Indian Doctors Fight Against Quackery

To address a doctor shortage, Indian health minister JP Nadda is proposing licensing practitioners of ayurveda and homeopathy. This would be a terrible mistake.

/ January 3, 2018

Rigor Mortis: What’s Wrong with Medical Science and How to Fix It

Medical research has been plagued by less-than-rigorous practices and a culture that rewards quantity over quality. In a new book, Richard Harris identifies the problems, proposes solutions, and offers hope.

/ January 2, 2018
Water

“Raw water”: The latest dangerous “natural health” fad

In pseudoscience, appeals to nature are everywhere. It's not surprising, then, that there is profit to be made selling "raw" (i.e., untreated) water at very high prices for its nonexistent health benefits, those benefits all claimed to be due to the "naturalness" of the water. I can't help but note that cholera, Giardia, amoebic dysentery, and a wide variety of waterborne illnesses...

/ January 1, 2018

Snake-Based Medicine? Another Salmonella Infection Linked to Rattlesnake Pills

Rattlesnake pills, another entry in a long line of bogus cancer cures, have been linked (again) to a potentially deadly Salmonella infection.

/ December 29, 2017

Top ten signs your detox may be a scam

Before you begin a New Year’s detox, look for these ten signs you may be getting scammed.

/ December 28, 2017

A Misguided Study to Test the Reliability of Traditional Chinese Medicine Pulse Diagnosis

Pulse diagnosis and tongue diagnosis are widely used in traditional Chinese medicine. They are based on imagination, not on anatomical and physiologic reality.

/ December 26, 2017

Legislative Alchemy 2017: Naturopathy

Via the magic of Legislative Alchemy, naturopathic "doctors" gained state licensure and practice expansion, but also suffered major defeats, in 2017.

/ December 21, 2017

FDA Proposes Changes to Homeopathy Regulation

The FDA has proposed new guidelines for regulating homeopathy. They sound encouraging, and may signal a new era of actual regulation of the homeopathic industry.

/ December 20, 2017

New Blood Pressure Guidelines: Why Are Previously Normal BPs Now Classified as High Blood Pressure?

Under the new blood pressure guidelines, more people are classified as having high blood pressure; but the treatment emphasis is on lifestyle changes, not medications.

/ December 19, 2017
George Carlin

The seven dirty words the CDC won’t be able to say any more (in budget requests)

On Saturday, The Washington Post broke a story that Trump administration will prohibit officials at the CDC from using a list of seven words or phrases — including "transgender," “evidence-based,” and “science-based” — in official documents being prepared for next year’s budget. As much as we like the title of our blog, this is not the sort of recognition we at SBM...

/ December 18, 2017