A woman lies face down on a massage table with several acupuncture needles inserted into her bare upper back, receiving acupuncture treatment. A white towel covers part of her body, and she appears relaxed.

ASCO endorses “integrative oncology” quackery for cancer pain

Last week, the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the Society for Integrative Oncology published guidelines for treating cancer pain. These guidelines endorsed quackery like reflexology and acupuncture. The infiltration of quackademic medicine continues apace in oncology.

/ November 21, 2022

Was New York’s Spring 2020 COVID Wave an Illusion?

Asking for "evidence" that New York City got hit hard by COVID makes as much sense as asking for "evidence" that New York City exists in the first place.

/ November 18, 2022

The Beekeeper: Sentinel Chicken?

Bee venom. Will it help Andy's rheumatism? Doubtful

/ November 17, 2022

Don’t Forget About the Flu

We are heading into a bad flu season. Get vaccinated.

/ November 16, 2022

Medicare and Alternative Medicine

Medicare is paying for nonsense.

/ November 15, 2022

Aromatase inhibitors and acupuncture in breast cancer: Spinning a negative study, four years later

Four years ago, I wrote about an essentially negative study looking at whether acupuncture could alleviate joint pain caused by aromatase inhibitors, a common treatment for estrogen-sensitive breast cancer. The study's back, and it doesn't look any more positive.

/ November 14, 2022

The 2022-2023 Respiratory Virus Season Hits Early and Hard: Part 1

RSV, and a few of it's buddies, are back with a vengeance this year and hitting young children earlier and harder than during typical respiratory virus seasons.

/ November 11, 2022

Facebook promoting dangerous and even banned supplements

A Consumer Reports analysis found little oversight of supplements marketed by Facebook.

/ November 10, 2022

Study – For Lowering Cholesterol, Statins Work, Supplements Don’t

A study comparing a statin drug and six common supplements to placebo shows that only the drug lowers bad cholesterol.

/ November 9, 2022

Geriatric Preventive Medicine Appointments Covered by Medicare

Medicare offers free preventive medicine visits for those over 65: the Welcome to Medicare visit and the Annual Wellness Visit. Increased awareness of these benefits would improve health care, save taxpayer money, and reduce inequities of preventive medicine care for underserved populations.

/ November 8, 2022