Results for: acupuncture

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".

/ January 30, 2020

 European Manifesto Against Pseudo-Therapies

A new organization in Spain is trying to protect patients from becoming victims of pseudoscience. They have prepared a manifesto.

/ January 28, 2020

Black Cumin – Be Skeptical

The claims made for black cumin follow a familiar pattern – implausible and a lack of evidence.

/ January 22, 2020

Is defending science-based medicine worth it?

Pseudoscience, denialism, fake news, and disinformation about health are a bigger problem than ever, thanks to social media. As doctors and scientists join lay defenders of science on social media, will they be willing to pay the price in terms of harassment? Or will they decide it's not worth the hassle? And what about our fellow docs who think that it's beneath...

/ January 20, 2020

What do veterinarians think about complementary and alternative medicine?

A survey of veterinarians shows that belief in at least one CAM modality is more than twice as common as skepticism.

/ January 17, 2020

The Parasympathetic State

The claims for an essential oil mixture, Vibrant Blue Parasympathetic, are devoid of science. They are a mixture of pseudoscience, misrepresentation, lies, and imagination.

/ January 7, 2020

How do we stop crowdfunding sites like GoFundMe from being used to fund quackery?

GoFundMe and other crowdfunding sites have long been used by desperate patients seeking to fund their use of unproven and downright quacky treatments. How can these sites be changed in order to keep them from being used as a funding supply for unethical quacks?

/ December 30, 2019

NCCIH surveys physicians on their recommendation of “complementary health approaches,” with depressing results

The NCCIH recently published a study examining the percentage of US physicians who had recommended "complementary health approaches" to their patients in the last year. The percentages are far higher than they should be.

/ December 16, 2019

Alternative Medicine: Placebos for Pets

A skeptical veterinarian reviews the evidence for alternative medicine for pets, and concludes it's mostly placebos.

/ December 3, 2019

Scientific Fraud in China

There is a systemic problem with fraud in Chinese medical science. The problem goes all the way to the top.

/ November 27, 2019