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Stem Cell Therapy for Autism
If you are a parent of a young child with autism (especially level 2 or 3, requiring significant support), the promise of a cure or even an effective treatment is irresistible. This is exactly why there needs to be science-based regulatory standards – to protect vulnerable patients and their loved-ones. RFK Jr., however, wants to weaken these protections – even removing from...
The Baloney Protection Act
We have had to endure a great deal of interference from government in the conduct of institutions that should be governed by science and evidence. I’m sorry to report – here is one more. Senators Mike Lee (R-UT) and Tommy Tuberville (R- AL) have recently introduced a bill that would limit the FDA’s ability to regulate the blatant pseudoscience of homeopathy. This...
In Animal Study, Nanobots Repair Spinal Cords
For my entire career as a neurologist the ability to repair an injured spinal cord has been one of the holy grails. There has always been promising new research that definitely increases our knowledge but doesn’t lead to an effective treatment. This is not for lack of trying – I also remember the period when Christopher Reeve was a tireless promoter of...
Injectable Peptides – The New Snake Oil
We are going backwards. Hopefully this will be temporary trend, but it has been consistent for the past few decades. Prior to the FDA we had the “wild west” of patent medicines – anyone could put anything in a bottle and sell it with any claims. It was up to the average person to decide if a product was safe or effective....
NYT Epic Fail on Acupuncture
This makes the third time in just two weeks that a major mainstream or scientific outlet published credible nonsense about acupuncture, but I had to cover it after dozens of people e-mailed me about this recent article in the New York Times Magazine. It is ostensibly about the interstitium, but pivots to using this recent discovery to retcon an alleged explanation for how...
Measles Surging As Vaccine Rates Drop
As easily predicted, declining measles vaccine rates in the US is leading directly to surging measles cases. In 2025 we saw the highest measles cases, 2288, since 1991, and in 2026 we are on track to exceed this number with 1814 confirmed cases so far (these are confirmed cases). The US is also not getting the worst of it, that would be...
PNAS Publishes Rank Pseudoscience
The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences recently published an article on acupuncture. It's a highly credulous take that tries to convince the reader that acupuncture is more than just a highly theatrical placebo. Quackademic medicine continues apace.
New Review Casts Doubt On Alzheimers Drugs But Is Controversial
There's a lot less than meets the eye to a recent Cochrane review that casts doubt on the efficacy of drugs for Alzheimer's disease.
New Study on AI Clinical Decision-Making
Large language model artificial intelligence applications (LLM AIs) seem poised to have a significant effect on the practice of medicine, both good and bad, which is why we are giving it as much attention as we are here. LLMs give impressive results when tested on medical knowledge, able to pass multiple-choice exams designed for general medical and specialty certification. In fact it...
MAHA Ruins Everything – Apeel Edition
About 30-40% of all food produced is wasted and not consumed. That is a stunning figure – a third of produce goes to waste. That amount of food is grown on land area the equivalent of China, uses 45 trillion gallons of water, and produces about 3% of greenhouse gas emissions. An average American household of four spends about $3 thousand a...