Category: Legal

Fake Homeopathy COVID Scam

A naturopath was arrested for selling fake homeopathic COVID treatments, which reveals the "alternative" rot in the medical system.

/ July 21, 2021

Court overturns FDA ban on electric shock device used on special needs students

An FDA ban on using electric shock devices to control behavior in special needs students, a method deemed "torture" in a U.N. report, was overturned in a flawed court decision. The FDA should appeal.

/ July 15, 2021

H.R. 2654 forces Medicare to treat chiropractors and MDs as equals

Chiropractors are deceptively trying to sell H.R. 2654 as expanded Medicare coverage for musculoskeletal conditions. The bill actually mandates that Medicare treat chiropractors and medical doctors as equals, covering anything a chiropractors are authorized to do under their expansive state scope of practice laws.

/ June 17, 2021
COVID-19 vs. FDA and CDC

Legislatures and litigation: anti-vaxxers continue attacks on COVID mitigation

Anti-vaxxers are attacking COVID-19 mandates in state legislatures and in court even as COVID-19 cases numbers and hospitalizations remain high among the unvaccinated.

/ June 3, 2021

Supreme Court rules that FTC cannot seek restitution on behalf of consumers

The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that the FTC lacks the authority to seek consumer refunds and other monetary relief from scammers. Without a fix from Congress, the ability of the FTC, and perhaps other agencies, to redress financial injuries caused by quacks and other frauds is greatly diminished.

/ May 20, 2021

COVID vaccine manufacturers should explore legal action against anti-vaxxers spreading disinformation

Perhaps it's time for vaccine manufacturers to consider defamation suits against anti-vaxxers who spread false information about COVID vaccines. Lawsuits by voting technology companies against Fox and others over false "rigged" election claims could serve as a template.

/ May 6, 2021

“Quack Protection Acts” proposed in state legislatures

Laws protecting "complementary and alternative" health care providers from state regulation have been proposed in several state legislatures under the rubric of "health freedom". These "Quack Protection Acts" harm consumers.

/ April 8, 2021

Legislative Alchemy: State licensing of “the profession of reflexology”

Following the playbook of other practitioners of pseudoscience, reflexologists aim to become state-licensed health care professionals, a status they've already achieved in four states. With bills pending in New York and Nebraska, they move closer to their goal of legitimizing their quackery in all 50 states.

/ March 25, 2021

Legislative Alchemy: Undaunted by rejection in 2020, naturopaths return to state legislatures seeking licensing and practice expansion

States largely rejected naturopathic licensing and practice expansion efforts in 2020. As ever, naturopaths are back again in 2021, imploring state legislators to legitimize them with licensing and greater scopes of practice, especially the authority to prescribe drugs.

/ February 11, 2021
Conversion therapy is pseudoscience

Federal appeals court strikes down conversion therapy bans

A recent federal Court of Appeals decision struck down local governments' conversion therapy bans on First Amendment grounds, characterizing licensed mental health therapists' advice as a "viewpoint" and regulation thereof subject to strict scrutiny by the courts, a standard that, historically, is rarely met. This decision carries disturbing implications for the regulation of the practice of medicine as well as the government's...

/ December 31, 2020