Results for: mark hyman

COVID-19 vs. FDA and CDC

Germ theory denial in the age of the COVID-19 pandemic

As hard as it is to believe, in the middle of a global pandemic that's claimed so many lives and so thoroughly disrupted society, there are people who still deny germ theory. How can this be?

/ January 4, 2021

The Cleveland Clinic publishes a study claiming to show benefits from functional medicine. It doesn’t.

Last week, the Cleveland Clinic published a study purporting to show that functional medicine improves health-related quality of life. Not surprisingly, on closer examination, there's a lot less to the study than meets the eye, and its results are quite underwhelming.

/ October 28, 2019
Amazon Prime

Combatting dangerous quackery and antivaccine misinformation on streaming services and social media

Last week, Amazon began removing antivaccine videos from Amazon Prime. Last month, YouTube announced that it was demonetizing antivaccine videos, and Facebook stated that it would be taking action to de-emphasize antivaccine pages in its searched. These are all good first tentative steps, but the problem of quackery on streaming platforms and social media goes way beyond just antivaccine content. Making it...

/ March 4, 2019

Functional medicine: Reams of useless tests in one hand, a huge invoice in the other

"Functional medicine" preaches the "biochemical individuality" of each patient, which is why one of its key features is that its practitioners order reams of useless lab tests and then try to correct every abnormal level without considering (or even knowing) what these abnormalities mean, if anything. So they make up fake diagnoses and profit.

/ December 17, 2018

Leaky Brain, Leaky Gut: Are They Real?

First there was leaky gut; now there’s leaky brain. These questionable concepts are being promoted by practitioners of so-called “functional medicine.”

/ November 20, 2018

AAFP should publish research behind finding that functional medicine lacks evidence, contains harmful and dangerous practices

For the public's health and safety, the American Academy of Family Physicians should publish their research behind their claims that functional medicine lacks evidence, and contains harmful and dangerous practices.

/ September 27, 2018
iV Bars

The FTC cracks down on iV Bars for false advertising claims about its “intravenous micronutrient therapy”

One of the most popular forms of quackery sold by alternative medicine practitioners such as naturopaths is intravenous vitamin therapy, sometimes also called "intravenous micronutrient therapy" (IVMT). Most are variants of a concoction known as "Myers cocktail," and there is no good evidence that IVMT is efficacious for any of the indications for which quacks use it. Last week, the FTC issued...

/ September 24, 2018

Integrative Medicine finally admits it’s attracting bad apples

Integrative medicine proponents finally acknowledge their field is attracting bad apples but fail to identify the real source of their problem: It's rejection of science-based medicine, not lack of training in integrative medicine.

/ September 13, 2018

Cleveland Clinic genetic experts call out functional medicine on worthless genetic testing and supplement prescribing

Cleveland Clinic genetics experts call out functional medicine on worthless genetic testing and dietary supplement prescribing: "Poor science, leading to even worse medicine." Irony meters exploded everywhere.

/ February 15, 2018

Kennedy, Fisher and Bigtree: a triple dose of anti-vaccine injected into upcoming chiropractic conference

Even as the flu rages, chiropractors will be stoking their anti-vaccination ideology at a March conference with speeches from anti-vaxx Illuminati Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Barbara Loe Fisher and Del Bigtree.

/ February 1, 2018