Results for: nvic

Why It’s Worthwhile to Debunk Shivambu

Richard Feynman famously said, "The first principle is that you must not fool yourself—and you are the easiest person to fool". This is the most important lesson skepticism has to offer.

/ December 17, 2021

Quack Protection Acts advance in state legislatures

Proposed laws in Wisconsin and Massachusetts would protect quacks who defraud patients with useless, and sometimes dangerous, nostrums, by essentially allowing them to practice medicine without a license. These Quack Protection Acts should not pass.

/ December 2, 2021
The BMJ's Facebook logo

What the heck happened to The BMJ?

Last week, The BMJ published an "exposé" by Paul Thacker alleging patient unblinding, data falsification, and other wrongdoing by a company running three sites for the massive clinical trial of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. It was a highly biased story embraced by antivaxxers, with a deceptively framed narrative and claims not placed into proper context, leading me to look into the broader...

/ November 8, 2021

Anti-vaccination ideology and COVID misinformation in chiropractic continuing education courses: “Plandemic” edition

Chiropractors can still get state-approved continuing ed credit for anti-vaccination courses, with bonus COVID misinformation now added to the curriculum. Plandemic star Judy Mikovits joins the faculty.

/ October 7, 2021
Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB)

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?

/ August 23, 2021
Mercola versus flu vaccines and COVID-19

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.

/ July 26, 2021

Summer is Here, and Infant Swimming Programs are Still Unproven

Summer is in full swing and many babies are hitting the beaches and pools for some fun in the sun. Unfortunately, those swimming lessons for infants that you might have seen advertised online are still unproven and potentially dangerous.

/ July 9, 2021

The Science of Transgender Treatment

This is part I in what will be a short series of articles reviewing the science of transgender care and how it has been distorted by critics.

, / June 30, 2021

“What Exactly Did the Virus do to All These People?” Reflections on Ted Nugent, Mel Q, Kelly Brogan, and John Ioannidis

The notion that many people are dying with SARS-CoV-2 not from SARS-CoV-2 has hindered our ability to contain to the virus. Whether the source is QAnon influencers or a highly credentialed scientists, we must push back on narratives that are used to minimize the danger of COVID-19.

/ June 18, 2021

Supreme Court rules that FTC cannot seek restitution on behalf of consumers

The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that the FTC lacks the authority to seek consumer refunds and other monetary relief from scammers. Without a fix from Congress, the ability of the FTC, and perhaps other agencies, to redress financial injuries caused by quacks and other frauds is greatly diminished.

/ May 20, 2021