence - June 16, 2015 Category: Surgery Authors: Orac Tags: Antivaccine nonsense Complementary and alternative medicine Homeopathy Quackery Religion antibiotics Bradford County child neglect Christine Delozier ear infection Ebed Delozier Hope Delozier medical neglect otitis media Source Type: blogs
In Memoriam: Wallace Sampson, MD
I have some sad news for my readers today. It’s even sadder given that it’s only been two and a half weeks since I last had to mourn the passing of one of our own, a champion of science-based medicine, a regular commenter of five years, lilady. Unfortunately, this time around, it is my sad… (Source: Respectful Insolence)
Source: Respectful Insolence - June 1, 2015 Category: Surgery Authors: Orac Tags: Cancer Complementary and alternative medicine Homeopathy Naturopathy Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking laetrile science-based medicine Wallace Sampson Source Type: blogs
A Dunning-Kruger manifesto about vaccines and autism
I’ve frequently written about the “arrogance of ignorance,” a phenomenon that anyone who’s paid attention to what quacks, cranks, or antivaccine activists (but I repeat myself) write and say beyond a certain period of time will have encountered. Basically, it’s the belief found in such people—and amplified in groups—that somehow they can master a subject… (Source: Respectful Insolence)
Source: Respectful Insolence - May 29, 2015 Category: Surgery Authors: Orac Tags: Antivaccine nonsense Autism Complementary and alternative medicine Homeopathy Naturopathy Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking Alex Spourdalakis Andrew Wakefield Lisa Goes manifesto The Rev The Thinking Moms' Revol Source Type: blogs
Studying “disparities” in access to “complementary and alternative medicine”
When it comes to the use of what is sometimes called “complementary and alternative medicine” (CAM) or, increasingly, “integrative medicine,” there is a certain narrative. It’s a narrative promoted by CAM proponents that does its best to convince the public that there is nothing unusual, untoward, or odd about CAM use, even though much of… (Source: Respectful Insolence)
Source: Respectful Insolence - May 27, 2015 Category: Surgery Authors: Orac Tags: Complementary and alternative medicine Homeopathy Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking acupuncture CAM cancer health disparities integrative medicine integrative oncology National Center for Complementary and Alternati Source Type: blogs
A Truthful Vaccine Consent Form – That No Mom Could Ever Sign
The duty and responsibility for ascertaining the quality of the consent rests upon each individual who initiates, directs or engages in the experiment. It is a personal duty and responsibility which may not be delegated to another with impunity.(1)
Those are the closing words of the first tenet of the Nuremberg Code - informed consent – and make no mistake about it - from the most personal of parental perspectives, vaccination’s a macabre experiment, every time: no parent can be certain that a vaccine won’t permanently disable her child.(2) Egregiously, the administering doctor or nurse - or CVS pharmacist - in no wa...
Source: vactruth.com - May 25, 2015 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Shawn Siegel Tags: Logical Shawn Siegel Top Stories informed consent Nuremberg Code Ronne study Vaccine Consent Form Source Type: blogs
Autism One: As quacky as it ever was
Once again, the yearly autism quackfest known as Autism One is fast approaching. In fact, it will begin in Chicago tomorrow: five days of “autism biomed” quackery and antivaccine pseudoscience. Ever since the Great Schism in the autism antivaccine quackery community, which severed Generation Rescue from Autism One and ended Jenny McCarthy’s run of being… (Source: Respectful Insolence)
Source: Respectful Insolence - May 19, 2015 Category: Surgery Authors: Orac Tags: Autism Complementary and alternative medicine Homeopathy Naturopathy Quackery Science Skepticism/critical thinking Andrew Wakefield antivaccine Autism One Kerri Rivera Mark Geier miracle mineral solution mms vaccines Source Type: blogs
Prince Charles’ letters confirm that he’s not fit to be king
Jump to follow-up
This post was written for the Spectator Health section, at short notice after the release of the spider letters. The following version is almost the same as appeared there, with a few updates. Some of the later sections are self-plagiarised from earlier posts.
Picture: Getty
The age of enlightenment was a beautiful thing. People cast aside dogma and authority. They started to think for themselves. Natural science flourished. Understanding of the natural world increased. The hegemony of religion slowly declined. Eventually real universities were created and real democracy developed. The modern world w...
Source: DC's goodscience - May 15, 2015 Category: Science Authors: David Colquhoun Tags: Duchy Originals Foundation for Integrated Health Freedom of Information Act Prince Charles Prince of Wales Prince's Foundation Anti-science antiscience badscience CAM herbal medicine herbalism homeopathy politics quackery Que Source Type: blogs
Prince Charles ’ letters confirm that he ’ s not fit to be king
Jump to follow-up
This post was written for the Spectator Health section, at short notice after the release of the spider letters. The following version is almost the same as appeared there, with a few updates. Some of the later sections are self-plagiarised from earlier posts.
Picture: Getty
The age of enlightenment was a beautiful thing. People cast aside dogma and authority. They started to think for themselves. Natural science flourished. Understanding of the natural world increased. The hegemony of religion slowly declined. Eventually real universities were created and real democracy developed. The modern world w...
Source: DC's goodscience - May 15, 2015 Category: Science Authors: David Colquhoun Tags: Duchy Originals Foundation for Integrated Health Freedom of Information Act Prince Charles Prince of Wales Prince's Foundation Anti-science antiscience badscience CAM herbal medicine herbalism homeopathy politics quackery Que Source Type: blogs
Another favorite pseudoscience trope: “I’m just providing information”
After having written yesterday’s piece about the fallacy known as the appeal to nature, a favorite fallacy of the alternative medicine crowd. The idea that if something is somehow “natural” it must be superior to anything viewed as “unnatural” or “man-made” is deeply ingrained in pseudoscientific medicine. Heck, there’s even a brand of quackery known… (Source: Respectful Insolence)
Source: Respectful Insolence - May 13, 2015 Category: Surgery Authors: Orac Tags: Complementary and alternative medicine Homeopathy Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking antivaccine Kate Tietje Mehmet Oz Modern Alternative Mama The Dr. Oz Show Source Type: blogs
What’s the harm? An Australian child dies while undergoing a particularly cruel form of quackery
A common criticism aimed at those of us who are highly critical of various alternative medicine treatments and, in particular, of the “integration” of such treatments into conventional medical treatment is: What’s the harm? What, they ask, is the harm of homeopathy, acupuncture, iridology, or traditional Chinese medicine? They argue that it’s pretty much harmless,… (Source: Respectful Insolence)
Source: Respectful Insolence - May 1, 2015 Category: Surgery Authors: Orac Tags: Complementary and alternative medicine News of the Weird Quackery Religion Skepticism/critical thinking Aidan Fenton bruises diabetes Hongchi Xiao paida sha traditional Chinese medicine what's the harm Source Type: blogs
