Category: Cancer
ASCO endorses the integration of quackery into breast cancer care
In 2014, the Society for Integrative Oncology first published clinical guidelines for the care of breast cancer patients. Not surprisingly, SIO advocated "integrating" dubious therapies with oncology. Last week, the most influential oncology society, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), endorsed a 2017 update to the SIO guidelines, thus endorsing the "integration" of quackery with oncology and paving the way for...
Do Sunscreens Cause Cancer?
Elizabeth Plourde thinks sunscreens cause cancer rather than preventing it. She blames sunscreens for everything from coral reef die-offs to autism. Neither her evidence nor her reasoning stand up to scrutiny.
Death from Cancer Quackery – Black Salve Edition
An Australian nurse dies of cancer while being treated by a cancer quack with a caustic substance known as black salve. How and why is this allowed to happen?
Brittany Auerbach aka Montreal Healthy Girl Gives Unhealthy Advice
Montreal Healthy Girl Brittany Auerbach spreads misinformation, pseudoscience, and outright fantasy. She could hurt people who believe her nonsense about cancer, viruses, and vaccines
The Nation indulges in fear mongering about cell phones and cancer
An article published last week in the Nation likens wireless telephone companies to tobacco and fossil fuel episodes in their tactics of spreading fear, misinformation, and doubt regarding the science of cell phone radiation and health. To produce this narrative, the investigation's authors rely on unreliable sources and cherry pick scientific studies, ignoring the scientific consensus that cell phone radiation almost certainly...
Cell phones and cancer: random chance in clinical trials
The full results of the National Toxicology Program's study of cell phones and cancer are finally in. They are somewhat complicated, but ultimately do not support the idea that cell phones can cause cancer.
The deadly false hope of German alternative cancer clinics
We at SBM have written about German cancer clinics that offer a combination of cancer quackery, some real medicine, plus unproven experimental therapies, all at a high cost, both financially and in false hope. Finally, an exposé of these clinics has been published. What these clinics are doing is even worse than even we had feared.
Chiropractor Lost His License; Patient Lost Her Uterus
Practicing after he lost his license, chiropractor Nicholas LeRoy used escharotics to treat a woman's cervical dysplasia. As result, she lost her uterus. Ex-naturopath Britt Hermes was taught to use escharotic treatments at Bastyr; she has since realized that they are "unproven, dangerous, and very stupid."
Are we all contaminated with chemical toxins?
Are we all being gradually poisoned by environmental toxins? And what is the evidence for detoxification kits and cleanses?
True believers, entrepreneurs, and scammers in alternative medicine
In the online echo chamber promoting alternative medicine, there are varying degrees of deception. There are true believers (who are often victims), entrepreneurs (who are often true believers who found a profitable business), and scammers. The categories are not mutually exclusive.