Category: Politics and Regulation
Hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin versus COVID-19: Grift, conspiracy theories, and another bad study by Didier Raoult
On Friday, Prof. Didier Raoult posted another study of azithromycin and hydroxychloroquine used against COVID-19. It is a single arm observational study of patients with mostly mild (or even asymptomatic) disease that is painfully uninformative with respect to the question of this treatment's effectiveness. That didn't stop America's Quack Dr. Oz and other grifters from touting Raoult's study, as well as a...
Canadian authorities warn chiropractors and naturopaths against making false COVID-19 claims
Regulators in British Columbia are investigating bogus COVID-19 preventatives and issuing public alerts warning chiropractors and naturopaths against advertising information that is not evidence-based. Other Canadian and U.S. authorities should follow suit to protect the public against pseudoscience.
Are hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin an effective treatment for COVID-19?
Saturday morning, President Trump Tweeted a claim that the combination of azithromycin and hydroxychloroquine "have a real chance to be one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine" and hoped that they be "put in use IMMEDIATELY" to treat COVID-19. His claims were based on a single clinical trial out of France. Unfortunately, although it is not implausible that...
COVID-19 update: What you need to know now that it’s officially a pandemic
On March 11, the World Health Organization officially declared the COVID-19 to be a pandemic. The causative virus, SARS-CoV-2 is spreading through the population. What can be done? Social distancing is the only hope of slowing down spread of the disease.
Legislative Alchemy 2019: Acupuncturists score Medicare coverage and scope of practice expansion
Through the magic of legislative alchemy, acupuncture has already scored some big wins in 2020, including Medicare coverage.
Legislative Alchemy 2019: Chiropractors seek scope of practice expansion, including authority to prescribe drugs
In 2019, chiropractors continued their push for practice expansion, including prescription privileges, as well as co-opting the opioid crisis to mandate physician recommendations for "chiropractic care".
Legislative Alchemy 2019: Naturopaths gain licensure in two states, try for authority to grant vaccination medical exemptions
Thanks to the magic of Legislative Alchemy, Idaho and New Mexico licensed naturopaths as primary care doctors in 2019. Naturopaths are also seeking the authority to grant medical exemptions to vaccination and prescribe drugs in several states.
FDA warns public about exosome treatments
The FDA and Nebraska health authorities issued warnings after patients became seriously ill following treatment with exosomes, an unproven, potentially risky and, per the FDA, illegal product being promoted by dubious stem cell clinics.
Anti-vaxxers try to kill Florida bill ending childhood vaccination religious exemption
Anti-vaxxers and their misinformation campaign may have killed Senate Bill 64, repealing Florida's religious exemption to childhood immunizations, which is being abused by parents. Sen. Laura Book, the bill's sponsor, remains undeterred, citing the high risk of disease outbreaks in Florida.
Would you pay $1 million to enroll in a phase 1 clinical trial of an “anti-aging” gene therapy?
Libella Gene Therapeutics, LLC made the news last week for announcing a "pay-to-play" trial of its telomerase-based anti-aging gene therapy. What was shocking about the announcement was not that it was a "pay-to-play" trial, given that such trials have become all too common, but rather the price of enrollment: $1 million. Worse, the trial is being conducted in Colombia; the therapy doesn't...