All posts by Jann Bellamy

Jann J. Bellamy is a Florida attorney and lives in Tallahassee. She is one of the founders and Board members of the Society for Science-Based Medicine (SfSBM) dedicated to providing accurate information about CAM and advocating for state and federal laws that incorporate a science-based standard for all health care practitioners. She tracks state and federal bills that would allow pseudoscience in health care for the SfSBM website.  Her posts are archived here.    

A Farewell Note

Au revoir, but not forever!

/ April 21, 2022

Federal employment rights agency inundated with thousands of COVID-related discrimination claims

Thousands of workers have filed complaints with the EEOC alleging COVID-related employment discrimination. It may take years of litigation to sort out the application of federal anti-bias laws to these claims.

/ April 7, 2022

State Attorneys General pursue consumer protection law claims against stem cell clinics

State Attorneys General are pursuing stem cell clinics offering unproven therapies and engaging in fake clinical trials using state consumer protection and false advertising laws, seeking monetary penalties and injunctive relief. Until there is rational, comprehensive stem cell regulation, these actions can help fill the regulatory gap.

/ March 24, 2022

Good faith doctoring or greedy drug dealing? SCOTUS hears opioid prescribing cases

Physicians running opioid "pill mills" were convicted of violating the Controlled Substances Act and given substantial prison sentences. The U.S. Supreme Court will soon decide whether they were entitled to a "good faith" defense at trial.

/ March 10, 2022

FTC targets physicians’ COVID claims with cease-and-desist letters

The FTC recently announced it had issued 20 more cease-and-desist demands to physicians and others claiming their products and services prevent or treat COVID-19 without sufficient scientific backing. Unfortunately, this has not stopped many of the targets from making other bogus health claims.

/ February 24, 2022

State legislators dispense with standard of care for COVID treatment and encourage medical misinformation

State legislatures are considering bills that protect doctors and other health care providers from being held accountable for using unproven COVID-19 treatments and spreading medical misinformation.

/ February 10, 2022
Amazon Prime

Mercola and Kennedy sue Sen. Elizabeth Warren for combating their COVID misinformation

Quack tycoon Joseph Mercola and anti-vaccine crank Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., have filed a lawsuit against U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren claiming she violated their First Amendment rights when she complained that Amazon was peddling COVID misinformation, citing Mercola’s recent misinformation-filled book on COVID as an example.

/ January 27, 2022
Prescription Drugs

Department of Justice prioritizes prosecution of clinical trial fraud, but systemic reform is needed

The U.S. Department of Justice recently announced it is aggressively pursuing clinical trial fraud, where unethical players create fictional trial participants, steal the drugs under study, and fabricate results. But systemic reform of the clinical drug trial system is needed to halt those who endanger public safety with bogus trials.

/ January 13, 2022

Florida Surgeon General declares single positive COVID test proves immunity forever

Florida's Surgeon General, Dr. Joseph Ladapo, continues to defy scientific consensus with new rules declaring a single positive COVID test proves one has "natural immunity" forever. This is but one example of recently enacted laws and similar efforts gutting public health protections in Florida, thanks to Ladapo and his boss, Gov. Ron DeSantis.

/ December 30, 2021

Tennessee hamstrings medical board fight against COVID misinformation and unproven treatments

A new Tennessee law hampers the state medical board's efforts to rein in COVID misinformation and will make disciplining physicians prescribing unproven COVID treatments impossible until the board goes through cumbersome rule-making procedures, an effort that could outlast the pandemic.

/ December 16, 2021