Tag: acupuncture
UK Recommendations Wrong on Acupuncture
NICE draft recommendations on acupuncture don't even make sense from an EBM perspective, and utterly fail to consider SBM principles.
FTC warns naturopaths, acupuncturists, physicians, and chiropractors about false and misleading COVID-19 claims
Since March, the FTC has issued almost 250 warning letters to companies and individuals making unsubstantiated claims for COVID-19 treatments. Included among these are naturopaths, acupuncturists, physicians, and chiropractors.
Acupuncture for Migraine Unconvincing
The evidence for the effectiveness of acupuncture in migraines remains unconvincing, and a new study changes nothing.
Quackademic medicine update: UC Irvine reneges on promise of scientific rigor
In 2017, UC Irvine promised that the Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute would be "rigorously evidence-based". A recent review discovers plenty of pseudoscience.
Legislative Alchemy 2019: Acupuncturists score Medicare coverage and scope of practice expansion
Through the magic of legislative alchemy, acupuncture has already scored some big wins in 2020, including Medicare coverage.
More evidence that acupuncture doesn’t work for chronic pain
Acupuncture is a theatrical placebo whose real history has been retconned beyond recognition. A new systematic review of systematic reviews of acupuncture for chronic pain highlights that conclusion and catalogues the many weaknesses in the design of acupuncture clinical trials.
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.
Spinning a negative acupuncture study: Same as it ever was
Investigators at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center reported the results of a trial of acupuncture for xerostomia (dry mouth) secondary to radiation therapy for head and neck cancers. It was a negative trial, but investigators still tried to spin it as positive, but with a twist. There was a large difference between results found at M.D. Anderson and the second site in China....
Alternative Medicine: Placebos for Pets
A skeptical veterinarian reviews the evidence for alternative medicine for pets, and concludes it's mostly placebos.
“Eliminating cancer” with Traditional Chinese Medicine and other state-sanctioned quackery
State-approved continuing education courses pump a steady stream of fresh pseudoscience into acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine practice. Courses include claims of "eliminating cancer" and "reversing pediatric asthma" as well as anti-vaccination tropes.