Category: Science and Medicine
The Federation of State Medical Boards vs. COVID-19 misinformation: A losing battle so far
A few weeks ago, the Federation of State Medical Boards, which itself does not have any regulatory power but advocates for state medical boards, issued a statement that physicians who spread COVID-19 misinformation should be subject to disciplinary measures. Unfortunately, a recent report found that not a single US physician has had action taken against their medical license for doing this. Why?
The Frenetic Frenum Freeing Frenzy
What problems do tongue-ties cause? Do all of them need to be clipped?
Are Muscle Relaxants an Effective Adjunct for Treating Acute Low Back Pain? Yes and No
The journal American Family Physician left me confused about adding muscle relaxants to analgesics for acute low back pain. One article says it isn't effective, but another article in the same issue says it is.
Is RSV Being Misdiagnosed as COVID-19?
Doctors who claimed that COVID-19 was essentially harmless to children are now being confronted with the sad fact that it is sometimes quite dangerous to them. How they respond reveals much about them and little about the virus.
Ivermectin is the new hydroxychloroquine, take 5: The Nobel Prize gambit
Ivermectin continues to be the new hydroxychloroquine, an unproven repurposed drug promoted to treat COVID-19. Now the advocates are pointing to the history of the drug's developers being awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine, as though that has anything to do with its effectiveness against COVID-19.
Chiropractic Care of an Infant with Erb’s Palsy: Another Worthless Case Report
A recently published case report claims that chiropractic care helped heal an infant's paralyzed arm. In reality, the chiropractor took credit for the natural course of a well-known medical condition and luckily didn't make things worse for the patient.
The CDC Should Do Better
The CDC's failure to report clear and accurate data about how COVID-19 is affecting children has opened the door to those who wish to minimize its impact by spreading fear, uncertainty, and doubt. The CDC needs to do better.
Ivermectin is the new hydroxychloroquine, take 4: Bret Weinstein misrepresents meta-analyses
Evolutionary biologist turned podcaster Bret Weinstein has promoted the anthelmintic drug ivermectin as a highly effective treatment for COVID-19 based on a massive misunderstanding of a meta-analysis. Here, we correct this misunderstanding and explain why ivermectin is unlikely to be effective against COVID-19.
Cognitive Illusions and How Not to Write About COVID-19 and Children
Many people minimize the deaths and damage COVID-19 has wrought on children because it is "worse in adults". While it is true that more adults suffer due to the disease, that does not make the harms done to children vanish in a puff of smoke.
Joe Mercola: An antivaccine quack tycoon pivots effortlessly to profit from spreading COVID-19 misinformation
Joe Mercola is a physician whose nearly quarter-century of promoting quackery and antivaccine misinformation has garnered him a net worth north of $100 million. It is therefore not surprising that in the age of the pandemic, he has pivoted to fatten his bottom line promoting misinformation and conspiracy theories about COVID-19 and the COVID vaccines.