Results for: "functional medicine"
The DC wants to play PCP on your dime: H.R. 3654 forces Medicare to cover full chiropractic scope of practice
A bill pending before Congress (H.R. 3654) would expand Medicare coverage of chiropractic services to their full scope of practice under state laws. Chiropractors claim they are primary care physicians and want to force Medicare to pay them as such, just like an M.D. or D.O.
“Young blood” infusions: same old snake oil
There's no reliable evidence that an infusion of blood plasma from a young donor will benefit an older person, and there are risks, but Ambrosia Health is selling "young blood" infusions for thousands of dollars anyway. The FDA has taken notice.
The Yoke of Chiropractic: Vertebral Subluxation Doctrine
The mysterious, asymptomatic chiropractic “vertebral subluxation complex” alleged to be a cause of disease has never been proven to exist. A real orthopedic vertebral subluxation, which can be identified by imaging and by physical signs, has never been demonstrated to be a cause of organic disease. Chiropractic subluxation theory has been perpetuated largely by misinformation, fear, and a powerful placebo effect, produced,...
Bleaching away what ails you: The Genesis II Church is still selling Miracle Mineral Supplement as a cure-all
Miracle Mineral Supplement (MMS) has been sold by the Genesis II Church of Health and Healing as a cure-all to treat conditions and diseases as diverse as autism, cancer, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and malaria. Indeed, it's touted as a cure for nearly all disease. It is, however, basically industrial bleach. As ridiculous and harmful as MMS is, it's a quackery that just...
The Oncology Association of Naturopathic Physicians publishes Principles of Care Guidelines. Not surprisingly, they aren’t science-based.
Last week, the Oncology Association of Naturopathic Physicians (OncANP) published "principles of care" guidelines. Try as they might, naturopathic oncologists tried to represent their specialty as evidence-based. Unsurprisingly, they failed.
Experts slam CAM lab tests, call for better regulation
Experts review the evidence and find that common CAM lab tests have "little or no clinical benefit" and are "a potential risk to patient safety." Regulatory reform is urgently needed to protect the public.
Naturopaths try (and fail yet again) to argue that they are science-based
That booster of all things "integrative," John Weeks has devoted the entire most recent issue of The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, which he edits, to trying to demonstrate that naturopathy is science-based. It does not go well. Same as it ever was.
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...
Pseudoscience invades Social Work
Acutonics, aura infusions and angelic channeling: pseudoscience has invaded the practices of social workers.
Critical Thinking in Medicine
Cognitive Errors and Diagnostic Mistakes is a superb new guide to critical thinking in medicine written by Jonathan Howard. It explains how our psychological foibles regularly bias and betray us, leading to diagnostic mistakes. Learning critical thinking skills is essential but difficult. Every known cognitive error is illustrated with memorable patient stories.