Category: Politics and Regulation
Ignorance is Strength?
Findings from a recent consultation suggest that consumers don't want health claims to be supported by evidence. Do consumers really prefer ignorance over evidence? Or is this the product of a industry campaign to derail new, science-based regulations?
Cracking Down on Chiropractic Pseudoscience
A recent CBC News investigation reveals the common pseudoscientific claims and quackery of Manitoba chiropractors.
Health Savings Accounts and Quackery Revisited
Health savings accounts don't require medical treatments to be safe or effective for consumers. This leads to taxpayer-supported quackery.
Melatonin: What’s on the label isn’t in the bottle
Melatonin is taken by millions each year. But does it work? Is it safe? And can you trust the label?
The Texas Medical Board lets Stanislaw Burzynski off lightly: A cautionary tale of the failure of regulating medicine
After three years and countless twists and turns, the final decision by the Texas Medical Board on the sanctions to be imposed on Houston cancer quack Dr. Stanislaw Burzynski were announced on Friday. Sadly, they were not enough. The Burzynski saga should serve as a cautionary tale that the regulation of physicians and medicine is too lax, not too strict.
Bills remove impediments to ill-advised state “right to try” laws, shield wrongdoers, and hide adverse events
Congressional bills will unleash state "right to try" laws, block terminally ill patients from redress for damages caused by negligent doctors and drug companies, and hide adverse drug events from the public.
Bring on the Evidence: A new regulatory approach to CAM
Complementary and alternative medicine is popular, but it's poorly regulated, and most products lack good evidence of efficacy. A new approach proposed in Australia may help consumers make more informed, science-based health decisions.
Turning chiropractors into primary care physicians via Legislative Alchemy
Via the magic of Legislative Alchemy, chiropractic lobbyists are trying to to convince state legislators to expand chiropractic scope of practice so they can rebrand as primary care physicians.
Regulating Health Care Products
How should we optimally regulate health care products to protect consumers? A conversation with the Acting Chairman of the FTC.
In 2017, are antivaxers winning?
The election of Donald Trump as President has emboldened antivaxers, because they quite rightly sense that he is one of them. His inauguration as President, combined with other trends, have led observers to ask the question: Are antivaxers winning, or will 2017 be the year of the antivaxer?