Florida revokes medical license of “Lyme literate” doctor
Florida finally revoked the medical license of “Lyme literate” doctor John Lentz, who honed his diagnostic skills and treatments in ILADS seminars and treated “chronic Lyme” for almost a decade. Why does the system allow this?
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Oh, look. Naturopathic oncologists are pretending that theirs is a real medical specialty again.
Naturopaths labor under the delusion that theirs is a real medical specialty. It is not, and never will be. Nothing shows that better than when a bunch of naturopaths get together to examine the state of their specialty. Unfortunately for them, if it quacks like a duck...
The ACOG Releases Watered Down New Guidelines on Immersion During Labor and Delivery
In its new report, the ACOG remains clear on the lack of solid evidence in support of claimed benefits of water immersion during the first stage of labor. Inexplicably, though, it has inappropriately softened its stance on restricting underwater delivery to proper clinical trials.
Cranberries to prevent urinary tract infections: Another alternative medicine zombie that’s impervious to evidence
How much evidence will it take before the idea of cranberries for urinary tract infections is finally dead and buried?
American Mortality Ticks Up
Life expectancy in the US decreased slightly in 2015. While this is a one-year phenomenon, and the long term trend continues to be one of increasing life expectancy, there are some interesting lessons in the data.
Natural Medicine, Starvation, and Murder: The Story of Linda Hazzard
History is replete with doctors who practiced quackery. Here is the story of one such quack whose fasting therapy resulted in many deaths, a story that is so bizarre and horrific that it's hard to believe it really happened, but it did.
Can the mind really heal the body? The false narrative of placebo “healing” revisited
Placebo effects are inextricably bound to the question of whether the alternative medicine modalities that are being “integrated” into medicine actually have any useful therapeutic effects or not; i.e., whether they are merely placebos. Here, I examine an article in National Geographic that peddles the false narrative that placebo effects have real "healing" powers against diseases like Parkinson's disease.
Announcement: Server migration this weekend
Our long-needed server migration has begun. While we were at it, we threw in modernization of the SBM template for mobile-friendliness, cooler-looking images, and, we hope, an overall better reading experience. Enjoy.
Reiki and Therapeutic Touch. Compare and Contrast.
What? I’m not on vacation? I have to write a post? Crap. Remember those college essays? Compare and Contrast two topics and fill a Blue Book with your wisdom. Well, let's compare and contrast reiki and therapeutic touch, henceforth known as RATT.