Tag: traditional Chinese medicine

Traditional medicine

The World Health Organization promotes quackery yet again

The World Health Organization held the First WHO Traditional Medicine Global Summit this weekend. Unfortunately, its claims of being "evidence-based" aside, the conference followed the WHO's usual pattern of serving as propaganda, not science. The summit was one-sided, organized by believers with the only speakers being believers, to promote a predetermined policy goal of promoting traditional medicine and justify "integrating" it with...

/ August 21, 2023
Acupuncture

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
NCCIH frameworks

NCCIH Strategic Plan 2021⁠–⁠2025: Meet the new plan, same as the old plan…?

The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health recently released its latest 5 year strategic plan. It's basically the same as the last strategic plan, but with one new addition. It's not really a new addition, but it signals a resurrection of an old trope about "integrating" quackery with science-based medicine.

/ June 28, 2021
Homeopathy tablets

The risks associated with alternative medicine

In a new paper, the types and severity of harms from different types of alternative medicine are described.

/ June 24, 2021

Exploitation of Mammals for Traditional Remedies

A recent review hints at the extent to which endangered mammals are exploited for fake medicines.

/ December 9, 2020

The Questionable Ethics of Medical Grade Nonsense: Chinese Herbal Medicine and Kawasaki Disease

A toddler in China with Kawasaki disease was treated with herbs and potions rather than science, and is extremely lucky to have survived without serious complications.

/ July 10, 2020

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.

/ June 18, 2020

An incomplete list of COVID-19 quackery

Possibly the only thing spreading faster than COVID-19 is the pseudoscience about COVID-19.

/ May 28, 2020

TCM for COVID-19

Despite the many claims, there is no real evidence that traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is effective for prevention or treatment of COVID-19

/ April 7, 2020

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.

/ February 27, 2020